The Kidney Transplant, Part 4: Meeting the Donor

This post is a continuation...

Things definitely improved in the fall after transplant. My daughter started preschool again and finally got off the oxygen at the end of September. She grew a lot after the transplant and that helped her lung cavity have the space it needed so she could breathe better. Gradually we stopped having to go to the clinic so frequently.

Upper respiratory congestion continued to be a problem and we ended up getting her tonsils and adenoids out in January. That was an incredibly miserable recovery and she got RSV just as she was starting to feel better which turned into pneumonia...it was a rough month. Taking immuno-suppressants definitely makes her more vulnerable to illness. Her illnesses happen more often, last longer, and seem to be worse.

Last summer was great. She wasn't sick at all and we were able to go camping together as a family in Yellowstone as well as attend my oldest son's wedding. She even got potty-trained. It was so great for her to be more like a normal kid again. She took swimming lessons and loved it. In the last year especially, she has made big gains in her development, cognitive and motor. The transplant has definitely been worth it!

At Yellowstone Lake--the water was pretty cold!

About six months after the transplant, we wrote a thank-you letter to her donor. We didn't know anything about her since those details are kept private. We sent the letter through the transplant coordinator. She wrote us back and seemed very pleased to have heard from us.

The following Christmas our daughter's donor sent us a Christmas card and we sent her one in return. We were thinking about making a trip to the East in the summertime so I asked her if she would like to meet our daughter. She was very interested in that. So about two weeks ago, at the end of our trip, we arranged to meet our daughter's donor at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

It was a good meeting! It was great to get to know her better. Our daughter was very sweet to her, giving her hugs and sitting on her lap. We didn't have a lot of time, but we spent several hours there, looking around at the exhibits and talking more with the donor and having fun watching our little girl be a regular kid. At the end, we took some pictures and then said our goodbyes.

The donor is wearing the black shirt in the middle; her husband is on the far left.

I really appreciate this woman's sacrifice for our daughter. It has been a huge blessing in our lives and we will always be grateful for that selfless sacrifice she made.

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