MikeD
Full time employment: Posting here.
I had a kidney and pancreas transplant in 1996. The kidney has been working pretty much flawlessly since then. It's a great source of happiness for me that I have not died, which was a destination that was clearly in the cards for me at the time.
The greatest source of happiness associated with my transplant experience is the pancreas transplant. It's such a relief not to have to worry about low blood sugars and have to watch what I eat.
The pancreas that was transplanted into me in 1996 stopped working in 2004 after about 8.5 years. I did nothing wrong and they clearly told me that it was not my fault. Apparently, a transplanted pancreas works about 5 years. I got 8.5 years from mine.
I went on the pancreas transplant waiting list and waited 3 years for a new one. It took THIRTEEN tries to successfully get another one. Twelve times, I was called in and then the potential pancreas was either in bad shape or the donor had a disease or there was some other obstacle. I was usually in the hospital (90 minutes away) and all IV'd up and ready to be put under when the bad news came. Then, the 13th time, (My lucky number!) in October 2007, everything clicked! No more low blood sugars!
Now, 7 years later, the second transplanted pancreas has failed after 7 years of faithful service in an adverse environment. I am back on insulin shots, having high and low sugars, and doing damage to my blood vessels again.
In about 3 years, the usual wait for a pancreas transplant after having a kidney transplant, I hope to get another pancreas.
I treat my transplanted organs with great respect and follow all the medical rules like a good, "compliant" patient is supposed to.
I hope to get on the waiting list soon. It's a long and complicated process. I will have to have the now, non-working, transplanted pancreas removed before I can get a new one put in. They don't want to do two operations at once to insure that they do not waste an organ should something go wrong in the removal operation.
My wife was thinking about retiring soon but we will not be doing that so that she keeps her company insurance until I get that latest pancreas transplant. She says she is glad to do that. I have Medicare from the kidney failure SS program so no matter what happens with her job I will have some sort of insurance.
It's always something! I did not know that transplanted pancreases only last 5 years. I only just found this out.
I hope to remain happy despite this adverse occurrence but am having difficulty. I think I need time to get used to this latest situation. I am normally a happy person but this is bothering me a lot.
Mike D.
The greatest source of happiness associated with my transplant experience is the pancreas transplant. It's such a relief not to have to worry about low blood sugars and have to watch what I eat.
The pancreas that was transplanted into me in 1996 stopped working in 2004 after about 8.5 years. I did nothing wrong and they clearly told me that it was not my fault. Apparently, a transplanted pancreas works about 5 years. I got 8.5 years from mine.
I went on the pancreas transplant waiting list and waited 3 years for a new one. It took THIRTEEN tries to successfully get another one. Twelve times, I was called in and then the potential pancreas was either in bad shape or the donor had a disease or there was some other obstacle. I was usually in the hospital (90 minutes away) and all IV'd up and ready to be put under when the bad news came. Then, the 13th time, (My lucky number!) in October 2007, everything clicked! No more low blood sugars!
Now, 7 years later, the second transplanted pancreas has failed after 7 years of faithful service in an adverse environment. I am back on insulin shots, having high and low sugars, and doing damage to my blood vessels again.
In about 3 years, the usual wait for a pancreas transplant after having a kidney transplant, I hope to get another pancreas.
I treat my transplanted organs with great respect and follow all the medical rules like a good, "compliant" patient is supposed to.
I hope to get on the waiting list soon. It's a long and complicated process. I will have to have the now, non-working, transplanted pancreas removed before I can get a new one put in. They don't want to do two operations at once to insure that they do not waste an organ should something go wrong in the removal operation.
My wife was thinking about retiring soon but we will not be doing that so that she keeps her company insurance until I get that latest pancreas transplant. She says she is glad to do that. I have Medicare from the kidney failure SS program so no matter what happens with her job I will have some sort of insurance.
It's always something! I did not know that transplanted pancreases only last 5 years. I only just found this out.
I hope to remain happy despite this adverse occurrence but am having difficulty. I think I need time to get used to this latest situation. I am normally a happy person but this is bothering me a lot.
Mike D.