Kidney Transplant, Do I Need One or Not?

  On October 7, 1996 life as I new it stopped.  At 42 years old,  I collapsed.  In the ER,  they were sure I was having a heart attack.  I had all the right symptoms,  my blood pressure was sky high,  and I was in trouble.  That diagnosis wasn't exactly correct,  but it wasn't entirely wrong.  I began a different treatment and recovered,  some what,  watched my diet and followed my doctors orders.  In March of 2001 I collapsed again with the same symptoms.  While in ICU, a cardiologist ran some tests.  Much to everyone's surprise,  my heart was fine.  This was good news but brought up the question,  if it's not my heart then what is it?  Good question.  After many more tests it was determined that my kidneys were causing the problem.

  2 more trips to the ICU in 2004 netted results.  New medication,  new diet,  and a kidney and hyper-tension specialist.   My condition was able to be controlled but the damage was severe and the inevitable dialysis loomed in my future.  My kidneys were working but they were slowing down.  In the winter of 2008 they slowed more rapidly and my muscles were having trouble getting oxygen.  It was time to start dialysis.

  I decided to use Peritoneal Dialysis as my treatment system and do my treatments at home,  on my schedule.  I have a hub and a blog about this system and I will add both links at the end of this hub.  Now my new decision is concerning the need for a kidney transplant.

   There are many pro's and con's about this procedure.  The main one for me is will I be any better off with a transplant than I am now.  The surgery has a remarkable rate of success but there is still the chance of rejection.  I would also be on a heavy drug routine as long as the transplant was functional.  Drug's that would disable my immune system,  to prevent rejection of the transplant,  then more drugs to prevent me from getting sick,  plus most of the drugs that I take now.  I would have a pharmacy in my home. 

   There are no guarantees that a transplant will work and even after you get registered with the transplant program and do all the required tests,  you may never be matched with an available kidney.  I have a lot of thinking to do on this matter.  If I was younger I would probably opt for the transplant but I'm not sure it will improve my life enough at this point to be worth the risk.

 Here's the links to my other hub and my blog

http://mylifeondialysis.blogspot.com/

http://hubpages.com/hub/Peritoneal-Dialysis-and-Me