Page 26 - More than a match

More Than a Match

THE MEDICAL TESTS
Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR):

This was the first test of the day; it took place at the hospital’s
Nuclear Medicine Department. This test measures how well the
kidneys filter your blood. During my initial discussion, I was told I
needed a GFR rating of 77mls per minute to be able to donate. The
doctors were precise about this figure and I knew the transplant
could not go ahead even at a rating of 75mls per minute .The
reason for this was firstly, the kidney I was donating to my brother
had to be in pristine condition, and secondly, my remaining kidney
had to last me for the rest of my life. The extent of my brother’s

kidney failure was such that he only had a GFR of 5mls per
minute. Knowing his kidney function was so poor made me cry.
The radiologist explained the procedure for the test and asked if
I had any questions. I asked why it was called Nuclear Medicine.
He explained it was because they use a radioactive tracer to obtain
pictures of the kidneys, but there were no risks as it was a very
small amount of radiation and not harmful. He began the test by

placing a butterfly cannula into my left arm (a cannula is a small,
flexible tube which is inserted into a vein) for my blood samples to
be taken. Having this tube in my vein meant I did not need to have a
needle inserted into my arm each time they took blood (this is great
for those who don’t like needles!). A small amount of heparin was
injected to stop blood clotting in the tube, as this would interfere
with the samples. He then injected a very small amount of the
special radioactive tracer. I needed to give three blood samples, one
every hour. When the last blood sample was taken, the tube was

left in my arm for the kidney scan I had to have later.

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