Page 27 - More than a match

Next Stages of the Evaluation Process

Electrocardiogram (ECG):
An ECG traces the electrical rhythm of your heart; it is carried

out for anyone who will be going to have a general anaesthetic. I
went to the Cardiology Department in between my blood samples.
The test was to find out whether there were any weaknesses in my
heart and if it was functioning properly. I had several small electro-
sensitive pads (which did not cause any pain or electric shocks)
placed at different points on my chest, arms and legs. The test
lasted around 15 minutes.

CT Renal Angiogram:

The CT scan takes pictures of your insides to check the number of
kidneys you have, their size and structure and the number of blood
vessels attached to each one. Each kidney should have two blood
vessels, the kidney vein and the kidney artery, and also a draining
tube which is called the ureter. The kidney artery brings blood
from the heart to the kidney and the kidney vein drains blood from
the kidney back to the heart. The ureter drains urine, containing

toxins and waste products which the kidney has removed from the
blood, from the kidney to the bladder. Normally each kidney has
only one artery, one vein and one ureter, but some healthy people
can have more than one of each. This may make the operation
more complicated for the surgeon.
The CT scan also takes pictures of other parts of your insides
such as the liver, stomach, bowel and pancreas, so if there are any
abnormalities in these organs it could be picked up during this test.
I had to lie on a motorised bed which moved slowly through the

scanner just above my abdomen (it all looked a bit scary but it was

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