Page 43 - More than a match

Bimmi’s Journey

blood pressure at the same time. The procedure for the operation
would be keyhole surgery: this is where two or three small holes

are made at one side of my abdomen and a larger hole close to my
navel where the kidney is taken out. The operation can take up to
three hours. Depending on my recovery, I might be up and about
the next day and out of the hospital in three days.

Handy Tip: : If you are offering to donate, check your Body Mass
Index (BMI) as soon as possible in case you need to lose weight.
Don’t wait until you see the surgeon before you head down
to your local gym, as it may delay the assessment process and

transplant.

One weekend when I was at my cousin’s house, my uncle was
having his dialysis exchange. Seeing him hooked up to the machine
made me cry, I was anxious now for my blood pressure to come
down so as to continue with the assessment. When I returned to
the hospital a few weeks later, I had lost weight, but my blood

pressure had not dropped despite the fact I had started taking
the tablets. My doctor increased my dosage and I was advised
to monitor my blood pressure over the next four weeks at home.
My blood pressure was going down but it also kept fluctuating
during that period. A month later, I went back to the hospital
and my blood pressure had come down, but it was still too high
to go ahead with the donation. By now, my nurse specialist was
concerned as to why, even with the tablets, the weight loss, and
exercise, my blood pressure was still high. I was still relatively

young (26), and such levels would put me at a high risk if I were to

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