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I still consider myself to be 'technically' a Type I diabetic, since if I stopped taking the immunosuppressant drugs, the new pancreas would almost certainly be destroyed just like the native pancreas was. It's a little tricky trying to explain that to non-medical personnel, but the doctors instantly understand my definition.
Since my kidney failure had placed far bigger restrictions on my diet than the diabetes had ever done, the first things that I wanted were oranges, bananas, pineapples, things that the potassium-restricted renal diet had taken away.View Thread

Transplanted kidneys are generally connected to the common iliac artery or to the external iliac artery. A slight narrowing of this, plus the amount of blood diverted to the transplant kidney can affect the blood supply downstream from the new kidney.View Thread

And while the (theoretically) possible hemolysis would be easily seen in a routine CBC, note this line in the cited article: "This usually is a short-lived problem, because the passenger lymphocytes have a limited life span; however, hemolysis has lasted up to 6 months after transplantation in some cases." This would be a very manageable, short term setback.
So I still suspect that we may be trying to blame one factor (which is only a possibility, not a verified fact) for a number of other, simpler, factors that could have caused the bad outcome in the original poster's question.
An autopsy would have been the only way to get closer to a solid answer, but in a time of tragedy, we don't generally think about things like that, and only later do we start to wonder about the whys and wherefores of a death. (We didn't have one done on my dad but years later, we sometimes wish that we had done it, if only to verify what we knew was going on in his final days.)View Thread

It is only one possibility though, and a rather remote one in light of several other things that might be a lot more common.View Thread

But I have to go along with the other comments: Rh factor only affects red blood, not tissue. So there is no Rh factor for tissue, no such thing really as an Rh or Rh- organ.
While there is no way to be sure without autopsy, I'd probably look to the overall weakened condition, or possibly to an unseen but traumatic injury from the fall. It really does not take much of a hit to the head or neck to cause a devastating blood clot.
Obviously all this is just guesswork after the fact. So there may never be a solid answer for you. I'm sorry.View Thread

There are SO many potential viruses that are no problem for average folks, but can be deadly to recently transplanted patients. And not all of them are easily tested for.
So there is a chance that the surgeons would turn you away as a donor, just because of the additional--and avoidable--risk.
Just wait on the tattoo.View Thread

I was originally on brand-name Prograf, went off that for Rapamune for 5 years and I'm now back on generic tacrolimus. I've not seen any real difference in the side effects profile nor in routine lab numbers (but it has only been two months back on the generic version of Prograf, so it is too soon to pass judgment.)View Thread

And while I applaud every single living donor, we absolutely could not get by without them (more than 50% of kidney transplants come from living donors), I think that in many cases things are rushed and the presurgery investigation and education of both donor and recipient gets left out. I've heard far more horror stories from live donors and living donor recipients than such tales from cadaver donors. The statistical success rates look SO good for live donor transplants that no one seems to consider than ANYTHING could possibly go wrong even though it is a HUGE surgical procedure fraught with danger for everyone involved.
There is a myth that humans have an "extra" kidneys. Bunk! If we really had an "extra", eveolution would have got rid of it a million years ago. Yes, we can survive with one kidney, but in no way do humans have "disposable parts". Doctor used to think that the spleen and the appendix and the tonsils were just remnants of earlier beings that were totally junk parts. Now we know that they are used for immune function and iron metabolism and red blood cell recycling. Sure we can survive without those things but they are by no means "junk organs".
I'm not sure if the medical profession is lying to us, or the media in their dumbing-down of human interest stories is lying to us, or if our shallowness and easy self-staisfaction makes us lie to ourselves, but attitudes need to change.
[End of Rant>View Thread

Eat a high-fiber diet, lots of veggies and fruits, and you'll be better off.
(Would you take a gut-blasting, internally-irritating laxative every day? I doubt it. But when it is sold as a "cleansing" product, people buy it. You are being ripped off and lied to. Just don't try it. It's idiotic.)View Thread

Sirolimus is less nephrotoxic than prograf and cyclosporine, but it is not a good choice for everyone. It has side effects as do all the others. Ask the doctors.
I feel bad that she has had such a rough time with the doctors and the side effects; I'm rather lucky that (with one major exception) my transplant has been relatively trouble free.View Thread
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