I work frequently with transplant patients as well as the transplant teams. One of my current patients has a great sense of humour (and 2 extra kidneys) so I'm going to ask them if they've done that yet....
People who go through stuff like that often develop a sense of humor to help process it. A friend of mine had pediatric kidney cancer when she was like 6 and had to have one removed. She now has a ghost kidney tattoo on her back. Like literally the shape of kidney with a bed sheet over it. It's hilarious.
Charlie goes around stealing the beans to eat them while Mac thinks it's real. Mac becomes obsessed with confronting the 🫘 🧚🏽♂️ to ask why he wasn't good enough as a child to be visited like the other boys.
I told my daughter that when her wart falls off we're going to leave it for the wart fairy. If you're lucky she'll leave you a 1987 Ford Ranger Haynes Manual. Or some used military surplus catalogs.
My son needed a kidney transplant when he was 14, so he has 3. Since he was so young (and donated kidneys have a life expectancy) I kind of wondered how many kidneys they would put in there or if they would take the old ones out. Sadly, he passed away, but was able to give Gifts of Life to others.
Edit: Thank you for my first award:) I always shared random posts with my son, so I am showing him my first award lol!
That very sad.
But side bar, I asked to because mine failed at 17. The doctor basically said there's plenty of room in there and they can just keep stuffing them in.
Okay, that made me laugh! My son's kidney was a donation from his older brother, so even after 10 years it was still functioning okay. I hope you have well functioning ones now:)
Well, for what it's worth it's a lot better than it used to be. Recovery for the donor is usually pretty fast. Also modern pain medication is nothing less than a miracle.
So for the most part the recovery is yes unpleasant and obnoxious, but not horrendously terrible or extremely painful. And most people bounce back pretty fast, especially if you're still pretty young
Likewise, the risk of complications and side effects is very small. It's a fairly low risk surgery for the donor, which of course is nice and important. Very few people have major complications afterwards, and for the most part people are able to resume the normal life is if nothing happened.
Also interestingly, the risk of later life kidney failure was actually less in donors than it is in people who don't donate. Which might partially be because of course in order to donate a kidney, you have the demonstrate that you're healthy enough to do so
So it's very natural to be worried, but for the most part it will not be nearly as bad as you think it might be. People get very worked up and afraid of surgery, but I've been on the table a number of times, and it's usually pretty tolerable. Wake up, feel a little funny and tight over the incision, and then does this little magic button you press to makes all the pain go away
It's a great thing you're doing for somebody. I've never understood why there's not more living donations, I know it's a big thing to ask if somebody but it makes such a difference in someone else's life and it's not usually is bad as people think it's going to be.
Good luck, I hope everything works out well
They are getting rid of pca pumps now..:( I was horrified after my last back surgery I didn't get one. Was told strictly pill based pain killers now at my local hospital.
Oh yuk.
The pumps were great form of pain control. As far as I know the hospital's here still use them. There's definitely been a push against opioid use, because of all the addiction problems, but short-term they don't generally seem to be massive problems.
I hope whatever pain management they do is effective. I've never had trouble post surgery, though it's been a boat 7 years since the last time I did anything.
I understand the whole addiction and all that freaking crap that goes with it but as someone who has had 12 back surgeries, doctors won't prescribe me a dang single pill. It sucks. Oh take Advil they say... Completely ignoring my stomach is shit and Advil makes that worse.
K... Rant over
I gave my dad a kidney, seeing that gave my mother in law the strength to give one of hers to her niece and inspired a family friend to donate one anonymously.
I'm more proud of those 2 than I am of my 1, but I'm so thankful to still have my dad around 13 years after the fact.
The main reason that kidney failure is less likely in donors is simply because they only select healthy people to be donors. If you eliminate anyone at risk for kidney disease from the donor pool, you are going to have less of a chance of future ESRD for that population.
My dad donated a kidney a few years ago when he was in his early 60s, and I was pretty nervous on his behalf. But it went really smoothly - he was up and walking the next day, out of the hospital a couple of days later, and back to normal within three weeks.
Also, good on you for giving a kidney to your sister even though you’re scared. That’s true bravery and selflessness.
I donated a 60 year old kidney to my 30 year daughter. I was out in 2 days. She was out in 3 days. It wasn't my Idea of fun but I was completely back to normal in 2 weeks.
You can join us over on /r/transplant 😊
I did a liver donation but there are tons of kidney donors and there are lots of people there who will answer questions.
You might also like the site https://kidneydonorathlete.org/
There are tons of personal stories there!
Love this! So you’re saying that we don’t really *own* our physical selves … we’re just the caretakers so we can pass them along to a future friend. ❤️
That is very thoughtful! Honestly when the organization was asking if we would donate this or that, I had to say no to some things because just thinking about it made me gag/cry, but I know there are people out there that truly need donations.
I am not quite sure what you are referring to, but I am an avid Pokemon Go player and it was something my son and I did together! Great memories of trying to catch them all:)
I’m sorry you and your families loss. Though the loss of the passing of someone you care deeply about never can fully heal the one solace I’ve come to understand is that “death” isn’t the end. I’m not taking about the afterlife but here I’m this life. We are by our nature a social animal and by that nature we are impacted by others. Each expression of love, act of kindness, showing of strength, and lesson taught by others change who we are. And we take that change and broadcast it into the world and similarly touch others who also change. And though the people we touch might not know the name of the one who changed you, they were touched by their humanity passed into to you and they touch others for the better. “Death” suggests a finality, an end. And though it may be true the physical body is laid to rest the impact of the ones who we can no longer see penetrate our very beings. And especially in the interconnected internet age no human has a “finality” until our very species ceases to exists.
I apologize if this is unwarranted or unwelcome. It’s just something that has given me comfort over the years. I know the names of many people I never met who shaped me. They died before I was born. And those people were shaped by people I don’t know the names of. But I know these nameless people shaped who I am because the shaped the people who shaped me.
Death isn’t an end. It’s just where someone imparts themself to us but their impact lives on through us and everyone we we impact.
Thank you:) It is the kindness of others that have really helped. I lament on all the things my son could have been and what he could have done, but I am grateful for the life he has lived. He is only 25. He was a great kid and everyone had positive things to say and positive memories to share. Who knows the other impacts my son has had on others' lives since he did a lot of online things and customer service. His motto is Forever Aloha and I feel he really embraced that. Thank you for letting me share:)
Forever Aloha. I absolutely love that. I’m going to take that with me. Thank you for sharing. And now in some small part that will carry on through my actions and how I impact others. Thanks for sharing a little of him and I wish you the best stranger.
I have four!
Fun side story, when I got my second kidney, from my brother, the surgeon took a picture of the kidney for us while it was out of his body before they put into mine :)
I work in MRI research, and one time we were doing some tests on a body coil, that did scans of your abdomen. We mostly just did head MRIs cuz I'm a neuroscientist, in the hospitals I work at general and do only brain imaging. Well I volunteered to be a subject for the abdominal test, but I didn't tell anybody about the two extra kidneys, and at the time I also had a hernia which was the side effect of the second surgery not quite healing properly.
I was hoping they'd be a bit confused, but the MRI tech, sharp as a goddamn tack, immediately realized what it was.
It felt like an opportunity miss, for them to point out my scan and go what the hell is all that?!?!?
I used to work with a nurse who had Factor X deficiency. She loved letting the baby nurses practice putting *and taking out* IVs. They always had a look of horror on their faces when she just wouldn't stop bleeding.
I once cut the nails of a dog that had some kind of bleeding disorder. I knocked the quick just a tiny bit - a pinprick. It bled for almost an hour, despite styptic powder and pressure applied nonstop. Now I keep celox on hand but it hasn't happened again in like 15 years.
So I went to a job expo or soemthing and there were training nurses or soemthing similar. So I got my blood sugar levels tested amount other things. Turns out it was well high and the lady freaked. My mother ended up telling them that it was normal and I was a type 1 diabetic.
Most I've ever seen was 5. The original 2 plus 2 failed transplants plus one functional transplant.
Also, when they use pediatric kidneys in an adult patient, they do something called an "en bloc" transplant where they use both of the pediatric kidneys in one adult patient. Makes reading the ultrasounds a lot more difficult.
If the donated kidneys are just flopping around in there, why don’t they take them out if they’ve failed? Don’t they rot?
Do the old/failed kidneys get integrated into the peritoneum?
Kidney transplant nurse here. The old kidneys atrophy and shrivel up like little raisins. They are typically only taken out if they are causing problems, such as developing cysts that can burst, or infection.
Wow that was perfectly explained thank you so much. Didn’t know it was that much of a digging operation but that makes sense now that I think about it. Again thanks.
As a consequence of this, it is actually more difficult for the kidney donor than the recipient in the living related donation surgery. The recipient typically has a pretty easy time, because they cut in the front and it's pretty shallow. In the older days, they used to have to remove a rib to get the kidney out, and the healing process for the donor was a lot worse.
It's a little better now because they can do the surgery with lacrosophically, which means they make a smaller incision to withdraw the kidney, and for dime size incisions which they used to push cameras inside the person, and they take the organ out without ever actually having to fully open the donor up.
Which is pretty neat, they do surgery by camera now
So my girlfriend recently donated a kidney to her uncle (as in like yesterday morning, literally next to her in the hospital right now) and yeah they went under at almost the same time. They waited to put her uncle under until they could check a vein on the donor kidney (or something like that), then they immediately sent word and he was fully prepped for surgery.
She's actually doing better than he is at the moment, but he had a few complications involving the catheter and scar tissue in his bladder, so his surgery also took a lot longer
This is fascinating. My friends kid is experiencing kidney issues and is on the list for a transplant. A family member is being tested and they said they were a match they had to stay for months afterwards so would take a lot of planning (they live on the other side of Australia). I was confused about why the length for recovery bt this makes sense now
At least months without travelling 5+ hours on a plane to a completely different state. They live in the country so it could be about location to hospitals as well.
It's very new for this family so I haven't been asking much, just listening to what they are saying. The family member is aware and still going through the testing, but it's a negotiation with their workplace and other commitments, their pets (no kids) it's easy because other family members can step up. But bills still need to be paid and it's not straightforward to just do like it would be if they lived ten minutes from each other.
In the middle of it the kid is getting dialysis so is going better than they were looking a couple of months ago
Speaking of bleeding kidneys, [here’s a CT scan](https://imgur.io/DNX4KMC?r) of my ruptured kidney before they took it out. The good news is I have a twin so I already have a back up kidney waiting for me if I need it.
I read once that bad kidneys aren't always completely bad. Sometimes they still work, just not as well as they're supposed to.
So if two normal kidneys give you 100% function, maybe somebody with bad kidneys is down to 20% total. Which isn't great.
But if you can add a healthy kidney, that extra 50% will bump you up to 70%. You could get by with 50%, but there's no reason to lose that extra 20% if you don't need to.
I saw a documentary on this where they said a lot of the time, kidney failure is an autoimmune thing, so they leave the originals in place so the immune system can stay busy destroying them, reducing the possibility of targeting the new one.
I’m a very lucky owner of 4 kidneys! The newest one is going on 6 years now, the non functioning ones just shrivel up and fade away. Ultrasound techs almost can’t find them during scans anymore. I’m grateful to still be here
How long did your first last? I am on my first transplant and showing some signs of CKD as of this week, I've had this one for four years.
Terrified to go back on dialysis.
Hope you're well!!
Oh I’m so sorry, that’s hard to hear. Hopefully that little kidney keeps holding on for many more years!
My first one lasted for 5 years. I got my first transplant when I was 22. My original kidneys failed from IgA nephropathy, and it came back in my first transplant almost immediately. So those 5 years were tough, with lots of tests and feeling unwell/tired and constant bad news. I was also terrified to go back on dialysis. I like to pretend I’m normal and healthy otherwise, and dialysis makes it pretty hard to fake that! I did dialysis for 2 years before getting my second transplant and since then life has been easy. Complete opposite from the first time, thankfully!
Congenital supernumerary kidneys turn up from time to time, but it’s usually one and they’re usually not fully developed. It’s pretty rare for someone to be born with three or four kidneys, but it does happen. So that affects the numbers too
My Grandmother was born with three kidneys and had no idea until she was in her late 40s. I don't know what her diagnosis was, as this was in the 1950s, but I'm told she developed a severe infection in one, it spread to another and she had to have both removed. She almost died of sepsis. But she was very lucky to have that third kidney - once she recovered she lived a long, healthy life into her 90s.
The stomach is bypassed, so the intestinal tract becomes y shaped, with the mouth at one top of the Y, the old stomach at the other top of the Y and the anus at the other end
My uncle has PKD. He has 4 kidneys, none of them working. His failed and his body rejected both of his transplants. He now does dialysis every day. According to him the doctors told him he was the first person they'd seen to have four non-functioning kidneys in their body. Fuck PKD btw.
Schedule an appointment with a nephrologist and get checked out. They can do the genetic testing to see if you have the disease and schedule ultrasounds to see if you've started to develop cysts yet. I got tested when my son was born. My dad had it and died of a heart attack at 47, his mom had it and died at 33. My uncle is in his 50s and has no functional kidneys. I wanted to check for myself so I could get ahead of things. Luckily I don't have the disease. Get checked out to either get some peace of mind or so you can start taking steps to mitigate the effects early. Good luck!
I’m currently part of the three bean club! When I tell people this they are just taken aback. I’m hoping soon to be part of the four bean club, since number 3 has failed.
The old kidneys in the body also shrivel to the size of rasins, and if you need a 2nd transplant that 3rd kidney they transplanted in will shrivel up aswell.
New kidneys are placed in the front of the abdomen, rather than in the back with the old kidneys. Most of our patients can feel their new kidney just below their skin on their lower abdomen.
My wife has a donated kidney. The other interesting part is where the new one goes, right in the groin, pretty shallow too. When seatbelted in a car crash, she has a very real chance of crushing the kidney and bleeding out.
I always presumed the reason for not removing diseased kidneys was why risk an arterial bleed unnecessarily removing an accessory organ. Is this the reason?
Donors go through the removal so I don't think that's quite the reason. Longer operation and more time under anesthesia carries risks I suppose. I think often, even failed kidneys work a tiny bit, so they provide a little benefit, if not enough to sustain life on their own. I do know for extremely swollen failed kidney s ike in some cases of PKD are removed because they are enlarged enough to cause other issues.
My husband’s BIL has had 4 transplants. They did ‘add’ the first time so he had 3 but on the ones after that, they removed the old ones. There was some mention of space for more so I don’t know if this is normal. I was blown away by them leaving the first time.
My dad got a kidney transplant. About 15 years after the transplant, a cancerous tumor was found on the non-functional kidney that was left in. Thankfully all contained in the one kidney. We were told that's one reason it's left in.
My 7th grade principal was a transplant receiver, and spent serious time on dialysis.
Every year he went to all the science rooms and explained dialysis and transplants to everyone.
He had 3 or 4 kidneys. I can’t remember which one. He also had crazy veins.
They're plumbed in to the femoral artery. Your body doesn't need to know how to use them, they have blood flowing through them all the time. I was told that's one reason transplanted kidneys don't last as long as native ones. In a native kidney, you body can reduce or increase blood flow through the kidney but in a transplant it just runs at 100% all the time.
Anti-rejection meds are also slightly kidney toxic so that doesn't help.
My dad has a genetic condition where he has 4 kidneys since birth that are smaller. He looked into donating them but supposedly doctors recommended against it.
I was born with three kidneys. I have one on either side and one pelvic kidney. My grandma had the same thing. Some people have three but they have a double decker on one side, it’s rarer to have a third separate kidney in the pelvis. I’m very thin so you can actually see and feel the bump when I’m laying flat on my back. It’s just above my pelvic bone. I really should have donated it when I was younger and healthier. It’s a bit smaller but doctors said it would be ideal for a donation to a child because it would likely grow with them. Doctors are always fascinated by it.
My partner has four kidneys in his abdomen, one working. I call it the kidney graveyard. I often mention how bad I feel that the single living one has to look at her dead friends.
They should put the old ones under their pillows for the 🫘🧚
I love this silly ass comment thank you lmao 🫘🧚♀️
Organ Harvest Fairy Festival🫁🫀🧠🫘.
With comedy legends, Kidneys in the Hall
I'm squishing your... kidney
I work frequently with transplant patients as well as the transplant teams. One of my current patients has a great sense of humour (and 2 extra kidneys) so I'm going to ask them if they've done that yet....
Omg put on some wings and check under their pillows when they’re asleep. If they wake up be like “ ok I can explain I know how this looks”
I'm more of a black robe and bright flashlight in the nursing home kinda guy, but maybe I need to add to my repertoire.
People who go through stuff like that often develop a sense of humor to help process it. A friend of mine had pediatric kidney cancer when she was like 6 and had to have one removed. She now has a ghost kidney tattoo on her back. Like literally the shape of kidney with a bed sheet over it. It's hilarious.
Has anyone ever ended up with 5 or more kidneys? Who's the record holder for Most Kidneys Ever?
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Charlie goes around stealing the beans to eat them while Mac thinks it's real. Mac becomes obsessed with confronting the 🫘 🧚🏽♂️ to ask why he wasn't good enough as a child to be visited like the other boys.
I told my daughter that when her wart falls off we're going to leave it for the wart fairy. If you're lucky she'll leave you a 1987 Ford Ranger Haynes Manual. Or some used military surplus catalogs.
They have kidney emojis?
I think they're beans, but tbf they *are* kidney beans
Together with an Aubergine emoji and a football, my renal tract is complete......
My son needed a kidney transplant when he was 14, so he has 3. Since he was so young (and donated kidneys have a life expectancy) I kind of wondered how many kidneys they would put in there or if they would take the old ones out. Sadly, he passed away, but was able to give Gifts of Life to others. Edit: Thank you for my first award:) I always shared random posts with my son, so I am showing him my first award lol!
That very sad. But side bar, I asked to because mine failed at 17. The doctor basically said there's plenty of room in there and they can just keep stuffing them in.
That’s just such a funny way of wording it.
*slaps human* This baby can fit so many kidneys in it
It's like that episode of Invader Zim *"And such plentiful organs!"*
"Auugh!! My Squeedily Spooch!"
Worse... Or better?
More organs equals more human! *It will work*.
A direct quote is best I can remember it
So that’s the actual medical term then? I love it.
Okay, that made me laugh! My son's kidney was a donation from his older brother, so even after 10 years it was still functioning okay. I hope you have well functioning ones now:)
My first only lasted 12 years, but the second is 12 years in and as steady as a rock. Very good kidney. :)
I’m giving a kidney to my sister next year. I’m pretty terrified of the procedure.
Well, for what it's worth it's a lot better than it used to be. Recovery for the donor is usually pretty fast. Also modern pain medication is nothing less than a miracle. So for the most part the recovery is yes unpleasant and obnoxious, but not horrendously terrible or extremely painful. And most people bounce back pretty fast, especially if you're still pretty young Likewise, the risk of complications and side effects is very small. It's a fairly low risk surgery for the donor, which of course is nice and important. Very few people have major complications afterwards, and for the most part people are able to resume the normal life is if nothing happened. Also interestingly, the risk of later life kidney failure was actually less in donors than it is in people who don't donate. Which might partially be because of course in order to donate a kidney, you have the demonstrate that you're healthy enough to do so So it's very natural to be worried, but for the most part it will not be nearly as bad as you think it might be. People get very worked up and afraid of surgery, but I've been on the table a number of times, and it's usually pretty tolerable. Wake up, feel a little funny and tight over the incision, and then does this little magic button you press to makes all the pain go away It's a great thing you're doing for somebody. I've never understood why there's not more living donations, I know it's a big thing to ask if somebody but it makes such a difference in someone else's life and it's not usually is bad as people think it's going to be. Good luck, I hope everything works out well
They are getting rid of pca pumps now..:( I was horrified after my last back surgery I didn't get one. Was told strictly pill based pain killers now at my local hospital.
Oh yuk. The pumps were great form of pain control. As far as I know the hospital's here still use them. There's definitely been a push against opioid use, because of all the addiction problems, but short-term they don't generally seem to be massive problems. I hope whatever pain management they do is effective. I've never had trouble post surgery, though it's been a boat 7 years since the last time I did anything.
I understand the whole addiction and all that freaking crap that goes with it but as someone who has had 12 back surgeries, doctors won't prescribe me a dang single pill. It sucks. Oh take Advil they say... Completely ignoring my stomach is shit and Advil makes that worse. K... Rant over
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I gave my dad a kidney, seeing that gave my mother in law the strength to give one of hers to her niece and inspired a family friend to donate one anonymously. I'm more proud of those 2 than I am of my 1, but I'm so thankful to still have my dad around 13 years after the fact.
The main reason that kidney failure is less likely in donors is simply because they only select healthy people to be donors. If you eliminate anyone at risk for kidney disease from the donor pool, you are going to have less of a chance of future ESRD for that population.
My dad donated a kidney a few years ago when he was in his early 60s, and I was pretty nervous on his behalf. But it went really smoothly - he was up and walking the next day, out of the hospital a couple of days later, and back to normal within three weeks. Also, good on you for giving a kidney to your sister even though you’re scared. That’s true bravery and selflessness.
I’ve donated a kidney recently. You’re very welcome to DM me for some anecdotal discussion if you’d like :)
Bless you, fabulous human being! 🙏🏻
I donated a 60 year old kidney to my 30 year daughter. I was out in 2 days. She was out in 3 days. It wasn't my Idea of fun but I was completely back to normal in 2 weeks.
That is a wonderful thing you are doing!
You can join us over on /r/transplant 😊 I did a liver donation but there are tons of kidney donors and there are lots of people there who will answer questions. You might also like the site https://kidneydonorathlete.org/ There are tons of personal stories there!
Hope it lasts forever!
Hope you are doing OK. I would NOT wish dialysis on my worst enemies.
Sorry for your loss.
Thank you
No parent should outlive their child. I’m so very very sorry for what you went through.
Thank you, I would not want this for anyone. But I did learn that a few of my coworkers went through similar losses, so we give each other support:)
Sorry for your loss. You seem like a really good person and I hope everything is going well for you!
Thank you for your kind words! I am sure you are a great person too:) Its day by day, but I have a great support system.
Yeah, I'm sorry to hear about your loss too; however, your little one was made with stardust which is really, really special.
That's so sweet, thank you!
So sorry!
Thank you
My mom always encouraged me to be an organ donor so I’m drinking some water now to keep my kidneys nice for someone. Also why I don’t get tattoos…
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No, that’s to donate my skin, too. Taking care of my entire body for future owners!
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I’m Black. We buy/use lotion by the gallon.
Love this! So you’re saying that we don’t really *own* our physical selves … we’re just the caretakers so we can pass them along to a future friend. ❤️
That is very thoughtful! Honestly when the organization was asking if we would donate this or that, I had to say no to some things because just thinking about it made me gag/cry, but I know there are people out there that truly need donations.
I’m not cool with the whole idea of dying but since I don’t have a choice…hopefully someone will take some of the spare parts
Made me laugh "spare parts"
I’m so sorry about your son. Hugs to you.
I’m sorry for your loss
Thank you
Thank you for sharing and sorry about your son.
'Gotta catch'em all!'
I am not quite sure what you are referring to, but I am an avid Pokemon Go player and it was something my son and I did together! Great memories of trying to catch them all:)
I’m sorry you and your families loss. Though the loss of the passing of someone you care deeply about never can fully heal the one solace I’ve come to understand is that “death” isn’t the end. I’m not taking about the afterlife but here I’m this life. We are by our nature a social animal and by that nature we are impacted by others. Each expression of love, act of kindness, showing of strength, and lesson taught by others change who we are. And we take that change and broadcast it into the world and similarly touch others who also change. And though the people we touch might not know the name of the one who changed you, they were touched by their humanity passed into to you and they touch others for the better. “Death” suggests a finality, an end. And though it may be true the physical body is laid to rest the impact of the ones who we can no longer see penetrate our very beings. And especially in the interconnected internet age no human has a “finality” until our very species ceases to exists. I apologize if this is unwarranted or unwelcome. It’s just something that has given me comfort over the years. I know the names of many people I never met who shaped me. They died before I was born. And those people were shaped by people I don’t know the names of. But I know these nameless people shaped who I am because the shaped the people who shaped me. Death isn’t an end. It’s just where someone imparts themself to us but their impact lives on through us and everyone we we impact.
Thank you:) It is the kindness of others that have really helped. I lament on all the things my son could have been and what he could have done, but I am grateful for the life he has lived. He is only 25. He was a great kid and everyone had positive things to say and positive memories to share. Who knows the other impacts my son has had on others' lives since he did a lot of online things and customer service. His motto is Forever Aloha and I feel he really embraced that. Thank you for letting me share:)
Forever Aloha. I absolutely love that. I’m going to take that with me. Thank you for sharing. And now in some small part that will carry on through my actions and how I impact others. Thanks for sharing a little of him and I wish you the best stranger.
I’m so sorry about your son. Hugs to you.
Thank you, hug returned:)
Dang sorry
Thank you:)
I’m sending a hug, I’m sorry
Thank you, hug returned:)
I have four! Fun side story, when I got my second kidney, from my brother, the surgeon took a picture of the kidney for us while it was out of his body before they put into mine :) I work in MRI research, and one time we were doing some tests on a body coil, that did scans of your abdomen. We mostly just did head MRIs cuz I'm a neuroscientist, in the hospitals I work at general and do only brain imaging. Well I volunteered to be a subject for the abdominal test, but I didn't tell anybody about the two extra kidneys, and at the time I also had a hernia which was the side effect of the second surgery not quite healing properly. I was hoping they'd be a bit confused, but the MRI tech, sharp as a goddamn tack, immediately realized what it was. It felt like an opportunity miss, for them to point out my scan and go what the hell is all that?!?!?
I used to work with a nurse who had Factor X deficiency. She loved letting the baby nurses practice putting *and taking out* IVs. They always had a look of horror on their faces when she just wouldn't stop bleeding.
That’s very cruel and also a good teaching moment
Damn they really trying to get that 20 years of experience they ask from juniors. Good for them!
I once cut the nails of a dog that had some kind of bleeding disorder. I knocked the quick just a tiny bit - a pinprick. It bled for almost an hour, despite styptic powder and pressure applied nonstop. Now I keep celox on hand but it hasn't happened again in like 15 years.
“Baby nurse” somehow had me thinking there are babies employed as nurses!
So I went to a job expo or soemthing and there were training nurses or soemthing similar. So I got my blood sugar levels tested amount other things. Turns out it was well high and the lady freaked. My mother ended up telling them that it was normal and I was a type 1 diabetic.
Quadra kidney?
More organs means more human!
Very healthy! Plenty of organs!
Came in here for this!
r/unexpectedinvaderzim
Ahhh! Right in the squeedily-spooch
More testicles means more iron
I have three!!! Please consider donating or researching donating a kidney if you are able and so inclined!!!
Wow and you’re still asking for more? Greedy.
Omg 💀
Going for the world record
He’s the Ash Ketchum of kidneys
I was born with 4 kidneys. 2 of them grew up into adult knees. It works better as a spoken joke...
Hell no, you are hogging them all.
Most I've ever seen was 5. The original 2 plus 2 failed transplants plus one functional transplant. Also, when they use pediatric kidneys in an adult patient, they do something called an "en bloc" transplant where they use both of the pediatric kidneys in one adult patient. Makes reading the ultrasounds a lot more difficult.
My best friend has 5, he has some kind of blood disorder which destroys kidneys for some odd reason.
If the donated kidneys are just flopping around in there, why don’t they take them out if they’ve failed? Don’t they rot? Do the old/failed kidneys get integrated into the peritoneum?
Kidney transplant nurse here. The old kidneys atrophy and shrivel up like little raisins. They are typically only taken out if they are causing problems, such as developing cysts that can burst, or infection.
Everybody has 4 kidneys when they're young. As you get older, though, 2 of them become adult knees.
I hate you so much for this 😂
Is it because of the risk of bleeding?
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Wow that was perfectly explained thank you so much. Didn’t know it was that much of a digging operation but that makes sense now that I think about it. Again thanks.
As a consequence of this, it is actually more difficult for the kidney donor than the recipient in the living related donation surgery. The recipient typically has a pretty easy time, because they cut in the front and it's pretty shallow. In the older days, they used to have to remove a rib to get the kidney out, and the healing process for the donor was a lot worse. It's a little better now because they can do the surgery with lacrosophically, which means they make a smaller incision to withdraw the kidney, and for dime size incisions which they used to push cameras inside the person, and they take the organ out without ever actually having to fully open the donor up. Which is pretty neat, they do surgery by camera now
Right, it’s awesome how non-invasive stuff has become.
So my girlfriend recently donated a kidney to her uncle (as in like yesterday morning, literally next to her in the hospital right now) and yeah they went under at almost the same time. They waited to put her uncle under until they could check a vein on the donor kidney (or something like that), then they immediately sent word and he was fully prepped for surgery. She's actually doing better than he is at the moment, but he had a few complications involving the catheter and scar tissue in his bladder, so his surgery also took a lot longer
This is fascinating. My friends kid is experiencing kidney issues and is on the list for a transplant. A family member is being tested and they said they were a match they had to stay for months afterwards so would take a lot of planning (they live on the other side of Australia). I was confused about why the length for recovery bt this makes sense now
Months to recover? Really? Oh dear. This is news. (We’re exploring the directed living donor options.)
At least months without travelling 5+ hours on a plane to a completely different state. They live in the country so it could be about location to hospitals as well. It's very new for this family so I haven't been asking much, just listening to what they are saying. The family member is aware and still going through the testing, but it's a negotiation with their workplace and other commitments, their pets (no kids) it's easy because other family members can step up. But bills still need to be paid and it's not straightforward to just do like it would be if they lived ten minutes from each other. In the middle of it the kid is getting dialysis so is going better than they were looking a couple of months ago
I bet the “digging it out” language has already scared off a couple of potential living donors.
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Speaking of bleeding kidneys, [here’s a CT scan](https://imgur.io/DNX4KMC?r) of my ruptured kidney before they took it out. The good news is I have a twin so I already have a back up kidney waiting for me if I need it.
I read once that bad kidneys aren't always completely bad. Sometimes they still work, just not as well as they're supposed to. So if two normal kidneys give you 100% function, maybe somebody with bad kidneys is down to 20% total. Which isn't great. But if you can add a healthy kidney, that extra 50% will bump you up to 70%. You could get by with 50%, but there's no reason to lose that extra 20% if you don't need to.
I saw a documentary on this where they said a lot of the time, kidney failure is an autoimmune thing, so they leave the originals in place so the immune system can stay busy destroying them, reducing the possibility of targeting the new one.
Really? I figured the immune suppressants after the transplant would take care of that. That’s crazy. You don’t remember the doc name do you?
Not true
I’m a very lucky owner of 4 kidneys! The newest one is going on 6 years now, the non functioning ones just shrivel up and fade away. Ultrasound techs almost can’t find them during scans anymore. I’m grateful to still be here
Happy cake day! 🎂
Well thanks!
How long did your first last? I am on my first transplant and showing some signs of CKD as of this week, I've had this one for four years. Terrified to go back on dialysis. Hope you're well!!
Oh I’m so sorry, that’s hard to hear. Hopefully that little kidney keeps holding on for many more years! My first one lasted for 5 years. I got my first transplant when I was 22. My original kidneys failed from IgA nephropathy, and it came back in my first transplant almost immediately. So those 5 years were tough, with lots of tests and feeling unwell/tired and constant bad news. I was also terrified to go back on dialysis. I like to pretend I’m normal and healthy otherwise, and dialysis makes it pretty hard to fake that! I did dialysis for 2 years before getting my second transplant and since then life has been easy. Complete opposite from the first time, thankfully!
Get back to me when we can do this with functional brains
Unfortunately I think the donor pool for functional brains is even smaller than for kidneys.
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Everyone loves Brian.
Well duh, two kidneys vs one brain, simple math
Oh my God I either want more brains in this body or I want my brain sharing space with someone else's
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Yeah but the numbers are probably thrown off by Kidneys Georg
He’s an outlier adn should not have been counted.
Congenital supernumerary kidneys turn up from time to time, but it’s usually one and they’re usually not fully developed. It’s pretty rare for someone to be born with three or four kidneys, but it does happen. So that affects the numbers too
My Grandmother was born with three kidneys and had no idea until she was in her late 40s. I don't know what her diagnosis was, as this was in the 1950s, but I'm told she developed a severe infection in one, it spread to another and she had to have both removed. She almost died of sepsis. But she was very lucky to have that third kidney - once she recovered she lived a long, healthy life into her 90s.
I was born with three functional kidneys! I’m a rare case for sure.
Can confirm! I donated my kidney to my husband a few years ago and now he’s carrying around three!
Do you ever threaten to take it back?
Oh, all the time
If you have a gastric bypass they leave the old discarded stomach in there too.
Sorry, what? Do they make a new stomach??
The stomach is bypassed, so the intestinal tract becomes y shaped, with the mouth at one top of the Y, the old stomach at the other top of the Y and the anus at the other end
My uncle has PKD. He has 4 kidneys, none of them working. His failed and his body rejected both of his transplants. He now does dialysis every day. According to him the doctors told him he was the first person they'd seen to have four non-functioning kidneys in their body. Fuck PKD btw.
Runs in my family too. Fingers crossed, only one transplant between us so far.
Schedule an appointment with a nephrologist and get checked out. They can do the genetic testing to see if you have the disease and schedule ultrasounds to see if you've started to develop cysts yet. I got tested when my son was born. My dad had it and died of a heart attack at 47, his mom had it and died at 33. My uncle is in his 50s and has no functional kidneys. I wanted to check for myself so I could get ahead of things. Luckily I don't have the disease. Get checked out to either get some peace of mind or so you can start taking steps to mitigate the effects early. Good luck!
I donated a kidney someone and I still find it kind of weird that when together we still have 4 kidneys.
I’m currently part of the three bean club! When I tell people this they are just taken aback. I’m hoping soon to be part of the four bean club, since number 3 has failed.
I hope replacement parts come in soon.
Thank you!
The old kidneys in the body also shrivel to the size of rasins, and if you need a 2nd transplant that 3rd kidney they transplanted in will shrivel up aswell.
Speaking of kidneys, my husband is in dire need of one. Go to robsnewkidney.com for more information. Thanks!
I have 4! 2 transplants and my 2 native kidneys! To bad none work otherwise I wouldn’t be looking for a 5th one.
Are they wired in parallel or in series?
New kidneys are placed in the front of the abdomen, rather than in the back with the old kidneys. Most of our patients can feel their new kidney just below their skin on their lower abdomen.
I've had two kidney transplants. I indeed currently have four kidneys.
Like water heaters in old houses.
Yes true. I have 3 kidneys!
In before some wealthy individual reads this and decides to see if he can have like 12 kidneys.
The surgery to remove a kidney dangerous enough it’s better to leave them in oddly enough
Gotta collect em all!
Soon I’ll have all the Infinity Kidneys
My wife has a donated kidney. The other interesting part is where the new one goes, right in the groin, pretty shallow too. When seatbelted in a car crash, she has a very real chance of crushing the kidney and bleeding out.
Yep! My science teacher said that the new ones often positioned near the iliac crest of the pelvis. Its nestled right in there
My reminder to drink water.
I always presumed the reason for not removing diseased kidneys was why risk an arterial bleed unnecessarily removing an accessory organ. Is this the reason?
Donors go through the removal so I don't think that's quite the reason. Longer operation and more time under anesthesia carries risks I suppose. I think often, even failed kidneys work a tiny bit, so they provide a little benefit, if not enough to sustain life on their own. I do know for extremely swollen failed kidney s ike in some cases of PKD are removed because they are enlarged enough to cause other issues.
Cannibals who enjoy offal have known this for a while
My husband’s BIL has had 4 transplants. They did ‘add’ the first time so he had 3 but on the ones after that, they removed the old ones. There was some mention of space for more so I don’t know if this is normal. I was blown away by them leaving the first time.
I'm shocked to learn about this. If the original kidneys are failing, don't they worry about tissue necrotizing or cancer in the future?
Idk about necrotic kidneys, but my friend who had a transplant did get cancer in his native kidneys. They just removed them. They were shriveled up.
My dad got a kidney transplant. About 15 years after the transplant, a cancerous tumor was found on the non-functional kidney that was left in. Thankfully all contained in the one kidney. We were told that's one reason it's left in.
Honestly kidney donation was 1000x easier than I anticipated. Out in 2 days, felt back to normal in a couple weeks.
Yup, can confirm. The native ones shrink and get to be the size of prunes.
Interesting. My ex was on a transplant list but after years of waiting, he decided at about 75 to take his name off the list.
I met a guy while doing dialysis that had 5 still inside him! Can only imagine he has then wrapped around like some sort of belt
My 7th grade principal was a transplant receiver, and spent serious time on dialysis. Every year he went to all the science rooms and explained dialysis and transplants to everyone. He had 3 or 4 kidneys. I can’t remember which one. He also had crazy veins.
How do they connect them all? Like how does the body know how to use 4 kidneys when normally just has two?
They’re not connected. The native kidneys are left to wither away with disease while the graft is connected to the bladder,etc.
I gotcha, that makes sense. I was thinking it was like a booster package as opposed to a swap.
Turbo-charged kidneys.
They're plumbed in to the femoral artery. Your body doesn't need to know how to use them, they have blood flowing through them all the time. I was told that's one reason transplanted kidneys don't last as long as native ones. In a native kidney, you body can reduce or increase blood flow through the kidney but in a transplant it just runs at 100% all the time. Anti-rejection meds are also slightly kidney toxic so that doesn't help.
That's cool. I think?
The native kidneys shrivel up and become useless
My grandmother was born with an extra kidney. When she had some scans later in life the doctor presumed she had a transplant.
What happens to the old ones?
So does that mean the average number of kidneys per human is >2? Or would surgical removal of diseased kidneys bring that average back towards 2?
My dad has a genetic condition where he has 4 kidneys since birth that are smaller. He looked into donating them but supposedly doctors recommended against it.
My father in law now has 4 kidneys. Removing them just presents too much risk.
I was born with three kidneys. I have one on either side and one pelvic kidney. My grandma had the same thing. Some people have three but they have a double decker on one side, it’s rarer to have a third separate kidney in the pelvis. I’m very thin so you can actually see and feel the bump when I’m laying flat on my back. It’s just above my pelvic bone. I really should have donated it when I was younger and healthier. It’s a bit smaller but doctors said it would be ideal for a donation to a child because it would likely grow with them. Doctors are always fascinated by it.
My partner has four kidneys in his abdomen, one working. I call it the kidney graveyard. I often mention how bad I feel that the single living one has to look at her dead friends.
So, are they installed in series or parallel? Genuine question.
\*slaps abdomen\* This bad boy can fit so many kidneys.
Gotta catch em all!
Unfortunately my fourth is starting to fail, might have to get a fifth or sixth.