Having a Nephrectomy (Kidney removal)

Because I have Poly Cystic Kidney disease my kidneys have grown in size with the many cysts attached. So much so that the kidneys were displacing other organs and I had a considerable belly. The average kidney is about a few hundred grams and would sit in the palm of your hand. However, my kidneys were about 2 kg each and about the size of a small football. The specialist said that I was not eligible for a transplant because there was no room inside the Peritoneal cavity for a new kidney. That meant I had to have one removed. We opted for the left kidney as it was the one that had previously given me the most problem. So in May 2010 I went to RPA and had a major surgery to remove the kidney with an open operation. The main concern for the surgeon was controlling the blood vessels. The kidney function is to clean the blood and hence it has many blood vessels attached. It was about a five hour operation with 30 staples to close the wound and the recovery was six days in hospital and a lot of pain. Full recovery was three months but I still had a large welt around the wound which took several more months to eliminate with exercise. I'm glad it is done and I am told that a transplant operation is not as gruelling (I'll let you know when I get there). Of course I still have the right Kidney and it is just as big as the left kidney was and it is only providing minimal urine output. It is possible that at some stage with  a new working kidney in place I may have to have the right kidney removed.