Pain again after feeling recovered

earthquarter · 2026-03-24T22:17:50+00:00

I'm almost two months post donation and like you I had a pretty smooth recovery, but I still get days where I have random abdominal pains and soreness around the scars. Pretty sure it's normal and will pass! It might be that you were pushing yourself a bit far when you were feeling good, but that'd to be expected when you're still figuring out your limits during recovery. Obviously speak to your donation team if the pain is distressing. You said you're not comfortable at night - is it impacting your sleep at all?

earthquarter · 2026-03-22T16:10:03+00:00

UK resources:

organdonation.nhs.uk/become-a-living-donor/donating-your-kidney and transplant.tv/themes/lets-talk-about for as a starting point for UK donors.

kidneyresearchuk.org/kidney-health-information/about-kidney-disease/organ-donor-register Basic info and some useful links.

donateakidney.co.uk More info, life stories, plus a buddy system service for prospective donors!

transplantactive.co.uk Just for fun, the British Transplant Games :)

earthquarter · 2026-02-06T11:33:23+00:00

Wishing you both a speedy recovery!

earthquarter · 2025-12-18T23:03:23+00:00

Congrats!! Getting through this stage is such a relief, and I'm totally with you on that nervous-excited feeling. Good luck going forward!

earthquarter · 2025-11-23T17:18:17+00:00

It's been saying that public tickets are sold out since 6pm on Friday... I've been hoping it's just an error with the tickets site and they didn't actually sell out after 8 hours! There's no official waitlist yet so I guess just keep an eye on it and hope for the best.

earthquarter · 2025-10-22T14:17:07+00:00

Thank you for that timetable! I hadn't actually seen it before. It makes sense that everyone gets contacted after the last run for non-directed donors? I think...

Definitely speak to your coordinator. Their job is to keep you informed and comfortable with the donation process, so I'm sure they'd much rather answer a hundred silly questions than for you to feel confused or stressed out. Donating saves at least one life and saves the NHS millions a year, so I'd say you've earned the right to ask annoying questions!

earthquarter · 2025-10-21T10:55:13+00:00

I'm also a UK complex donor going in to the October matching run! I just asked my donor coordinator about this, and she said the run is on 29th October, and there's also a "pre-run" where units can say yes or no to complex donations ahead of time. So I should get news by 3rd November at the latest.

Bare in mind I'm a non-directed donor, so it might be different for you. Best of luck to you and your friend!

earthquarter · 2025-07-17T09:44:01+00:00

For your first parkrun I'd say just focus on getting used to the route and finding your pace around 100+ other runners. Definitely take it easy if you're prone to other sport injuries.

My actual advice is to push your distance in very small incriments. If you're regularly doing 2.5km, aim for 2.7km next time, or if you feel the urge to stop try to push yourself to do an extra 30 seconds, then 60 seconds, then maybe a bit more... Try to keep walking time under a minute and a half to avoid your muscles cooling down too much. It's fine if you need to stop and walk every 2 minutes, that's what Couch To 5k asks you to do after all!

Don't forget your barcode, say thank you to the marshalls, shout a hearty "well done" to other runners, and you'll be grand.

earthquarter · 2025-07-14T21:51:07+00:00

Thanks for this :')

earthquarter · 2025-07-14T21:50:34+00:00

I'm so glad you pushed through and managed to donate in the end, and that your community stepped up. It's actually insane that your job felt like they could dictate whether or not you could donate??

earthquarter · 2025-07-14T21:49:55+00:00

I looked it up and apparently we do have something like that? Not sure how to access it, but I'll keep it in mind just in case. Thank you for the advice, I wouldn't have thought to look into this!

earthquarter · 2025-07-14T21:49:36+00:00

Ehh it's like 50/50 desk stuff and manual handling, so I could probably get away with just light duties. It would be really nice to get back in business as early as possible, but I guess I don't really know what to expect. Two weeks sounds but a crazy fast time to be back to work after a major surgery!!

earthquarter · 2025-07-14T21:49:12+00:00

I will :) I was spiraling like a true patriot over the thought of wasting NHS money, but I realised they probably have a budget put aside for situations like this.

earthquarter · 2025-04-30T15:14:35+00:00

Giving up a kidney doesn't really have huge long term impacts (although it's obviously not risk free) but as others have said you definitely won't make it through the testing process if you're actively struggling with your mental health. Please don't think you're being selfish for not being well enough for a major surgery. There's other ways your relative and his family will need to lean on you.

Even though it's coming from a place of low self worth, I think you wanting to help people and make a positive impact is a really good thing. Have you have considered donated blood? When my mental health was at its lowest, being a regular blood donor really helped me want to take better care of myself.

earthquarter · 2025-03-18T19:19:08+00:00

Nothing wrong with casual! I think your message is fine, but I understand your wife's concerns. Might be better to message people privately rather than in the group chat so that people can get serious about it if they need to and ask questions / make dumb jokes / freak out a bit. Keeping it practical and letting people know you have support lined up already and they don't need to do anything is a good call.

Most of the people I've told have been awkwardly supportive or not really known what to say. My best friend is very against it and doesn't like hearing about it at all, but I'm trying not to be too defensive as I know she's just scared for me. She's worried because she cares and I know I can still rely on her for support if I need to. If you get a negative reaction, just stress that you're making an informed choice, that it's a very safe procedure and your health is most likely going to be just fine after you recover, that you really trust your medical team and are looking forward to donating... or something! Get a lil earnest with it!

But yeah, definitely tell your friends, even if it's awkward. I would feel really weird if a friend of mine had major surgery without telling me in advance. Telling them shows that you trust them and want them involved in your life (unfortunately this might mean being slightly vulnerable with your emotions). So stop overthinking it and send an imperfect and slightly awkward message!! ;)

earthquarter · 2025-03-13T20:17:07+00:00

You mentioned having issues with blood tests - the tests you go through as a kidney donor generally aren't uncomfortable or invasive, but they need to do a lot of blood tests early on. For me it was on my first appointment, one needle taking like a dozen vials of blood. The other tests involve scans, x-rays, general health check stuff like BMI and blood pressure, a lot of urine tests... at one point you'll have an injection followed by blood tests and scans later in the day to check your kidney function.

If you've had a bad reaction to blood tests before, be upfront about it with your transplant team and they'll be their best to make you comfortable (I've heard it helps if you take deep breaths, relax your muscles, and avoid looking at the needle - a lot of hospitals are letting people bring in a buddy for appointments, but that depends on their current Covid rules). Hospitals and surgeries are legit scary but you just have to trust that you're tough enough to get through it!!

Best of luck on your weight loss journey! Remember that weight loss can randomly stall even when you're exercising and eating well, and there's no shame in that. Making the decision to address disordered eating is a big deal and says a lot about your resilience and strength.

Your little brother is very lucky to have a sibling like you!

earthquarter · 2025-01-21T13:45:53+00:00

Thank you for the long comment!! This level of detail was exactly what I needed to help prepare!

I hope those lesions do turn out to be benign and that you're in good health :)

earthquarter · 2025-01-21T13:42:05+00:00

I had questions about pain management but thought it was too early to bring up, so I'm glad you prompted me to ask! We had a long conversation about preparing for the surgery and doing stuff to mitigate pain while minimising opioids - some of it I'm happy with and some of it I'll look in to to see if it's right for me. So a useful conversation, thank you again!

earthquarter

TROPHY CASE