Reply #5: Been there. [View All]

That boy was robbed. $20K would not be enough even for the testing I had to go thru 25 years ago when I donated a kidney to my diabetic sister. I'm thinking of one test in particular where they shoot radioactive dye into the major artery in your leg. I thought my head was going to explode. I tried to get off the table and the tech grabbed me and threw me back on.

I was in the hospital for 3 days. My sister was in for a month. At the time, I was a skinny little runner, so the scar went half way around my body. Now, it doesn't look nearly as big! For awhile, it feels like your organs are all sloshing around in the empty space (especially when I started running again a week later), but eventually your other kidney enlarges to take up the load and everything goes back to normal.

They are only supposed to last about 10 years. My sister just passed a couple years ago now, so I figure I gave her a good 'un. I used to threaten to repossess it when she would go on twinkie binges. It probably would still be chugging, if a new doctor hadn't taken her off the correct meds..........