I’m sure you’ve noticed that there have been a few years since I wrote about Mary Louise. The reason is long and involved. I spent two years having what they call the work up for the transplant only to discover that I have a sizeable kidney stone in my right kidney, the one I was keeping. What to do? They performed a lithotripsy on me under general anaesthetic: sound waves directed at the stone with the intent of fracturing it into millions of tiny pieces that would ultimately leave my body.
No luck. The stone remained unscathed. Another lithotripsy took place. Again, the stone remained intact. The surgeons didn’t want to try again as the second procedure lead to my becoming septic and being rushed to emergency.
In a nutshell, I was advised to not proceed with the donation. This left me feeling incredibly disappointed and sad at the futility of the entire endeavour and my ultimate impotence to help Mary Louise.
This story does have a happy ending. Some years went by and finally I received the call I had hoped for for so long. Mary Louise was in the hospital and had just received a live kidney. Imagine all those years on dialysis and it was finally over.
Mary Louise and I are and will forever be close friends and I still have an inactive (sshhhhh!) kidney stone!
With Warm Tart Regards,
Michèle