WTC is asking for kidneys to get to Kona now?!?!

Seriously though,I have no advice but just wanted to wish you and your donor recipient all the best of luck..

------

i agree, you have won more respect than finishing any race by donating a kidney. best of luck to both of you. btw, kidney donation is fairly major as far as healing goes. listen to your body.

I'm in a similar position. I'd like to hear from an athlete who has donated too. I've been told its a long road to recovery though, I'd like racing withing 2 months would be out of the picture.

---

---

My mother in law received a kidney and
pancreas around 20 yrs ago.
She was the first bilateral transplant at Penn.
I highly doubt you'll be racing in the same calender year.
Good luck, you are a better person than I.
I would only do that for my wife or son.

---

I'd Rather Play Hockey And Lose, Than Figure Skate And Win A Gold Medal

I donated a kidney in Jan 2009. I was in good shape beforehand, mid-40's. I did my first tri 5 1/2 months later. I think I did 7 tri's that summer without problems. I was running about three weeks after surgery. I started swimming at one month, but I do remember feeling as though it was pulling on my incision area. If you're in decent shape and allow yourself some time to heal with gradual return to training you should do fine. Today I have no residuals whatsoever. I did several ultra runs last year and continue to do regular tri's and Xterras. I assume you'll have a lap procedure, perhaps "hand-assisted," which is what I had. My incision is vertical straight down under the bellybutton. It's really not noticeable when I wear shorts. Let me know if you have any other q's; I'll be happy to answer them. Feel free to pm.

No advice.

I'm a kidney dialysis nurse so I can tell you from experience what a great gift.

---

Train safe & smart
Bob

just wondering. With only one kidney do you need to worry more about electrolyte imbalances or dehydration during endurance events? Or using things like Advil which may cause acute renal failure.

The transplant doctors told me to never take NSAID's (ibu, aleve, etc) again because they can hurt the kidneys. My family doc thinks that's too extreme. He says that an occasional Aleve wouldn't be a problem. I went for two years with no NSAID's, but in the past year I've taken some Aleve because of over-use injuries. I don't like the thought of taking stuff that will hurt my remaining kidney though, so I don't use it very often at all. I also try to really keep an eye on hydration, which is something we all should do.

Also, back to the OP, I could have "done" a tri two months after surgery, but I would have by no means been able to "race" it. Also, prior to surgery I had done a lot of tri's, including 10 IM's.

I would not race at all for a good 3 months afterward. That is a major surgery, and you cannot see what is going on inside your body. Take a mandatory 2 months off at least, then move forward. No need to kill yourself or put yourself on the list of patients who need kidneys for a race a little over 60 minutes (or under) long.

donating a kidney is actually comparable to an appendectomy. It involves a single incision, dissection of the back wall of the abdomen, and removal of the kidney. You can go home the morning after if everything goes well. You won't need even close to two entire months off.

I'm not saying it's mega-surgery, at all, but it's also no appendectomy. Mine lasted about four hours. I had extra vessels that they had to deal with though.

I agree that he (hopefully) won't need close to two months off from training after the surgery. I definitely wouldn't recommend hard racing during that two months though. I think the OP is wise to get info from athletes who have actually had the surgery.

This is no way to get to race weight!

Best of luck on the surgery.

I am a kidney recipient 8 years out. Enabled me to finish Ironman Wisconsin in 2009, thanks to my sis. Her recovery was a little rough for the first week. Pretty uncomfortable and bloated etc.. after a couple of weeks she was good to go. I doubt she was in as good a shape as you are in. Alot of side bennies. You live longer and you get the best physical you can have. You will need to have a pretty clean bill of health to give it up.

Thanks for giving the gift of life.

Hmmmmm. How much do adenoids, tonsils, kidney, appendix, gal bladder, and spleen weigh together? Think I can save a kilo?

Thanks everyone for your comments. I think my basic question/assumption is something like this: I assume that there is some period of time, maybe a few weeks, that I would have to be careful so as to not actually hurt something. I assume the body needs time to mend. The muscles need to grow back together. Too much strain during this period might cause a hernia, pull out stitches, something like that.
After that though, I would like to think that while it may be uncomfortable, I won't actually hurt anything.
If this is the case, I should be able to just listen to my body and not push beyond my limits. Does this make sense?

i have a friend who donated her kidney - still a pretty hard core athlete
she did a bike across canada a few years ago to raise money for transplant issues
she even competed in the transplant olympics
i think tri is a new event for this year?
best wishes to a fast recovery to you and the recipient

Best of luck. You are awesome for doing that.

I have not been through it buy my uncle did give my dad a kidney. He is not into tri buy is a marathon runner. He was down from the sugary longer than my father was. He did end up with an infection post sugary so his recovery was postponed by that but he was able to do some shorter runs two months after. He was up an running normal again after month three. This may be a bit of an extended schedule but its what it was for him. I will try and give him a call tomorrow to get you some more specific information.

Matthew,
I thought I would let you know that I am scheduled to donate next Tuesday at Mayo.
I am doing the first tri of the year this Saturday. It's an in-between sprint/olympic distance in Morris, MN. I am grateful to have that one to do as I will have a little down time after. It is nice to have something to focus on.
I was told that I need to take it very easy for at least two weeks and that after that I can probably go by how I feel. I am planning on a sprint in mid June and an Olympic in mid July. We'll see.
Thanks for your earlier reply.

Good luck with the donation. You won't need it though. I'll tell you how I added at least a day to my hospital stay. Once they told me I could start eating and drinking I drank way too much way too soon. It was not good and that's an understatement. When they tell you that you can eat and drink take it nice and slow. Test your gut before slamming down 50 oz of fluid. Give us all an update once you're back home.

weight reduction, you will be faster!

good luck man!

---

---

Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Hi Alex,

I was searching for keywords athlete donor and found this.

I donated my kidney exactly two months before to my brother, and I'm an athlete too. I usually run 4km under 15 minutes (and some short excercises for another 15minutes) and then go and play badminton for 90 minutes every day. I've not been back to any of these as of yet.

Instead of taking advice on my specific, can you please elaborate your actual experience; so that I can take insights. Especially, when exactly you started training after donation and were you able to make it to June event after your April donation.

Cheers!

It has been a little over two years now and I have no ill effects whatsoever. It seems like we were all born with a spare kidney.
I had the transplant surgery on May 1st, 2012. I wasn't able to do the tri in June because I had a little complication with a suture. I was recovering nicely for about three weeks and had even started riding my bike again when I started having some pain just below my belly button. It got worse and worse and I ended up back at the transplant clinic. The clinic didn't help but eventually, about three weeks later, I saw a local family doctor who recognized the problem right away and operated right then in his office and removed the suture. Three stitches later I was on my way to full recovery. I started training very soon after that. Biking first, then swimming and lastly running. By the end of August I was able to do my next tri.
I have done about 10 tris since then and a number of running races. I don't think having one kidney has made any difference at all in athletics or any other part of my life. I try to avoid ibuprofen and am maybe a little more careful to stay hydrated but that is probably good advice for any of us.
Even with my minor setback, I would do it again in a minute.
I hope your brother is doing well and your recovery goes smoothly. I wish you the best of luck.

All I want to know is if you will have steak with the old ones in the pie?

---

http://RoadID.com/...te/4HC4V-TAFQ9XPJDTX