To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Thursday, June 30, 2005
A Bitter Sweet Anniversary
Today is the anniversary of my mom's kidney transplant. Twenty-nine years ago today (yes, I said 29) they wheeled my mom into an operating room and my grandmother into another one, and the rest, as they say, is history.
With today's advances in medicine, a kidney transplant recipients have a pretty good outlook, all things considered.
Like I said, it's a bitter sweet day today. It's my mom's first anniversary without Grandma... and that's a little bit rough on everyone... Mom especially.
With today's advances in medicine, a kidney transplant recipients have a pretty good outlook, all things considered.
Most centers have patient and organ survivals of over 90% at one year, and more than 80% at three years. By 10 to 15 years, about 50% of transplanted kidneys are still functional. Kidneys from living related donors do better than from deceased donors.So... 29 years later... the doctors have my mom come back for function tests, look at the results, and say, "well... uh... um... keep up the good work."
Like I said, it's a bitter sweet day today. It's my mom's first anniversary without Grandma... and that's a little bit rough on everyone... Mom especially.
