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| Og relaxing while waiting to be taken home after his kidney transplant [Photograph: Toosh] |
Og got the phone call and accepted me. I was packed in ice and headed for the airport to get to St Vincent's in Melbourne. I am not sure where from as that was my old body's brain and eye's job. In the upstairs downstairs I was downstairs and simply did my job and minded my business.
I was on the way while Og made his own journey, both of us to make our destiny together. (see Og's experience).
The operation took about 4½ hours and we woke up together at about 11:40pm Wed 12 Mar 2008.
I felt like I had hit for a 6! Taken from my old body, packed in ice, and shipped to a new position in a new location. I wasn't ready to cooperate at all. Also, I was heavily doped up and feeling very drowsy.
Wake me up in a few days. I will worry about it then.
The few days passed and I started to think, I only know how to one thing so if I am to survive in this hard world I better get back to it or I might be out of here. I was a big effort but for the next few days I managed to push out a few teaspoons of fluid and clean my new host's blood.
I still felt like a Mack truck had hit me and all I wanted to do was sleep again, but the drugs were uppers, not downers, and I started to get hoppy.
Another 2 days and it was getting to be like it was before in my previous body. It seemed like I was being given the hint to pull the finger out and get back to performing my duties as I had always down.
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| I am Eric the Kidney and I live in Og the Bear man! [Image: St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne] |
OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! Stop sticking needles in me, I am doing the best I can, give me a break! I thought I had 3 months to settle into this new job.
"No worries Eric, just checking you are OK because you are taking some time to settle in and do all the work you are supposed to. You seem to be perfectly OK in there, but we are keeping an eye on you" Doctor Sweet One.
Og has been able to get away a bit now he is not tied to the dialysis machine:
- Og felt the need to return to his own country
- Og catches up with Lady Bear and Maldon
- Exit Bubbles, the dialysis machine
- Og took me to the Apollo Bay Music Festival 2008
I was content just to take in the great vibe!
As you may have sensed, I haven't been able to the job for Og that I would have hoped.
It's got harder and harder as the journey went on.
It seems that my original body had a virus that had done me a lot of damage, and when transplated to Og, the immunosuppressant drugs allowed that virus to do even more damage to me. So Og and I ended up in hosptial or much of the end of 2008.
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| Og resuming dialysis" [Photo: Rosie] |
By early 2009 we were struggling even more and Og had to resume dialysis. I guess at this point the writing was on the wall.
Og was not well and my presence was not helping.
So early June 2009 time for came for us to part our ways.
Eric the Kidney
POST SCRIPT ADDED BY OG:
What happend with Eric was simply bad luck. 1 in 20 kidney transplants don't survive the first 12 months. But, that means that 19 out of 20 do!June 2009
So what I suppose I am saying is that I took a chance, and lost. But if I was well enough and that phone rang, I would right back there as soon as I could to do it again, have another transplant.
I would not think twice about it.
Thankyou Eric from Og.
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