u/michiganlattes

By far the most painful part was my left hand falling asleep. I have one IV in my arm and another in my hand, and my hand was tingling/asleep as soon as I woke up, so they took the hand IV out. It got worse by the evening, and my fingers started twitching. Then they took out the arm IV and put it in the other side, and all feeling returned to my hand within 2 days. The IV fluid in my arm must have been "leaking" somehow.

Otherwise I've felt pretty good! I thought there would be more deep, internal pain, but it's just been my hand and the incisions that bother me. I can't believe how easy it is to donate a kidney (as long as you keep up on your meds).

My infant recipient is doing well :)

I'm less than a month away from donating, and I expect my period to end the day before surgery. I read on this sub that it's fine to be on your period while donating, but I also opened a whole other can of worms there: what's your period like after donating?

I know you can get pregnant after donating a kidney, but for those of you who are not on birth control, what was your experience like with menstruation afterwards? I'm a little scared.

I am currently being screened as a donor for an acquaintance. I feel very prepared, well prepped about the risks, and reading people's stories here has been helpful.

A lot of people seem to have long, difficult recoveries, like still struggling 12 months out. Are these outliers, or is it common to still feel bad for that long? I'd donate either way, but I'd love to hear if anyone considers their recovery as being relatively "easy".