Hi! I’m Jen. I donated a kidney to my husband Bryan in July 2012 in Denver, Colorado.
It took about six weeks for the anesthesia to wear off after the surgery, but on the seventh week, I felt my energy level was back to normal and we did one of our favorite activities: camping with our silly Lab mix, Rio. We went hiking in the Rocky Mountains, threw sticks into a gorgeous alpine lake for Rio to fetch, and drank beer from the cooler at the campfire. We’ve been camping countless times in our 20 years together, but it was even sweeter to do it having come through the fire, so to speak.
We’re almost to the 1-year anniversary of the transplant/donation surgeries – woohoo! My lifestyle hasn’t changed at all. I went snowshoeing and skiing last winter, traveled to England and Scotland in spring to celebrate Bryan’s transplant (we watched a lot of the London Olympics while we were healing – suddenly, we had to go there!), danced like a crazy person at concerts and am getting ready to go play with our six loco nephews and nieces at a lake in Wisconsin. Life is good!
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