Gentlemen,
The transplant operation went off without a hitch. My sister and myself are doing well and continuing to recover. I go to clinic visits on Mondays and Thursdays to both track my progress and to monitor/adjust my medications. Clinic visits are reduced to once a week after the first six weeks, and then to every second week, then once a month and finally once every two to four months. My new kidney is doing well (touch wood). Kidney function is primarily monitored by the level of creatinine (a waste product) in the blood and normal readings for a male (with 2 kidneys) are 70 – 120 μmol/L. My latest reading was 81 μmol/L and my nephrologist told me that my kidney function is in the top 10% of transplant recipients. For comparison, my creatinine reading on dialysis was over 900 μmol/L. Since the transplant my blood pressure has also dropped dramatically and my latest reading (at home) was 116/84. My incision is healing well, too and I am just careful to keep my pants fitting loosely for the time being. A transplanted kidney is placed in the lower abdomen; mine is on my left side.

@Karl (Birdbeard), DoNTMOV3, & Baldbandit - Thank you for your well wishes. I did see your posts before the surgery but didn't have a chance to respond.
@Greyfur - All of those emotions come into play. It was a huge relief for me when my sister came out of surgery and the doctor announced that everything had gone well. Before the surgery, both my sister and myself had talked with social workers (who are assigned to each transplant case) about the emotional impact.
@Ulfraut - I'm glad you've enjoyed my beard journey so far. I will eventually post an update as everything gets back to normal. As to my family, I was very fortunate to have so many volunteers who were willing to be tested. I never asked any of them to consider donating; I believe it is a very big personal decision and not one I should influence. And yes, I am another British Columbian; I'm in Delta.
@Ahh - Thank you.

And a big thank you to everyone for all of your support. I really appreciate it. Btw, if anyone has any questions regarding the transplant procedure, feel free to ask.
- Fred

Things work out best for those who make the best of the way things work out. - John Wooden

Bearded in BC's Thread