Angioplasty procedure went well

I am out of hospital this morning following an angioplasty and placement of a stent in a cardiac artery that was 90 per cent blocked.  The blockage was discovered through some tests to qualify me for a kidney transplant.  After  the stent was put in via a cardiac catheter inserted in my groin into my femerol artery the flow was 100 per cent open.  The procedure took about an hour.  The tough part was keeping still during recover for about 8 hours.  My back ached a lot and my restless legs kept twitching and clenching but I got through it and was allowed to move finally at around 10 PM last night. I slept in the hospital and was released at 6:30 AM this morning.  This was all done in Newmarket at the South Lake Regional Health Centre.  The staff were all great.  I have to take it a little easy for two days and then after about a week I am back to full duty.  My dialysis, normally doen on Thursday morning is switched to the afternoon.  Newmarket is about 90 minutes away from my home.  My sister drove me down and brought me home.  My interview with the transplant people is Oct. 18th in Toronto.  the normal wait for a cadaverous donor organ is about 8 years.

There were some stories on the kidney transplant situation in Ontario in the Toronto Star this week. For some dumb reason, Ontario is the only province without a central registry for transplant coordination.  There are instead five regional transplant registry.  My town is assigned to the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), which has the longest wait for kidney donations, and not surprisingly the lowest number of donor consent cards in the province.  One of the highest places is North Bay with 43 per cent.  GTA is 13 per cent.  So if you live in the GTA please consider signing your donor card.