Hello, I’m Jason Elmore and I donated one of my kidneys to my mother-in-law last year.
I was not the first choice to donate to her. My wife went through the process first and was ruled out, then her brother went through the process and was not a match either. Then I tested, and surprisingly I matched and could directly donate! I never thought about not doing it after I was a match. My activity level prior to surgery was really active, I was playing basketball twice a week in the morning before work and doing mostly CrossFit workouts during the week. Playing with my kids as much as possible.”
My surgery went well, the doctors at UC Health in Denver said my donated kidney was a “super kidney” and told me if it was anything like my remaining kidney I would be great. In the first few days, I felt annoying pain because of the gas in my shoulder and the sneezing/laughing/coughing. Holy cow, the first hard cough I had made me think my stomach was going to explode. It hurt so bad! After about a week I was walking more and feeling much better after the gas pain alleviated. I was off oxy on day 4 or 5.
With this surgery, they told me to take six weeks before any type of lifting or working out. So before week six, I would walk, walk with my wife, go to the gym with her and do the treadmill or Stairmaster, and that was it. I started lifting light weights and barbell only stuff after week six. I waited until after about eight weeks for pull-ups. You can see my progression on my personal Instagram profile after recovery (@jelmore12). No real unexpected hurdles, although I did have some minor abdominal pain around week 10 or 11 and I took a break from working out for a week. Since then, I am pretty much back to my pre-surgery fitness. Running was rough but I did complete the Murph on time and with a vest.
I do not feel too much different now, but things I constantly watch are my caffeine, my additional protein intake, and I use a non-stimulant pre-workout (Genius). I already drank about 80-100 ounces of water a day anyway, so water intake was not a problem. I feel great, we just passed our One Year Kidneyversary, and my mother-in-law is doing amazing. Her doctor said they couldn’t ask for better numbers!
Kitchen Pass for life!
