Football Post Transplant!

Hal · Post by **Hal** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 6:25 pm

Hi,

I really would like to play football (soccer for our American friends) again after my transplant... however, I understand that this is not recommended.

Has anyone ever seen / heard of some sort of protector that would look after the kidney whilst playing football?

I know Jona Lomu continued to play rugby after his transplant, but they put his kidney under his ribs.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Hal

SteveUK · Post by **SteveUK** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 7:01 pm

Hal,

On searching the web for some kidney protectors or shields (or something similar), it would seem they only come designed to protect the native kidneys, there doesn't seem to be anything for transplants that I can see. Hope someone else can come up with something.

Surely if you're just going to be having a kick-a-bout in a park with a few mates then it only pays to use common sense and tell your mates to "go easy on you" etc. I've played football ocassionally post-transplant (allbeit I am utterly crap! LOL) and my mates all understand that and I have never had any problems.

Of course, if you're going to be playing at any competitive level then it does become a question of whether it's recommended or not and you most likely would need the protective gear.

Hope this helps mate.

Steve

(P.S. hope you enjoyed the match last night

)

JMan · Post by **JMan** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 7:58 pm

Hal,

Strange you mention it. When I was a peadiatrics at Guys (now Guys & Toms) they made me up a custom shield for playing cricket.
Basically I got an appoinment in the 'plaster dept' they did a cast of my abdomen area & then made a hardwearing protective solid shield from that.

Hope this is useful
Jim

Bill · Post by **Bill** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 9:41 pm

Hal:

I was very careful for the first few years but as time went on I got more laxed with my activities. Since then Iâ€™ve done all sorts of things without a problem, yes football (though Iâ€™m not good) skiing (snow and water), baseball, Iâ€™m sure I could go on.

I canâ€™t say I can â€œrecommendâ€ these things itâ€™s up to you but as the years go by and the kidney â€œsettles inâ€ I think youâ€™ll feel comfortable enough to play.

Bill

sparkey79 · Post by **sparkey79** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 10:51 am

Hi hal
My other half played football twice a week throughout his first transplant he played in goal and up front and was very careful, the teams he played against were warned in advance and he never had any problems, he also played after having his fisula when he was on dialysis but not in goal as he couldnt put his gloves on comfortably,he has just started playing again after his second transplant in january (just five-a-side for now)to be honest there has never been any stopping him even though i worry for his safety!
As long as you are careful and take it steady you should be fine,he found it more difficult protecting his fistula from people grabbing his arm whilst playing than shielding his kidney.
hope this helps.
Sparkey

Alasdair · Post by **Alasdair** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 1:26 pm

Hey Hal,

I used to play cricket, football, basically any non contact sport. The risk is always there. It just depends on what you are comfortable doing. Doctors will always advise you not to do something as it takes away the liability from them.

squiggles · Post by **squiggles** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:27 pm

can you not be a ref for the day then at least you still get the atmosphere from the game

Bear · Post by **Bear** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:56 am

In October, I was about to go to a wetsuit manufacturer to get a 'gladiator style' sleeve you could slip a soccer shinguard into, to protect my upper arm fistula while surfing......then got an infection & lost the bloody thing!!!
If I end up with a transplant, I hope I'd have the energy to get back into the briny (or if I get back to home haemo & as good as I was starting to feel a few months back). I'd find some way of protecting the area. I like the idea of the cast being taken & something made from that....

Pam · Post by **Pam** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 5:59 pm

Hi Hal,
I'm sorry I am so late with my post....a woman who had a transplant at the same time as I did was an Emergency Medical Tech and she went on calls to accidents and other dangerous situations. Our tx surgeon (at the time-he has since retired) somehow got a sort of protector made of fiberglass or something and she was able to continue working without danger to her kidney.
I'm not sure of where or how he got this shield for her....I will check out a few things and let you know if I find anything out....
Take care of that kidney!

Pam