Risk of donation

[YollyD_NKF]

What are the long term risk of donation?

[SoniaBrummer]

Hi! I donated back in 2009 and I remember the first significant long term study on kidney donors had just be released by the University of MN. Many attempts to study had been done before, but the U of M does the most kidney transplants, so they had finally completed a long term study with a significant sample size. I am having trouble now finding that study, but I found an article about the study here. You might have better luck finding it with some diligent research online. I'm sure that by now, there have been some more studies released. I am currently in another long term study - I live in MN and the U of M is working on another one. I fill out a survey every year about my health.

nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/N...

There are no risks to speak of associated with kidney donation. If you qualify to donate in the first place, you'll be healthy afterwards either. In my experience, there are only 2 things I need to watch out for: ibuprofen is really hard on your kidneys (regardless if you have 1 or 2) so I'm a Tylenol girl. I avoid pain killers in general anyways, so no biggie. Secondly, I don't ever really feel thirsty anymore. I need to drink a lot of water (and everyone should). If I don't drink enough, instead of feeling a parched thirsty feeling in my throat, my body skips that step and I just seem to feel a little ill all over. Doesn't happen often.

I'm also into some eastern healthcare practices. I get shiatsu massage done regularly and my kidney meridian is very sensitive. I react strongly (in a good way) to work done on that meridian. Technically, it will always be in disharmony since a part of the meridian is missing now.

I did not donate to someone I know. If you do, there could be short term or long term emotional or psychological risks. Talk to your transplant coordinator about those - and don't hold back! Speak openly, it will only benefit you in the long run!

I hope this helps!