4 years down the road

[debrabasson]

four years down the road after my transplant, and am still going strong, just got my test results, everything is normal, I advice everyone looking for a donor to expand their network, I waited almost three years, you have to put it out there

[Crocheting-Cricket]

Thanks so much for this, debrabasson! I have to say, in my last year and a half of trying to donate a kidney, the system makes it SO difficult! No wonder there aren't more live donors! I am very frustrated at how slow the process is while there are people on dialysis. I hope to be very vocal about it and advocate for more live kidney donors after my surgery. People need to know what a gift it is they could be giving and know that it's not difficult to do (it's just a SLOW process!)

[EchoMax1012 in reply to Crocheting-Cricket]

I agree with the post, Crocheting-Cricket. On the other hand, I felt good that the medical people were just not rushing in to take my kidney, but were doing their due diligence to make sure everything was safe, both for me and for my recipient. Perhaps a balance between excessive caution and reckless abandon could be achieved.

[EchoMax1012]

I understand the importance of expanding your network, although it is a hard ask for people to seek a kidney donation from others. We have a program at Donate Life Northwest called 'Erase the Wait' which encourages people with CKD to be more aggressive in asking from others, esp when closest friends and family choices have been exhausted. Good for you to make this happen...I'm wondering what happened to make you expand your efforts...

[Crocheting-Cricket in reply to EchoMax1012]

I think people who need a kidney might be surprised by asking others! When my brother knew he needed a kidney and waited 3 months to even ask me, I said "Yes!" without hesitation and said "Why didn't you ask sooner so you wouldn't be worrying all this time!" People can surprise you and unless people hear about the need, they won't even think about it.