Has anyone in their mid-50s ever donated to an older parent? How was the outcome? Any regrets?
Has anyone in their mid-50s ever donated t... - Kidney Donation
Has anyone in their mid-50s ever donated to an older parent? How was the outcome? Any regrets?
Written by
KellyLS
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6 Replies
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DSKdonorNKF Ambassador
Hi. I was in my mid 40's, but my Dad was 70. This was 15 years ago... He had pretty darn great results. However, today, through the National Kidney Registry (NKR) - kidneyregistry.org - they have programs at "certain" transplant facilities that would allow you to use something called a Standard Voucher; you donate to the best recipient for YOUR kidney, and then your parent would "CASH IN" on your voucher, like a coupon, to then receive the best kidney FOR THEM! Something I would highly recommend looking into!!! Both surgeries would have to take place in NKR transplant hospitals.
DSKdonor, thank you so much for your reply. May I ask about your current health situation? Any residual effects at age 55? How about your dad? Is he still ok at 85? Does having only one kidney affect your blood pressure or is your kidney function at all compromised? Knowing what you know now, would you still volunteer to donate your kidney?
First of all, NO REGRETS AT ALL! It was THE BEST thing I could have EVER done for my Dad! I'd do it all over again if I could!! I have had absolutely NO issues whatsoever post donation with my health. No other donor I know has had any issues either. We all seem to be healthy to start with and continue to take care of ourselves post donation.
My Dad did fairly well for 13 years, but unfortunately passed away April 2020 - NOT from anything Kidney related nor Covid related either. Things are so different now with the National Kidney Registry and matching kidneys rather than direct donation.... that would be the only thing I would have changed... going through the NKR which didn't exist back then to get a better matching kidney for my Dad! I was a match and 15 years ago, that was pretty much the best we could have asked for. So you're in a better place today.
I donated in May if 2021 to a person I saw on Facebook who needed it. It ended up being a 3-way swap. I donated the day after my 58th birthday. Recovery is tough is we get older but I am pretty for to begin with. I would say it took about 4 weeks until I felt back to normal. Now, aside from the scar, there is no residual effect.
As noted above, kidneys go to the best match. The guy on FB ended up with someone else’s kidney; mine went to another stranger. Everyone is doing great now.
