Living Donor Volunteers

[FleurChild]

I have had CKD for a number of years and have reached the point where dialysis is on the horizon. I haven't really talked about it much with anyone, but the cat got out of the bag. I expected a lot of poor you responses, but what I didn't expect was three people to come forward and say they wanted to give me a kidney. I am completely blown away by their selfless generosity.

I'm sure that there is a lot of testing between now and a transplant and I know that nothing may come of this.

Can you tell me about your experiences with live donor matching - how long did the process take? What hurdles did you face? How did you feel about accepting a gift of this magnitude?

Thank you!

[bsssa11]

Hi,Jan 2022 I had gone through the live Renal Transplant before that several test done n it take around 2.6 months and by God grace everything gone positive. My Transplant were SWAPING. Now doing well.Now u can also go through test ,it may take lesser time. Be positive during test.

[Mgt8]

That is wonderful. Even if you do not find a match with any of these lovely people, you can do a swap. They match you with another suitable donor and your donor matches with someone else. It can be quicker and more successful than waiting for a deceased donor.

Wishing you all good outcomes,

Mgt

[LavenderRabbit]

I had four people willing to give me a kidney. I felt (and still do feel ) truly blessed!

I don’t think that any of them did not really mean it. So I had no problem in excepting the gift. These were all family members. A brother, 2 cousins and my husband. In the end it was my husband that gave me the kidney and I knew his mind the best. If it had been a stranger , I think it would have been the same for me. The Transplant team assesses the donor, and makes sure that they are not being coerced in anyway, and that they are mentally and completely physically capable of donation.

I know that donors say that they would do it all over again. That they have no regrets. My husband has said it more than once!

PS. This was a “Kidney Exchange”.

[mtwskk]

it doesn’t take long a few weeks. Be prepared to not match and if they do both you and the donor need to be prepared if it doesn’t work out as planned. It’s really hard when someone gives you a kidney and something goes astray. Be prepared and make sure the donor also is prepared.

[ShyeLoverDoctor]

I tried very very hard to “find” a living donor. My sister stepped up immediately to be tested but some health issues came up and she didn’t even finish the testing. My advice - it’s temping but do not ask anyone outright for a donation. They know you need it. If they wanted to donate, they’d say something. I finally broke down and asked my brother outside and he flat out refused and said No, and don’t ask me again and acted very offended. I will never think of him the same way, ever. I’m trying to let it go but sometimes I still feel bitter. I emailed absolutely everyone in my address book. I put it on Facebook, had my friends post it on facebook. I put it on Nextoor.com. I out an ad in my church bulletin and one woman came forward, but she was 60 and turned out to not have enough kidney function. My friend from college steeped forward to be tested. He was 59 and failed the evaluation. I put an ad in the monthly local giveaway paper. One woman said that she was going to be evaluated, but her GFR was 87 last year and for the transplant center I was at, 85 was a hard line for them. Fortunately I got a deceased donor transplant. I really really wanted a living donor, but it just didn’t happen.