It's HARD to Give Away Your Own Kidney!

It is much harder to give away a kidney than you would imagine.

Once I offered my kidney to my friend, the first step was to convince him that yes, I really AM willing to give him on of my kidneys.


Then I needed to find out if I have the same blood type as his.  That's the first of a whole LIST of preconditions if you want to be a 'directed living donor'.

Living donor: a living person who is donating one of their organs (or part of an organ) 

Directed donation: the living donor specifies who should receive the donated organ - usually a relative or friend, but sometimes a stranger!

The blood test was done, and... my friend and I have exactly the same blood type!  That was really great news: my friend can give blood to anyone, but can receive blood only from someone with the same blood type as his.


He contacted the Transplant Center, and within days I received a call from Maria, the Living Donor Coordinator.  She thanked me for my willingness to enter the Living Donor program, then proceeded to ask me a raft of questions regarding my medical history.

Are you diabetic?  Pre-diabetic? Are you hypertensive? Pre-hypertensive?  Do you smoke? How much do you weigh? How tall are you?  How much do you weigh?

(Ok, she really didn't ask that twice, but answering that particular question was REALLY traumatic for me!)

Do you have heart problems? Cancer? What about your family medical history?

Maria gave me an overview of the  donor evaluation process, and asked if I were willing to continue to the next step: testing for my compatibility with the patient. That testing would involve drawing blood.  A lot of blood.  

I'm afraid of needles.  In high school I successfully evaded the tetanus vaccination - only to face it again 12 years later when it was required for travel.

I would be extensively and intensively tested, not only for compatibility with the recipient, but also for my overall health AND the health of my kidneys.

"Once you've agreed to be considered a donor, you'll go through an in-depth assessment of your health. It's your health that is of utmost importance to the transplant team. What they want to know is that: 

• Your blood type is compatible with the recipient's blood type, and how your tissue antigens match to the recipient's antigens, 
• You are healthy enough to withstand major surgery and recover completely, and 

• You have a healthy kidney—preferably the left one—to donate, and you have a healthy kidney to keep—one that can compensate for the loss of a kidney."

- from Living Donors Online 

...That was just the intro to Phase 1 of the evaluation.