About Transplants

Naturally, it is important to be aware of the consequences of living donation. This information is provided to offer you the opportunity to become educated on this important topic.

You might not know a lot about living donation - I know I didn’t before kidney disease affected my life. Understandably, some people are afraid about the surgery and what living with one kidney will mean for them. Here’s some basic information about kidney donation:

  • You only need one kidney to live a healthy, long life.

  • Most donor surgery is done laparoscopically, meaning through tiny incisions.

  • The recuperation period is usually fairly quick: generally two weeks.

  • The cost of your evaluation and surgery will be covered by the recipient’s insurance.

  • You will have a separate team of healthcare professionals to evaluate you as a living donor. Their job is to help you understand the risks and benefits and look out for YOUR best interests.

Interested in Donating to Evelyn?

If you are interested in finding out more about donating to me specifically, please visit the sites below. I’m registered with the University of Iowa Health Care (Iowa City) and Northwestern Medicine (Chicago).

University of Iowa’s Health Care’s information here: https://uihc.org/educational-resources/information-kidney-donors

Information about their living donor transplant program here: https://uiowa.donorscreen.org/register/now

Northwestern Medicine provides info about Living Donor Organ Transplantation, what it is like to donate, who can be a donor, and benefits of being a donor here: https://www.nm.org/conditions-and-care-areas/organ-transplantation/living-donor-organ-transplantation

And for more info about donating a kidney, as well as links to other resources, go here: https://www.nm.org/conditions-and-care-areas/organ-transplantation/kidney-transplantation/donors

FAQs

  • Generally, donors should be between the ages of 18 and 65 years old. You should not have any major medical or psychiatric illness and you must not be pregnant. You should not be overweight, although you may still be a potential donor if you lose weight. If you smoke, you must quit for six weeks prior to surgery. You also must understand the risks of this surgery and comply with instructions for follow-up medical care.

    Source: UCSF Health

  • This decision is made jointly by the transplant team, you and the recipient. The transplant team — particularly the doctors involved in the recipient's care — will determine the best time for the transplant, based on the recipient's medical condition. Once we know this, we will ask for your input and try to accommodate your schedule, if possible.

    Unfortunately very little is written in stone. A number of factors could affect our plans. For example, your recipient's condition might deteriorate so that he or she is too sick for a transplant. Or, the recipient or donor might develop an infection or other condition that must be treated before a transplant.

    Source: UCSF Health

  • The medical evaluation of potential living donors is extremely thorough. Once you complete your evaluation and we decide to proceed, there is not much additional testing to be done. If you'd like to donate your own blood in the event you need a transfusion, you should donate a unit of blood two to four weeks prior to surgery. We may need to repeat some blood tests, if they were done more than 30 days before your surgery date. You also must give a blood sample to our blood bank within 72 hours of surgery.

    We will ask you, your recipient and your immediate family to attend a final pre-transplant review for any minor tests that may be needed and to answer any remaining questions two to three days before surgery.

    To prepare, you also should:

    Stop smoking, even if you're a light smoker. Smokers have an increased risk of cardiovascular and pulmonary complications with any surgery.

    Stop drinking alcohol. If you have a history of heavy alcohol use, it's important that you tell our doctors. You should not return to drinking alcohol after surgery until advised it is safe to do so by the transplant team.

    Avoid aspirin or non-steroidal medications, such as Advil or Motrin, for seven days before surgery. These medications can affect the ability of the blood to clot and put you at higher risk of bleeding. You may take Tylenol, if needed. Women who take birth control pills are advised to stop taking them 30 days before surgery because of increased risk of blood clots after surgery. Continue to take your regular medications until instructed otherwise by your doctor.

    You can eat and drink normally until noon the day before the surgery. You will have a liquid diet from noon to midnight then nothing by mouth until surgery. You will take a laxative the day before surgery. If you regularly take any medications, we will instruct you about these when you come in for the final appointment before surgery.

    You and your recipient will be admitted to the hospital on the day of the surgery.

    Source: UCSF Health

  • In any surgery involving general anesthesia, there are possible complications of the anesthesia itself including heart complications, stroke and blood clots in the legs or lungs. Risks associated with any operation on the abdomen include bleeding, infection and failure of the wound to heal as well as death. We will discuss these risks in detail during the evaluation.

    Source: UCSF Health

Donor Resources

You can also learn more about living donation at these links:

You can also contact these organizations by phone or email for further information.
  • NKF’s free, confidential helpline is 855-653-2273, email at nkfcares@kidney.org.
  • Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) patient services department number is 1-888-894-6361 and their email address is Patient.Services@unos.org.
If you want to talk to someone who’s already donated a kidney, the National Kidney Foundation can put you in touch with someone. Call the National Kidney Foundation’s PEERS Program at 1-855-653-7337 (855-NKF-PEER) or email nkfpeers@kidney.org.
Living donation may not be right for everyone — but you can still help! Consider being an organ donor after death….and register to become an organ/tissue donor in Illinois. 
 

Please help by sharing my story with everyone you know. At the very least, I want to bring awareness to kidney disease and living donation. I am hopeful my efforts will help others, as well as myself, receive a much-needed kidney sooner and encourage others to talk about this issue.

You may realize how challenging it is to make this big ask. Requesting family members, friends, and strangers to consider donating a kidney is an emotionally taxing prospect. However, all my life - through thick and thin - I have always been an optimist and believed that good things happen, and that they happen because people care.