Yesterday I posted my outrage about the NKR requirements for voucher holders. Thankfully I listened to you all who said they didn't actually have to do that and I checked with my coordinator. I'm including her response. (black text box is what NKR sent voucher holders and white text box is from my coordinator)
TL,DR: I will donate my kidney anonymously soon, as it has been planned for a few years now. I am in a healthy condition (generally), but have 3 potential "red flags".
I drink (not much). I can stop as needed.
I vape and used to smoke. I can stop as needed.
I have a medical record that includes inpatient hospitalization for a psychiatric condition.
I want to know if any of the 3 could exclude me, and understand the size of each obstacle.
Hello,
I've been planning on this for a few years now and finally my circumstances allow for it. I am set on wanting to donate anonymously, but had a few questions regarding donor requirements. (NJ, USA)
I did labs not long ago and my body is generally in a healthy and stable condition. (I'm 24)
I have 4-6 drinks (2-3 doubles) most weeks.
I used to smoke, and now I vape instead. I can only use it a few hours a day and have been using less and less.
I have a psychiatric diagnosis (more than 1, lol) and an inpatient hospitalization experience (more than 1, lol).
I can stop "1)" or "2)" for weeks to months as necessary and have done so before reliably.
Would I need to stop for a certain period or could this disqualify me from the jump?
For "3)", I have been in a stable condition for over a year since I found the right meds and worked on myself. I work in a few things, mainly I work as a therapist (therapist adjacent) full-time. I have been consistently volunteering for the past year 15-30 hours a week besides my work.
I am confident that if I speak with a psychologist or psychiatrist, I will likely be considered stable. Would I get that chance or would I be excluded by requirements before that?
I have looked and will look more into the requirements and speak with the hospital team about these questions regardless. I am hoping to hear from people who donated (or couldn't) under similar constraints. I would also love to hear from any professional involved in these procedures.
Thank you for reading!
8 weeks pregnant and a living kidney donor—what do you wish you had known?
Hi everyone! I’m currently eight weeks pregnant and donated one of my kidneys twelve years ago, in 2014. This is my first pregnancy since donating, and I’m hoping to learn from other living kidney donors who have gone through pregnancy—or anyone with relevant experience.
I will absolutely follow the guidance of my OB and kidney specialists, but I would really appreciate hearing about your real-life experiences:
I would love to hear positive stories as well as honest experiences about challenges. I’m not looking for Reddit to replace medical advice—I’m trying to educate myself, prepare good questions, and advocate for the healthiest possible pregnancy for both me and the baby.
Thank you so much for sharing anything you wish you had known at eight weeks. ❤️
Three of my voucher holders are very unlikely to want to go through all this for an organ that they're very unlikely to ever need. I wish I would have been made aware before submitting names.
Hi everyone! I’m hoping some former PD patients can help me out. 💜
I received a new delivery of PD supplies just 4 days before I got my kidney transplant, so now I have a bunch of PD bags, lines, and supplies that I no longer need.
I called Vantive, but they told me they don’t pick them back up, and my PD nurse doesn’t want them either.
For those of you who had a transplant while on PD, what did you do with all your leftover supplies? Were you able to donate them somewhere or find an organization that would take them?
I’m in Central Florida, if that helps with recommendations.
I’d really appreciate any ideas because I hate the thought of all these supplies going to waste! 💜
I donated my kidney to my father around 3 years ago. My latest creatinine is 1.11 mg/dL and my eGFR is around 69. My blood pressure is normal and my urine test was also normal, with no protein or blood.
I’m just a bit worried because it seems like my eGFR has gradually gone down. It was around 78 post op then 73, (2025) and now around 69. (2026)
is this alarming or very normal to happen after years of donating thank you! Im 29yrs old blood pressure and sugar are normal level
This is more of a rant about my friend. I gave my friend a kidney last year. We were both 39. She had been on dialysis for over a year. Dialysis was not going great. The donation was a big success and now she's living a normal life. She went on medical leave while she was on dialysis. She went back to work a couple months after the donation. She ultimately quit her job for understandable reasons. My qualm is that now she will not look for another job. She refuses to work even part time. This is not good for her family's finances and I feel like this sets a bad example for her kids. I know it's none of my business what she does with her life.
While she was healing, in her own words, she "played the kidney card". She "couldn't do anything " because she just received a kidney. I feel like I have my own right to "Play the kidney card" and tell her to stop making excuses and set a good example for her kids.
Am I being dramatic? We're pretty good friends.
I’m a healthy 37-year-old woman being evaluated to donate a kidney to my baby (29-year-old) brother. I had my clinic day on Thursday and everything looked great, but then these kidney CT findings were posted to my portal:
• Three left renal arteries arising off the aorta
• Findings involving the left renal/gonadal vein, likely related to incidental nutcracker phenomenon/anatomy
From what I’ve read, it sounds like donation may still be possible depending on the specific anatomy and the transplant center’s assessment.
Has anyone here had similar findings and still been approved to donate? I know my team is the only one who can interpret my case, but I’m trying not to freak myself out before I’m able to speak with them!
Hi everyone! Long time listener, first time caller:)
Last year in Aug, my husband’s cousin let us know he was put on the kidney transplant list. My husband and I (47yo) immediately did the preliminary testing and then we didn’t hear anything for months. His cousin was still doing ok, and let us know there were some people getting the “deep dive testing” for donation.
Then I got a call in early May to see if I was still interested; the others hadn’t panned out. Of course I’d do it! My only concern was timing - my eldest daughter was going off to college at the end of Aug., and I wanted to be healed enough to be there for her. It would also be great to have her around for my recovery since I also have a 2.5yo.
The other tricky factor was that I’m taking the summer off of work, and would be going back after my daughter leaves for college. Wishful thinking that it would be a crazy fast process:) The medical selection committee meeting was postponed for a few weeks.
I got the call that I’m a perfect match! All 6 HLAs match up! We had them over for dinner and surprised them with the news that he’s getting a healthy kidney. They were SHOCKED since we didn’t tell them anything besides the initial blood draw that happened a year prior. I didn’t want to say anything until there was something to say. It was fantastic to be able to give them this news:)
Luckily his cousin’s (very low) gFRs have somewhat plateaued, so they want to push the surgery off as long as possible before he gets really sick while still staying within the timeline of my results being current. When he has surgery it will start a new timeline…
I’ve turned down the job that I had lined up (it just wasn’t a great fit longterm for our family) so now we are looking at next spring, pending his lab results. If he starts to drop, of course we’ll move the surgery up sooner.
Another factor I was concerned about was my toddler. I still nurse her at bedtime and morning time, and I’ve never spent the night away from her. But luckily she’ll probably be done nursing and will be in a much better position to stay home with Papa next spring.
For anyone nursing and donating, I researched this pretty hard, and it looks like I would have been fine to continue to nurse shortly after the surgery itself, (or pump and dump at least to keep up supply until I would get home.)
I have zero reservations about the surgery, I was only concerned about timing and the toddler. Looks like both will be alright! The surgeon at UCSF was a kidney donor himself 18 years ago! And he’s getting worked up to be a living liver donor now.
UCSF has a great transplant team:) Looking forward to next spring!!
Enjoy the reveal! https://share.icloud.com/photos/096eILbA5wjJ3BqgNXunVg4OA
Donated almost a month ago and am still sweating profusely at night. And today my testicle started throbbing. I'm peeing constantly at night, but no pain during pee. No blood.
Waiting for results from my first post-discharge blood draw.
Has anyone experienced this?
I'm supposed to donate in 4 days and it's been such a rollercoaster to get to this point. I have everything tee'd up. I just had to do one last urine culture and it came back positive for alloscardovia omnicolens. Apparently this bacteria is a "good bacteria" but can create opportunities for a UTI to occur. I don't have any UTI symptoms.
Do you think this will delay surgery? I am so deflated.
Kidney transplant - why can’t it be done this way? Even the heart surgery is done the way gallbladder is done.
Consider becoming a live kidney donor. For more info: It's World Organ Donation Day. #TransplantFirst Curious about donating a kidney, check this out: https://kidney.ca/en/get-involved/be-an-organ-donor
Wasn't sure whether to post here or on r/AITAH, but figured this would be more constructive, so here I am!
My husband (36m) decided earlier this year he wants to donate a kidney. I (40m) have some misgivings. My husband has been interested in the idea of altruistic donation since Dylan Matthews wrote about his experience in Vox years ago, but the inciting incident was that a friendly acquaintance (~40m) of his revealed that he needs a kidney.
I've met this person once or twice, perfectly nice, a university professor with a seemingly strong social network, but he has congenital kidney disease so family donation options seem limited. They're not a match (my husband has already gone through all the testing), but I understand that by donating on his behalf, my husband would push him up the priority list. The acquaintance's current situation is not dire, but he's been told by his doctors that he will likely need to start dialysis sometime in the next few years.
My husband has not revealed his plan to many people. All the family and friends I've shared it with think he's crazy. My parents were appalled and I had to stop taking their calls until they calmed down. I don't think he's crazy—I understand that kidney donation is relatively low risk while providing a tremendous benefit to the recipient, and I admire his impulse toward generosity. My concern is that we have a baby (15 months) at home and life is stressful and chaotic enough without trying to squeeze in an elective surgery right before Christmas because that's the only time my husband's work schedule would allow it.
I've told my husband I think now isn't the best time for our family, but he wants to help his acquaintance and says there's never a perfect time, which is probably true. My husband's personality type is definitely the say-yes-now-ask-questions-later type, so I feel like I'm the one who has to pump the brakes in these types of situations.
My most immediate concern is how the recovery period will impact our family. Our son will be ~19 months at the time of surgery. We have a nanny during weekday working hours, and could probably hire extra help during evening and weekend hours if need be, but obviously that's not ideal. It sounds like he wouldn't be able to pick up our son for up to six weeks, which means he'll have very limited childcare capacity. We don't have family near us and I imagine it would be difficult to travel for Christmas if he's one week post-op.
So, does anyone have experience donating a kidney with a toddler at home? Am I being pessimistic about the challenges posed by surgery and recovery under these circumstances? Any experiences or wisdom, positive or negative, would be much appreciated!
By far the most painful part was my left hand falling asleep. I have one IV in my arm and another in my hand, and my hand was tingling/asleep as soon as I woke up, so they took the hand IV out. It got worse by the evening, and my fingers started twitching. Then they took out the arm IV and put it in the other side, and all feeling returned to my hand within 2 days. The IV fluid in my arm must have been "leaking" somehow.
Otherwise I've felt pretty good! I thought there would be more deep, internal pain, but it's just been my hand and the incisions that bother me. I can't believe how easy it is to donate a kidney (as long as you keep up on your meds).
My infant recipient is doing well :)
UPDATE: They reached out! We’re playing phone tag but I have the MA’s email, too. Thank you for the insight & support. To be continued!
__________
Hi everyone!
I (45f) registered as a non-directed donor through NKR. Initial bloodwork all came back spectacular. I selected my transplant center over a week ago… and haven’t heard back.
Is this typical? Should I reach out to the center directly? I’m feeling deflated already. The person I was emailing with through NKR got kind of short with me when I asked questions… not a good vibe.
Any guidance or encouragement is appreciated.
Hi,
I (39 F) am considering donating to my spouse (40 M). His egfr is fluctuating between 9-12, he is yet to start dialysis, no symptoms other than fatigue. I am not a match for him - my blood group is A+, his is O+. Will do a paired exchange.
I would have started my evaluation right away but the doctor at UC Davis said I need to consider how long I want to breastfeed and think this through. I read on the internet that the wait time is at least a year after you have a c-section. I had gestational diabetes during my pregnancy but controlled it through diet. Before pregnancy, if I exercised, my hba1c was within normal limits (it would be slightly prediabetic (around 5.7) if I didn’t eat right or exercise. I don’t have any other health issues, BMI is normal. We were not expecting the egfr to go down this early. Had I not been postpartum, would have tried preemptive transplant or a few months of dialysis before transplant.
No other family members can donate (father has diabetes and mom passed away, he is a single child). Extended family members (relatives) haven’t volunteered and this is something you can’t ask anyone.
Has anyone donated within 1 year of postpartum? Any advice is appreciated.
I'm five days post-op and wanted to share an item that I didn't see pop up on any other recovery item list that I think is essential. Promise this is not sponsored I just want the world to know.
Get an extra large reading pillow, the ones that come with arms. I have this one, but any should work as long as it's relatively firm: https://a.co/d/073L4IVg
I had a C-section 4 years ago and someone told me to get this when recovering from that procedure. I was soooo grateful then and I am using it again now while recovering from the kidney donation and it is truly my #1 tip for surgery recovery. I don't have a recliner that I could sleep in and it is fully impossible to lay flat for a while after surgery. I just put this giant arm pillow against the headboard, place my regular pillow in the arm pillow at an angle, and lay sitting upright just like I could in the hospital bed. I shove a small blanket under my neck to make up the gap and it's like a perfectly contoured bed suddenly. Game changer.
Buy the giant pillow if you only have a bed to sleep in, I promise it will make recovery and sleep so much easier!
I donated six days ago and the pain has increased every day. I don’t have children but I’m told what I’m describing (severe feelings of fullness, pressure, and cramping in the lower abdomen and vagina, with back pain) sounds like being in labor. Did anyone else experience worsening pain like this? They have me on Tylenol for pain management 🙄
UPDATE: I contacted the urology nurse who set me up with a new pain management plan of Percocet with a muscle relaxer every 8 hours. Doing much better now! I was instructed to go to the ER if the new meds stop helping, or if the pain isn’t better by the time I’ve run out of Percocet.
It’s been almost 3 months since I started the process of donating on behalf of a friend (voucher program since we’re not a match), and I know they need to be thorough, but it’s just a lot while I know my friend is also going through dialysis. I popped on here to see how people have been doing post surgery and appreciate everyone sharing.
Today is my 24 hour blood pressure monitoring day and it’s truly a test of patience. Not exactly sure how I’m going to sleep through the night. I told my husband I may have to go down to the recliner if I can’t get comfortable in bed and it is very likely going to wake me up each time it beeps and inflates 🤣
Assuming my blood pressure is OK, I believe this will be the final piece, so I would hopefully know something prior to Labor Day (Dragon Con weekend here in Atlanta). I know they said that going on blood pressure meds to stabilize my blood pressure if it was a concern wouldn’t exclude me from donation, I just hate the thought of that, but I’m curious about others on here who are on BP meds and donated.
