My son, 37 years old, donated a kidney for me 8 weeks ago via the National Kidney Registry. He had to be off work for 6 weeks due to the lifting requirement of his job. They paid all his wages; they paid all his travel expenses. They also paid our caregiver expense for his donation surgery. He was in a pretty good amount of pain for the first week and then got steadily better. In his surgery, they made a c-section like cut in the lower abdomen. Hope that helps.