Thanks for this valuable information. I am going to check it out when I have a better opportunity to read thru it.
I really appreciate all of the information that you are presenting on this blog.

Rosemary

I have been told, "You are never too old to learn." In this case I'll say "You are never too many years post transplant to learn more!"

Hello Rosemary,

I am new to this blog (tonight is my first night). I am on the Mayo Kidney transplant list and in the process of trying to find a live donor. Earlier this evening when I logged on there was a post by someone who was willing to donate a kidney. Since I am new to this site I have not been able to find that post so I can try to connect with this potential donor. Could you help me find this individuals post?

downtownsbrown

Welcome to Connect, @downtownsbrown.
Let me help you find your way around. To see all the discussions in the Transplant group, go here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/transplants/

If you Follow + the group, you will receive email notifications when new messages are posted.
You can find more tips on how to use the site here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/get-started-on-connect/

Hi @downtownsbrown and welcome to our page! Since you mentioned you are trying to find a living donor, I wanted to share with you a link to our living donor toolkit. I hope you'll find some helpful information to aid you in this process. We'd welcome your ideas and feedback on anything you'd like to see added to the page. Here's the link: http://mayocl.in/2h1ChQ3

Kristen

@downtownsbrown, I also want to welcome you. We are here on Mayo Connect to share and to support each other based on our experiences. And we ask questions and work toward finding answers together. There are other members who have shared their pre and post transplant experiences that you might find helpful.

I encourage you to check out the information that both Colleen and Kristen have provided.
Come back here, or feel free to jump into any of the discussions that interest you.
I look forward to continued conversation with you.
Rosemary

@downtownsbrown My apologies for hijacking this post? I'm not sure what post you are referring to but I am in the process of becoming a kidney donor. I post in " Transplants- Kidney: Journey From the Donors side" most often. I should be finished with all my pretest by the beginning of July. I am a universal O donor. So far I'm moving forward as an altruistic (non directed) donor & am going through Mayo in Jacksonville. I would love to know my kidney recipient as do directed donors but have accepted the fact that may not happen which does cause the normal emotion of sadness on occassion.

@downtownsbrown welcome to Mayo Clinic connect. I’m type 1 diabetic and had a pancreas transplant in 2005 and that has helped to preserve my kidney function until about 2016. Since then I bounce between stage 3 & stage 4 CKD with GFR ranging from low 30’s to 14. When it was 19 I went through pretransplant evaluation. I was approved, accepted and listed for kidney transplant. Given that could take awhile I’m also looking for a living kidney donor. I’m type O - and I’m working with Mayo Rochester. Colleen, Kristen, Theresa and Rosemary are always helpful and provide links to great information. @beckyjohnson there should be more people like you. Hooray for folks willing to be living kidney donors! If you haven’t already learned, there is more to matching recipient & donor than blood type. There are at least 6 other factors having to do with antibodies and there is a cross match or tissue typing that is necessary as well. @beckyjohnson, those things might not concern you if you are an altruistic donor because if you are approved/accepted after the pretransplant evaluation it will be up to Mayo Jacksonville to match you with a potential recipient. Have both of you heard of paired donation exchange? This is when a recipient-donor pair don’t match but agree to trade with another pair that has the same situation. Whole chains of folks have come together in what turns out to be a kidney swap meet! The potential for good healthy matches and transplants is amazing. Not all transplant centers are equipped to offer this but the Mayo system does and has more information on this if you are interested.