Living Donor: It's a huge responsibility

I am a living donor the transplant was March 15, 2016
I did not know the recipient at the time. She was a very sick woman and has since had a new lease on life. I feel incredibly grateful to be part of this miracle. My health is great my recovery was great, I was sore of course and it took time to heal but i would do it all over in a heartbeat.

I donated a kidney to my sister in August 2015. We are both doing great. Our family (my father's side) is affected by polycystic kidney disease (PKD) so many family members have undergone transplants mostly living donor. Besides a donor I have been on the caregiving side too as my husband had a living donor kidney transplant (2010) followed by a pancreas transplant (2015). He is now insulin free!

I know what you are feeling. I am scheduled to go to Mayo in Rochester the week of Oct 9 for testing. I am hoping to be a donor for my husband and have all these fears about not passing. We are the same blood type so that is a plus. Just have to leave it in God's hands and the capable people at Mayo.

I donated a kidney to my sister in August 2015. We are both doing great. Our family (my father's side) is affected by polycystic kidney disease (PKD) so many family members have undergone transplants mostly living donor. Besides a donor I have been on the caregiving side too as my husband had a living donor kidney transplant (2010) followed by a pancreas transplant (2015). He is now insulin free!

When my brother was diagnosed with end stage renal failure I thought I should see if I would qualify as a donor. Less than 10 months later I was diagnosed with end stage renal failure, different reasons. He had a live donor, a friend of his wife, I did not. He died this last year, I'm still alive. Living with a different life style was not high on his list of things to do. Living with a different live style was and still is important to me to keep the kidney happy. Good luck.
mlmcg

I am 12 years post pancreas transplant and currently waiting for a kidney transplant (past 2 years). I am listed on UNOS, but am also looking for a living kidney donor. Today I came across this group on Mayo Connect. I want to say that the donation/transplant process involves a roller coaster of emotions for the potential recipients & donors alike. My own experience is that my 1st transplant 12 years ago came from a deceased donor after a miraculously short wait of 2 weeks. Now after 2 years waiting & looking, only 1 living kidney donor stepped up. It was my daughter. Our blood types, crossmatch/tissue typing was fine. We were both so hopeful. She went off to Mayo in Rochester, MN for donor evaluation the week of Thanksgiving. She ended up deferred for a variety of reasons and claims that she was told that she is an unsuitable donor. She was devastated and angry! I was disappointed but also concerned for my daughter and grateful that Mayo was looking out for her well being. My daughter feels like she was thwarted in doing something she desperately wanted to do and I still don't have any living donor prospects. I realize that Mayo has a stellar reputation for excellence in Transplantation and I've seen how they treat each case/situation individually not just like a number or statistic. So in the meantime I'm trying to pray and wait patiently, take as good a care of myself as I can (so I stay transplant ready) and trust that the best plan for me will unfold at the proper time.

I am 12 years post pancreas transplant and currently waiting for a kidney transplant (past 2 years). I am listed on UNOS, but am also looking for a living kidney donor. Today I came across this group on Mayo Connect. I want to say that the donation/transplant process involves a roller coaster of emotions for the potential recipients & donors alike. My own experience is that my 1st transplant 12 years ago came from a deceased donor after a miraculously short wait of 2 weeks. Now after 2 years waiting & looking, only 1 living kidney donor stepped up. It was my daughter. Our blood types, crossmatch/tissue typing was fine. We were both so hopeful. She went off to Mayo in Rochester, MN for donor evaluation the week of Thanksgiving. She ended up deferred for a variety of reasons and claims that she was told that she is an unsuitable donor. She was devastated and angry! I was disappointed but also concerned for my daughter and grateful that Mayo was looking out for her well being. My daughter feels like she was thwarted in doing something she desperately wanted to do and I still don't have any living donor prospects. I realize that Mayo has a stellar reputation for excellence in Transplantation and I've seen how they treat each case/situation individually not just like a number or statistic. So in the meantime I'm trying to pray and wait patiently, take as good a care of myself as I can (so I stay transplant ready) and trust that the best plan for me will unfold at the proper time.

I am 12 years post pancreas transplant and currently waiting for a kidney transplant (past 2 years). I am listed on UNOS, but am also looking for a living kidney donor. Today I came across this group on Mayo Connect. I want to say that the donation/transplant process involves a roller coaster of emotions for the potential recipients & donors alike. My own experience is that my 1st transplant 12 years ago came from a deceased donor after a miraculously short wait of 2 weeks. Now after 2 years waiting & looking, only 1 living kidney donor stepped up. It was my daughter. Our blood types, crossmatch/tissue typing was fine. We were both so hopeful. She went off to Mayo in Rochester, MN for donor evaluation the week of Thanksgiving. She ended up deferred for a variety of reasons and claims that she was told that she is an unsuitable donor. She was devastated and angry! I was disappointed but also concerned for my daughter and grateful that Mayo was looking out for her well being. My daughter feels like she was thwarted in doing something she desperately wanted to do and I still don't have any living donor prospects. I realize that Mayo has a stellar reputation for excellence in Transplantation and I've seen how they treat each case/situation individually not just like a number or statistic. So in the meantime I'm trying to pray and wait patiently, take as good a care of myself as I can (so I stay transplant ready) and trust that the best plan for me will unfold at the proper time.