Hello all,

I came back for a little update.

I found this thread a few months ago while looking to speak with other folks going through a donation.

Since then I connected with @mauraacro (and I have read all of @triciaodonnell's posts) and through some lucky chance encounters, I met up with some other donors & recipients in my town. Very lucky re: how some these connections came about, very much by chance - so I'm happy to have had these chances.

I also was able to tell my family about my donation decision, in person. That was pretty interesting. It went well, they're supportive, but it was certainly difficult to explain. Fortunately I took a lot of literature with me, which helped. My workplace is also supportive, and I have a fantastic partner as well that is assisting and also very supportive. I'm very lucky in this respect.

Everything is lining up, which, as only a couple of months have gone by, is pretty exceptional. There's a lot more I could write here, but perhaps I can save that for a future post. In general, I've been very amazed at the responses I've gotten from the people I have told about this - and I'm certainly more aware of how many people out there are in need of a kidney.

So: now it's all just logistics: My last contact with Mayo was re: moving forward with the process, picking a date, etc. My recipient doesn't know yet, and I'm letting the Mayo team handle this, which is OK with me. So for now I'm in kind of a holding pattern, waiting to see what happens and how it all moves forward. It's an interesting time, to say the least.

If anyone out there is in the same situation and wants to connect, let me know. I plan on documenting my experience here much like @triciaodonnell and @mauraacro have done. Reading their experiences has helped me greatly with my own decision making and meditation on this decision, so perhaps I can help do that for someone else.

-cleverusername