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Kidney transplant - The Journey from the Donor's Side

Transplants | Last Active: Apr 29, 2020 | Replies (357)

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@cehunt57

@mauraacro & @gingerw my daughter is a living kidney donor (to her Grandpa in 2003). She is a biologist working in some research capacity at Mayo in Rochester, MN. She told me that being a donor does not make her more likely to contract the virus, but if she did, it could be VERY bad. The virus effects lungs & diminishes oxygen to the body. When vital organs (Kidneys) aren’t getting oxygen they will shut down. If you only have 1 kidney, this presents an increased concern. Mayo is diligently working on triage/testing plus working on developing a vaccine and researching possible treatments. My daughter sent pictures of construction of testing facilities set up in parking lots across the street from her office where she usually works. She is working from home now. My SIL works in bio mechanical engineering at Mayo. He is working from home too. They have taken turns going into work during off times when fewer people are around. Mostly they are doing everything they can to stay safe and protect my daughter’s one kidney.

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Thank you for the info.
The transplant nurse didn't offer much besides practice social distancing and stay away from anti inflammatory meds. I'm not sure if that's all the info available or if it's because I'm not sick and have passed my 2 year mark so not covered by Mayo anymore.
It's difficult to find information on this or any virus when I search for results using "kidney donor" or "1 kidney" because the results are geared toward kidney disease or the process of donation. I am pretty awful at The Google though.
I will proceed cautiously and continue to be grateful that I am healthy.

Thank you, @cehunt57, for sharing your unique account from your daughter.