donating in 20s

[rg]

Hi, I've found very little information on donating at a young age especially from a donor's perspective. I'm planning on donating to my father, I am 23. I was looking for any information from anyone else going through this process, too, or that has gone through it at a young age, also. I'm mostly concerned with the recovery process and taking time off from work and how long I might need.

[joshs]

Hi. I am 25 year old male who is 2 weeks post left nephrectomy. Yeah, there definitely is not a lot of data regarding young people donating - I spoke in great lengths with the transplant nephrologist about this. I took 6 weeks off from my work for the surgery. Currently I'm feeling pretty good, just still a bit sore and it hurts to move in certain positions (sitting to standing, etc). The only issue I a m having is fatigue, I can have a full night of sleep and still wake up in the morning and feel exhausted. From what I've heard from others on this site and from the transplant team is that this is pretty typical and will get better over time. Some days are definitely better than others. Let me know if you have any other questions!

[Fr Pat]

If you wish you can also post at the FaceBook page of Living Donors on LIne, as more donors check in there, including some young ones.
     Fr. Pat

[sherri]

I think the concern about young donors in their 20's is not so much the recovery but the length of time you will be living on one kidney. Discuss this with your team and ask for evidence based articles on research that has been done on young donors in particular and the development of ESRD. Probably not a lot since there isn't a lot of long term data on living donors in general. Not sure what your father's diagnosis that led to his kidney failure but at 25 it may be hard to predict your chance of inheriting high blood pressure, diabetes or other kidney glomerular diseases. Make a list of questions and talk to the team about your concerns. That being said, quite often we see stories of a young person donating 25 or 30 years ago and they and their recipient are doing fine. I just saw a group on the facebook page that mentioned the Quarter Century Facebook page. I think it is for recipients whose kidney has lasted >25 years but maybe there are some donors to go along with it. very often it is a parent donating to a child.

Not sure if you are female or male. But there have been some articles recently on slightly higher risk in pregnancy for living donors. so add that to your list if it is applicable.

you can also get a second opinion from a nephrologist who is well versed in transplant but not at the transplant center and see what they would recommend.As much as the transplant team is there to protect the donor there is a relationship between the recipient and donor teams and their ultimate goal is to do transplants all be it in a healthy setting.

Is your father on board with you donating to him? not sure if you mom is involved. What do they think?  there may be others who are not aware of the need and would consider testing. there is a lot to think about. The up side is that in most cases, these types of surgeries can be planned so you have time to make sure you are well educated and understand all the benefits and risks.

One of the main themes on these types of forums (and facebook groups) is that this is a very personal decision. Wishing you the best on your journey and hope you keep us updated.

Sherri

[elephant]

Hi rg,

First of all, it's great you want to donate to your dad!

I donated to Daddy when I was 47, and it was amazing to spend healthy years with him after.  His kidney failure was due to medication side effects, so I didn't need to worry about inherited issues.  Diabetes does run in my family, though, and I will be careful with my weight and follow-up testing for life.  I think all donors (well all people, but especially donors)  should watch their weight and diet. 

Sherri gave you great things to think about.  I totally agree with her.  I'll just add that IF another donor appears you could be 'on-call' to be a second donor in the future if needed.  If you are 23 I'm guessing your dad is young enough as well to potentially need a second transplant in the future.