Dear "SMW33",
Although the data is always changing and the doctors are always looking for ways to improve the odds of success, the last time I saw a report it said that ON AVERAGE a kidney from a deceased donor lasts about 10 years while a kidney from a living donor lasts about 20 years. Of course that is ON AVERAGE. Some transplanted kidneys fail or are rejected soon after transplant, while others have lasted for 30 years or more.
Also since kidneys from deceased donors have to be transplanted quickly, often with little advance notice, there is a limited time to check to try to be sure that the deceased donor did not have a disease (cancer, HIV, other infections), so there have been some sad cases where the recipients became ill from a disease transplanted with the kidney. In living donation the doctors have months to run you through every test imaginable to make sure that the transplant will be as safe as possible.
So, keep getting well informed about the options, and also about the small but genuine risks to the donor. It IS major surgery, and in any major surgery anything can go wrong.
I myself had a very good recovery after donating a kidney 12 years ago, at age 56, and am still running half-marathons now at age 68. But some donors have had short-term or long-term complications so it is good to think things over carefully.
best wishes,
Fr. Pat