Just got a call about donating

[tlw97j]

Hi! We just got a call saying I am a match for my husband's cousin's wife (long trail!).  I am excited that we may be able to help her but I am apprehensive.  I have 3 small children.  What will my life post donation look like?  What are the risks?  It is all happening very fast, if my next round of test look good they want to do the surgery by the end of February.  I'm kind of freaking out.  Any advice, good websites I can read up on, people I can talk to, and ways to prepare?
Thank you so much.

[Fr Pat]

Welcome! You can find quite a lot of the information you are looking for here and there at this site:
--- at the "home page" here click where it says "kidney" in the banner at the top and you will find a good outline of the donation process.
--- Start reading over the past entries here at the "forum". All the questions posted, and all the answers offered, are kept there and you should find a lot of helpful info.
--- At the "experiences" section of this site you can read a number of more detailed stories posted by past donors.

     The National Kidney Foundation site www.kidney.org has a lot of information, both about kidney disease (to better understand what the recipient is going through) and about donation.
     Keep checking in here to read, and also to post any particular questions that might remain unclear.
                    best wishes,
                     Fr. Pat (donor, 2002)

[sherri]

You sound excited but cautious which is a very realistic way to look at having elective surgery. You may want to discuss this with your family doctor, if you have a relationship with him/her. You can also get a second opinion from a nephrologist who is not associated with the hospital or transplant at all and have them look over all the testing that was done for you, review the results and give their unbiased opinion about donation. There should also be an independent living donor advocate assigned to you who is responsible to advocate for the donor only. Typically it is a social worker or in some places an nurse. They are not supposed to be part of the transplant team in order to serve the donor's interests. They would be a good resource to discuss the medical, psychological and financial issues surrounding living organ donation.

The hospitals have separate nephrologists, surgeons and nurse coordinators for the donor and recipient but often lines are blurred. Some donors have felt they were not fully informed or did not know their results of testing before embarking on an elective surgery. You will need to educate yourself about the risks to you and the benefit to the recipient and that may take some time. So read all you can, ask questions, become educated and that will make the informed consent portion much more meaningful.

Welcome to the board. Where are you being evaluated? Sometimes, other donors on this forum can share experiences with prospective donors at their transplant centers.

Good luck,

Sherri