Hopefully will be Donor

[Donor4Uncle]

Hello everyone, let me start out by saying im not a forsure donor yet. Just want some feedback on how the process, and healing goes. Im a 21 female looking to donate for my uncle. My uncle had a kidney transplant 12 years ago and its in shut down mode. He just got the paperwork for his donation. Hopefully i will be a match ! Just wondering if there is any negatives down the road after the donation? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thank You

[CK]

I just donated three weeks ago and it's gone very smoothly for me and my recipient. I was out of the hospital the next day and I could have gone back to work after 10 days but I opted to take another week off.  He is also doing great after 3 weeks.

I think I am unusual, though, it seems like most people are in the hospital 2-4 days and take a bit longer to feel back to normal.

The first few days were hard, I had some pain and soreness, I was tired and napped a lot. Oddly enough, the worst part for me was that I had withdrawal symptoms from the scopolamine patch they used to keep me from getting nauseated from the anesthesia. Scopolamine helps with motion sickness, and I guess that in some people, when you take it off you get...motion sickness! So I felt like I was deep sea fishing for 2 straight days and then it went away.

Now, other than the incision being sore and a numb leg (anyone else ever get the numb leg?) I feel pretty normal. I have been reassured that the feeling in my leg will return, that the nerve was somehow compressed or something during surgery.

I did a lot of research before I donated and there's lots of great information on the internet if you search. Many donors have done blogs that give their account of the process and that was enormously helpful to me. 90% of what I could find was very positive and the risks were outlined as being minimal. I know there are concerns that the long-term health of donors has not been adequately researched and while that was a bit alarming, when I weighed the risks and benefits I knew exactly what the right thing to do was.

Good luck in making your decision. 

[mom2three]

As you will find by reading earlier posts on various topics, most donors feel like their donation was one of the most rewarding experiences they've had.  Some donors have post op problems like numbness, painful muscle spasms, medication reactions and incisional hernias but it seems to me most feel like these are minimal compared to the benefits of making someone's life more bearable through the transplant. 

My advice to you is just take it one step at a time if your blood work shows you are a potential match. The pre transplant process can go quickly or slowly depending on your transplant center and your uncle's condition. Donor Coordinators are usually great resources and walk you through the process.

The healing process is different for everyone of course. I was pretty miserable the first 2 days after surgery but turned a corner on day 7 and was able to move around with very little abdominal discomfort from that point on. I went to work after spending 3 weeks at home but was working online just about every day when I got home from the hospital on post op day 3. Good luck with the process!