Rejected

[WizardB]

I was rejected as a donor about 3 months ago.  Their reason was that my BMI was 32, my mom has high blood pressure (just since she was about 60) and my 2 hour glucose test was borderline high (my fasting glucose and 1 hour tests were normal).  They said that my risk of developing diabetes was too great.

Since then I have brought my BMI down to about 28, planning on lowering it more, too.  I'm just wondering if because I got rejected at one transplant center, can I try donating to another person at another transplant center?  I sound like I'm obsessed with this, but I was just so close the last time -- they brought it all the way to their "committee".  I had even had the CT scan and met with everyone - the surgeon, dietician, etc.  I was pretty upset that I went through all that, when they could have come to this conclusion after the first round of blood tests!!

[lawphi]

It is worth continuing with your weight loss and disclosing your prior rejection. If your mom is on hemodialysis, I strongly recommend looking into home dialysis. It drastically helped my husband.

[elephant]

Dear WizardB,

I applaud your efforts to control your weight.  This is very important whether you are approved as a donor or not, especially if you have a family history of issues with blood pressure or blood sugar problems. 

I'm sure your transplant center was looking out for your best interests (which is what they are supposed to do!). 

I know some people have lost weight and been approved as donors.  I hope they are very committed to maintaining their efforts permanently, because they now only have one kidney. 

My brother couldn't even consider being a donor because he is overweight and pre-diabetic.  I donated to my Dad, with the full awareness that I will need to struggle against my own tendency to gain weight. 


Love, elephant

[Orchidlady]

Centers do indeed have different guidelines. For example, our local center will not take living donors who smoke - period. Even if they quit smoking. Yet others do allow donors the ability to quit smoking and subsequently donate.  Same with weight.  I was also a prospective donor who had to lose weight.  After the initial bloodwork, my A1C was .1 over the normal range, and I was told that to go further in the testing I would need to lose weight and the A1C and glucose test (they made me do two to be sure) were normal. In my case, the excess weight was indeed my problem and, once it was gone, my numbers were well within normal range.

I don't know your individual situation or if there are other concerns involved, but you may want to check with another center as an option. The real key, as has been stated many times, is that, for your own sake, you need to be absolutely sure that you can keep your weight and health in check over time so that you do not become the next transplant paitent.

Best of luck, and congratulations on the weight loss.

[Scott337]

I also was overweight and not able to donate until I had lost a fair amount of weight.  This was great for me also and I met my weight loss goal within a couple of months.  I was on the boarder-line of acceptance regarding BMI, but I continued to drop weight and my glucose level and blood pressure were within normal limits.  Ultimately, I continued to eat right, exercise and lose more weight post-donation and lost a total of about 90 pounds over about a 8 month period.  I've now kept it off for nearly two years and continue to exercise and eat sensibly (ran my first half-marathon this summer).  I agree, regardless of whether-or-not you're approved to donate, the weight loss and diet are requisite to your future health and happiness.  I also agree that after you lose more weight, you may very well be determined to be eligible to become a donor.   Best of luck with both the weight loss and becoming a donor.


Scott     

[Rinnierich]

The first time I was worked up to donate, I got through the whole work up and met with my surgeon. My BMI was 32 he took one look at my chart and basically told me if I wanted to donate I had a lot of "lifestyle changes to make" and he would see me when I could do so. I got a trainer lost the weight, started eating right because i was bound and determined to donate. I would call back your transplant nurse coordinator and say you would like to meet again because you have made some extreme life changes. I hope your hard work pays off like mine did! If you are unable to donate at least you got the kick start to get healthy! Good luck!