New Here

[kmheiges]

Just thought I'd introduce myself :) My name is Katie and I'm hoping to be a living donor at the end of December. I don't personally know the recipient, but it isn't a complete non directed donation either. I saw his story on the news, and decided that he was the person I really wanted to donate to. Since I work on an organ transplant unit I know a lot about the surgery/recovery, so I know what the process entails. I've wanted to donate since I was probably 10 or 12 years old, and I think that right now is a perfect time. I'm only 21 years old but I think that will make the recovery easier. I know that there are a lot of risks to donating, but I am willing to take the risk in order to help this man and his family.

I've been reading a lot of the posts on here and it seems like such a great support system, so I thought I would introduce myself. We have already done the virtual crossmatch and that was negative (yay!), so now I go in for my donor eval on the 28th. If I'm unable to donate to this recipient then I am planning on donating to one of the other 700+ that are on the waiting list at the U of MN. I can't wait to get to know you all!

[Karol]

Wow Katie, what got you interested in being a living donor at such a young age?
I hope all goes forward and you get to donate to him.
Good luck!

[kmheiges]

Wow Katie, what got you interested in being a living donor at such a young age?
I hope all goes forward and you get to donate to him.
Good luck!

I don't remember exactly. When I was a little bit older I read My Sister's Keeper, and I know that really got me thinking about how many people need transplants. It also made me think about how many people die while waiting for transplants. When I started working on this unit I saw how much ESRD affected both the patients and their families. The recipient has three children and a wife, and I can't imagine how difficult it would be for them if something happened to their dad. I really hope that everything works out with the eval and final crossmatch.

[elephant]

Dear kmheiges,

I will be looking forward to hearing about your experiences.  It is an amazing thing.

How did you wind up working in a transplant unit?

Love, elephant