A lot of questions...

[Bad Owl]

One of my best friends needs a kidney.  He was born with only one, and it's failing.  In addition, he has congestive heart failure and diabetes.  We live a few hours away, so we talk a lot, but we only see each other ever couple months or so.  He doesn't talk about it unless you press him, so until recently, I didn't have a really good understanding of his condition.  He came up to visit this weekend and he looked terrible.  His girlfriend told us that he just found out that he's in stage 4 renal failure. 

I guess what I mainly want to know is if his CHF or diabetes would disqualify him from getting a transplant.  I would literally have the surgery tomorrow if it would help him, and if I'm not a match, I would try paired donation, or a chain, or any other options that might be out there.  But I don't even want to bring it up to him if it's just going to give him false hope.  I've read that a transplant can actually help CHF, but I've also read that it can disqualify you from being a recipient.  If anyone knows the answer, please let me know.

[Fr Pat]

Dear "Bad Owl",
     Congratulations on your willingness to consider organ donation.
     I am a kidney donor (13 years ago) but I am not a medical professional, so I will just pass along to you what I have picked up from reading and speaking with other recipients and donors.
     Not all persons with kidney failure are judged to be suitable candidates for a kidney transplant. A patient may be judged to be too sick to even survive the surgery, or unable to handle the doses of anti-rejection medications after a transplant. The doctors do not want to either put a living donor at risk, or risk wasting a kidney from a deceased donor, unless there is reasonable chance for success. But EACH patient is evaluated. I don't thing there is any universal rule that would automatically rule your friend out. You would have to ask him honestly what his doctors are telling him.
     One indication of whether he has been judged to be a good candidate to receive a kidney transplant is whether his doctor has already placed him on waiting list for a kidney from a deceased donor. If a patient is considered too sick to receive a transplant he/she is not even placed on the waiting list.
     I hope this information is of some help to you, but you really need more information from him. Or you could ask him to authorize his doctor to speak to you directly and describe his situation and his chances for a successful transplant.
    best wishes,
       Fr. Pat

[Bad Owl]

Thanks so much for the reply!  I'm definitely going to ask him if he's on the waiting list, that's seriously the most helpful thing anyone has told me so far.  And it's a good way to open the conversation, if he is on it.  Thank you so much!!

[CK]

Definitely ask him.  Even if he's not a candidate, he will know what a great friend he has in you.