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Few of us ever get the chance to save someone's life.
As a potential kidney donor, you may have that
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
When I found out that I was a match, this was the best
news ever, ever, ever in the world because now the whole
problem was solved. It was perfect. It was the best thing
that could have ever happened to me.
And then when my mom was a match,
that was really, really great. And my sister was a match
so it was really great too. And so it's -- I was absolutely
ecstatic when my mom was a match and really wanted to do it.
Every day, more than a dozen people die waiting for an organ
transplant. But today, kidney patients have renewed hope
thanks to the selfless acts of some very special people.
It is such a marvelous gift that you can give to somebody.
It changes the quality of someone's life.
It changes the possibility of someone's life,
to give them a kidney.
I would say my life is different now because --
well, I compare it to when I was on dialysis
because honestly now, I really don't feel any different
than before I knew I was in kidney failure.
Without a doubt, becoming a living kidney donor
can be a rewarding experience emotionally and spiritually.
But for the person suffering from kidney disease, receiving
a donated kidney is truly their best medical option.
There are a number of important differences
between living donor and deceased donor transplantation.
We expect much greater long-term successes from living donor
kidneys. The living donor kidneys function better.
And in addition to that, they also function longer,
in fact, up to 50 percent longer than deceased donor kidneys.
Along with a higher success rate, people recover faster.
And with this option, patients are off dialysis sooner
or may avoid it altogether.
But most importantly, a living kidney donation
gets patients off a national wait list that's
growing longer and longer every day.
People who are on the waiting list for deceased donor kidney
transplant can expect to wait five to seven years
before they get their transplant.
Someone who has a compatible living donor needs only wait
three to four months until they get their transplant.
Another benefit is timing.
Both donor and recipient can decide when they're
ready to have the operation, allowing themselves time
to prepare both physically and mentally.
I wanted it all to happen as quickly as possible,
so you know, it was a great day is what it was.
You know, we woke up. We all spent the night
in a great little hotel down there that CPMC puts you up in,
in Japan Town and we got ready. We were at the hospital early.
We were so hopeful about what was going to happen and
confident that everything was going to go well.
Living donors must be in excellent health.
Often, they're a close relative like a parent,
child, brother or sister. But a donor can also be
a distant relative, spouse, close friend or a co-worker.
And it's not uncommon for a kidney to be
donated anonymously. In that case,
itís called a non-direct or altruistic donation.
Either way, the process usually starts
with a conversation with a transplant coordinator.
For the first step for any potential donor
is to complete a screening questionnaire.
During the questionnaire, we're looking at medical history,
whether it be current or past.
We ask questions about history of cancer
whether that be for the patient or if it's in their family.
We ask about the history of diabetes or high blood pressure
or any kidney disease.
If they answer yes to any of these questions, it doesn't
automatically mean they will be ruled out, but we may request
further medical information to determine
i they're a candidate or not.
If there are no red flags, the next step is testing to see
if there's a compatible match between donor and recipient.
This is done with blood tests.
And that involves drawing blood to look at the blood type,
which is one way we see if you're compatible.
And we also look at markers on the
blood called tissue typing to see if the donor is compatible
with the recipient and make sure the recipient doesn't have any
antibodies against the donor.
If the testing indicates that the donor and recipient
are not compatible, they can still participate
in our paired donation program to find a match.
The simplest explanation of paired donation is when you
have just two pairs, and you have Pair A who are
incompatible, Pair B who are incompatible.
The recipient from Pair A can receive her kidney
from the donor in Pair B. The recipient in Pair B
can receive a kidney from the donor in Pair A.
That's the simplest match that can be done.
That's just with two pairs. We can, however,
match more pairs in the same way.
The way it worked out for us is they call a swap program.
There was another family. There was a woman out in Washington
who has a son here from San Francisco.
Her son matched perfectly with my sister.
I matched perfectly with his mom,
and we were able to go ahead and do that for each other.
This program helped us out a lot.
It was different, but I was really excited
because I felt like there was another chance.
My dad signed up for that also and my husband
signed up for it, and I had a --
thank God I had a long list of people that wanted to
sign up for it, and it worked out with my brother.
If the potential donor is considered a good candidate,
we'll schedule a full medical work up
at California Pacific Medical Center.
However, in some cases, these tests can take place elsewhere.
The medical work up takes approximately two days,
during which the donor will meet with a kidney specialist,
also known as a nephrologist, a transplant surgeon,
a social worker to make sure they're psychologically ready
to donate and a transplant coordinator
to answer any remaining questions.
After the team conducts a thorough review of the results,
a CT scan is performed.
We use the CT scan to show us the anatomy
of the kidney so that we can plan the surgery safely and
look for any unexpected findings like a cyst or stones.
And, if possible, we like to choose the left kidney to
donate because it has longer blood vessels,
but sometimes we have to use the right kidney.
If there are no abnormalities, the last step
is scheduling surgery.
Donors are often concerned about the operation,
but the procedure is considered very safe.
Whenever you have surgery and anesthesia,
there's some risk, but the risk with the operation
to remove a kidney is very low. All of our donors are
very healthy. They've gone through a full work up showing
that they're healthy, and we have a very experienced
team so the patients do well.
Nationally, the risk of having a life-threatening problem
with donating a kidney is 1 in 3,000,
but there are more minor complications that can occur
like a minor wound infection, and the risk of that type of
thing is about 2 to 4 percent.
Thanks to medical advances, almost all
nephrectomies or kidney removals are done with
minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery.
The operation to remove a donor's kidney is done
laparoscopically because it leads to a quicker recovery
and an easier experience for the donor.
It involves placing three small incisions in the mid
abdomen through which we can place a small video camera and
surgical instruments. And then a somewhat larger incision in the
lower abdomen just big enough to remove the kidney.
Typically, most donors spend two to three days recovering in the
hospital before being discharged.
Once home, they can resume their normal level of activities
within four to six weeks.
Most people recover from
living donor surgery quite quickly.
People are generally on their feet immediately after
the donation, leave the hospital after a couple
of days, and are back to work within six weeks.
People do limited work from home in the first
couple of weeks and are exercising on a daily basis.
We generally like to ask our patients to take it easy
because sometimes they forget they've been through an
important and large surgery.
At about six weeks, most patients are back
to full activity.
Recovery was basically easy. After, you know,
10 days or so, there wasn't that much pain. And then it was just,
you know, recovering from the surgery and gaining back your
strength basically. I went back to work after about a month and
my daughter went back to work after about a month, and we were
just back to normal, resumed the pace of our lives.
I have two small kids at home so that was a little tough
when I got home. I had to make sure that they stayed
off of me and, you know, I took it easy.
About four weeks after, I was pretty much able to
do anything I wanted to do. I still had to take it easy.
For the vast majority of donors, there are no long-term
consequences to living with just one kidney.
Within a short period of time, the remaining kidney
is functioning at 80 to 90 percent of the total
of the two kidneys. An important study
came out at the University of Minnesota a couple of years ago
showing us how well living donors actually did long term
after their donation.
In that study of over 3,000 patients, it was found
that living donors did not have an increased risk of
end-stage renal disease, high blood pressure or any other
disease for that matter compared to people who
did not donate a kidney. For this reason, I feel very
comfortable offering living donation to healthy donors.
To tell you the truth, I forget that I did that
a lot of times. Sometimes my sister will talk to me
about it and I'll remember and I'm like, oh, I did.
I donated a kidney. That's right, you know, because
I can't really even see the incision so, you know,
I have a tendency to forget that sometimes.
I haven't noticed a single thing, difference in anything
having only one kidney. I haven't noticed anything.
Being a donor does not impact a woman's
ability to have a child. For the most part, donors can do
everything they did before with the exception of participating
in high-risk activities.
After you donate a kidney, your life is the same as before.
You're on the same diet. You don't have to take
any medications. Your activity should be the same.
Your ability to work is the same.
There are really no restrictions for people
who donate a kidney once they've healed up.
Some people are recommended not to participate
in heavy contact sports like kick boxing or rugby where
direct blows to the abdomen are usual.
I can do anything I want to do.
You know, I ride a motorcycle at home. I play in a music band.
I take care of my kids. I mean, I'm busy at school.
There isn't anything that's changed because of the surgery.
As far as cost, donors do not have to pay for any
medical bills related to transplant surgery.
Those are picked up by the recipient's health insurance.
But for some, there could be a few additional minor expenses.
Even though the cost of the transplant is covered,
donors need to consider extra expenses like travel,
bridge tolls, lodging and lost wages of sick time or
short-term disability from work is not available.
Normally the donor's disability is authorized for
four to six weeks. Donors need to ask their employer what type
of application process is required to receive benefits.
Once you know what is required,
we can help you navigate the process.
Not all workers qualify for disability,
so the donor should check with their employer.
If any financial concerns stand between you and donation,
please ask to speak to a social worker about our assisting
programs that may work for you.
Donors should never feel pressured to donate.
Most donors feel positive about their decision,
but if a donor feels extreme fear
or pressure to donate, they should take more
time to consider their donation.
A follow up appointment is scheduled two to three
weeks after surgery.
Six months later, the donor is invited
to the Living Donor Wellness Clinic
where they are examined by a nurse practitioner and are
advised on how to best take care of themselves.
The donors are encouraged to attend this clinic once a year.
Donating a kidney may not work out for everyone.
It takes a strong collaboration between
the patient, donor and their families to make it work.
But for those lucky enough to give, this could be that
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save a life.
It made me feel absolutely great. You know, I see my
sister now and she doesn't have to be hooked up
to a machine anymore. That's a big deal.
It's such a different lifestyle with a kidney.
I wouldn't even be able to put it into words the life-changing
experience that I've had with this, the difference in the
quality of life that I have now.
I really try to follow the kidney diet.
You know, I'll do phosphorous and sodium and things
like that, and now I really don't have to think about it.
It's probably, besides having my kids,
the greatest thing I ever did in my life.
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