Donations

I've come to a pretty momentous decision in my life. I am starting the process to possibly become a kidney donor.

A girlfriend of mine was feeling pretty lousy a year or two ago. I urged her to see her doctor for a check up. Turns out she has polycystic kidney disease (PKD), an inherited disease where cysts form in your kidneys. Her dad died in his mid-60's from PKD after being on a waiting list for a transplant. While she is doing ok now at 44 years old my friends prognosis is unknown. The disease can be managed long-term if she is careful.

But it got me thinking about the thousands of people on transplant waiting lists all through our country. And I kept seeing articles about people who have made anonymous kidney donation, meaning they didn't know the person they were donating their kidney too.

While this has been a big decision, it was not that difficult. I have always been so healthy with no history of any kinds of disease in my family. After doing some research I've found that they can operate and take my kidney laparascopically, meaning very small incisions. And recovery time with this type of operation is minimal.

I visit my doctor tomorrow to talk with her about her opinion on this and get some preliminary tests done.