Donor approval process

[MrsFishy]

Hi, everyone! I'm new here so please forgive me if my questions are redundant of others that have already been asked.

Wondering if anyone knows how long the average process takes to determine if I am a match for the person I am trying to see if I am a match for?  I know we both have O+ type blood but nothing else yet. Do you know what percentage of likelihood a person is to be good match when they have compatible blood types?  If I am not a good match, will I get my testing details to submit for the next person I might try to be a match for (if a paired donation won't work)? 

Thank you in advance! :0)   

[KarenInWA]

Hi MrsFishy,

First of all, I want to say a big THANK YOU for offering to do such a wonderful thing! We all have a special appreciation for live donors here. You will be in a special club if this all falls through, and even if it doesn't, you're still part of a special club for offering and going through the testing.  Thank you for that!

I am a recent recepient of a live donor myself. She went to donate blood to find out what type she was, and she, like me, was also O+. She then emailed me with her offer of her kidney. She is the wife of my Dad's cousin. She is older than me (I'm 38, she's 67) but she is in such good health that, when they took her kidney out, the dr's were all amazed at the shape it was in! It was like a kidney of a much younger person!

Anyway, she was the only one who went through the full gamut (is that a word?) of testing for me, and she was a match on all other counts as well. If she wasn't, she was going to donate to someone so I could get a kidney, be it through paired donation, a chain, or just by moving me to the top of the list for a cadaver kidney. There was some concern over our age difference, but it was decided that a live donation trumps cadaver even in situations like mine. So far, so good. My creatinine is still above normal, but, all other numbers are good, some of my symptoms have disappeared (chronic itching, losing hair, edema), my BP is now normal, and, I haven't had dialysis since the day before surgery!!!    So all in all, I think it went pretty darn well!

I hope this helps some. Feel free to ask more questions 

KarenInWA

[MrsFishy]

That's awesome, Karen!  I'm so glad you are doing well.    I'm being sent some paper work to take to a local lab to get blood work drawn to get the ball rolling.  Hoping all goes well and I can move forward to the next step in the process.....whatever that may be.  This will be a learn-as-you-go process, for sure!    I've never given a kidney up for adoption before!   

[Joe]

Let me add my thank you to MrsFishy, what a wonderful thing to do! I'm on the other end of that chain, waiting to see if any of my potential donors are a match for me. I don't know the answer to your original question as to how long the screening takes, but hopefully someone on here will. Good luck with your quest and please keep us up to date as you progress.

[willowtreewren]

MrsFishy,

When I went through the testing to see if I could donate to my husband, the matching was very quick (like one day). I was a PERFECT match. Not only same blood type, but a 6/6 antigen match. Unfortunately, through subsequent testing they discovered that my functioning had fallen off enough that they would not remove one of my kidneys.

 

Kudos for live donors! 

Aleta

[rsudock]

My living donor and I took about 7 months to get all the testing in order. You have to consistentely stay on top of the transplant team. My donor called constantly to ask what the next step was in the process....thank goodness he was relentless! thank you for helping someone in need!

xo,
R

[Deanne]

How cool that you're willing to put one of your kidneys up for adoption! My sisters and brother all offered to donate to me. My brother was rejected outright because of recent cancer. My sisters both matched, but were both rejected during the process. Determining the match is just the first step. My younger sister was permanently rejected due to large cysts in her kidneys. My older sister will be reconsidered later if she's able to lose 20 pounds. She isn't very overweight, but her diabetes test came back just a tad higher than they want it. It doesn't mean she's diabetic, but indicates a potential for diabetes in the future. Just FYI so you know there's a chance of being rejected at any step in the process.

Edited to fix typo.

[MooseMom]

Just to echo what Deanne posted, the "donor approval" process is two-fold.  First, they have to see if you match your husband.  A "living" kidney that is a 0/6 antigen match will actually be better than any cadaveric kidney, so antigen matches aren't as important as they used to be.  But they also have to make sure that you are healthy enough to be a donor in the first place.  It's not easy to qualify as a donor.

[MrsFishy]

Thank you so much for the info! I guess I thought I'd have to be at least a 4/6 match or greater. Hopefully nothing unexpected will turn up. I'm not donating to my husband though....his kidneys are hunky dorey as far as we know. :0) I'm hoping to be able to help someone I've never met. I've asked his transplant coordinator to please keep it confidential that I am testing to see if I may be able to help him in case I can't get approved for some reason. I don't want to get his hopes up.  Please keep your fingers crossed for me to be able to help this young man!

[Poppylicious]

Awww, how lovely! 

It took a long time in our case (fourteen months) to go from initial blood test to transplant, but the only reason for that was I had some weight to shift before they'd go ahead.  And actually it was eleven months, but we opted to set a date three months after approval due to other committments.

Yay! you!