Information for Kidney Donors

[okarol]

Here are a couple resources for living donors.

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LIVING DONORS ONLINE: About Living Kidney Donation
You'll learn about living kidney donation in this section of LDO. Information is organized as follows:

    * Why living kidney donation?
    * The tap on the shoulder (being asked to donate)
    * Now...about your health (donor evaluation)
    * The gift (the surgical process)
    * Afterwards...

Keep in mind that policies and procedures vary from transplant team to transplant team. We've attempted
to capture "typical" policies and procedures to the extent they exist.
Go to ---> http://www.livingdonorsonline.org/kidney/kidney.htm

---------------------------------------
NATIONAL KIDNEY FOUNDATION: For some "Helpful Tips" from
previous donors and caregivers, visit
http://www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingDonors/infoTips.cfm.
This will give you a good idea of what assistance might
be needed or helpful in the days following the surgery:
driving, cooking, cleaning, running errands, child care, etc.
The living donors here can give you some idea of how much
help they needed following the surgery, if you decide to hire
outside help.

If you have many family members/friends who would want to
help, you can organize their efforts by using a website
called "Lotsa Helping Hands". The NKF has partnered with Lotsa
Helping Hands to provide an online resource for caregivers.

Lotsa Helping Hands is a simple, immediate way for friends,
family, colleagues and neighbors to assist loved ones in
need. It is an easy-to-use, private group online calendar,
specifically designed for organizing helpers, where everyone
can pitch in with meals delivery, rides, and other
necessary tasks. There is no cost to your family to use this
system. For more information on how this site works visit or to
set up an account visit: www.kidney.lotsahelpinghands.com

It's a good resource for people who will be living donors
or recipients.
-----------------------------------------------

                   

[okarol]

If you have a living donor who is interested in learning more about the process of donating there's a website that can offer good information and support from other living donors.
Living Donors Online is an online community for living donors, potential donors, their families, and medical professionals. There is no fee to join.
Go to: http://www.livingdonorsonline.org/
Here's the direct link for kidney donation http://www.livingdonorsonline.org/kidney/kidney.htm

A question often comes up about expenses for living donors. LDO Mentions this: While medical expenses usually are covered, travel, living expenses, child care, and lost wages from taking time off for testing, surgery, and recovery are not covered. Ideally, you have benefits from an employer, such as paid vacation or sick leave, and personal savings to cover living expenses. In the US, it is illegal to be paid for donating an organ. However, an exception is allowed for "reasonable payments" to the donor for "travel, housing, and lost wages incurred by the donor of a human organ in connection with the donation of the organ." Therefore, it is possible for a recipient to pay the donor within these legal constraints. Such payments are rare. Also, some states provide for a tax credit to lessen the financial burden of living donation. A list of states can be found here http://www.transplantliving.org/livingdonation/financialaspects/legislation.aspx . There is also a US government-funded program, the National Living Donor Assistance Center, that will cover nonmedical expenses related to donation for eligible donors. For Georgia residents, the Georgia Transplant Foundation has a financial assistance program for living donors.

To communicate with other living donors, or ask questions, go to the message board here: http://www.livingdonorsonline.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi

Our daughter met her donor on LDO in the "Looking for" section of the message board. We had a great deal of contacts from all over the world and we were offered kidneys in exchange for a cash donation, or help getting a job, or assistance with a visa. We turned down all these requests. Jenna's donor wanted nothing in return. We did reimburse her for expenses for travel and hotel, and she turned around and donated it to another needy family (she's a saint!)

[MizzKristi]

  After a person donates a kidney, Has anyone heard if drinking is a No-No?








EDITED:Fixed smiley tag error-kitkatz,Moderator

[okarol]

I haven't heard of any restrictions for donors except for the recommendation to avoid NSAIDS (such as Advil.)

[lola]

My father-in-law donated 30 years ago and still enjoys

[monrein]

My donor still likes a beer or two on a semi-regular basis but of course moderation will be the key in all things....kind of like for all of us.