Live Donor Program Frequently Asked Questions

Most people have two kidneys. Each kidney is about the size of a fist. Your kidneys work to:

• Control your body’s water and chemical balance

• Filter waste products from your blood

• Control your blood pressure

• Help to make red blood cells

If a person’s kidneys stop working, they need to be on dialysis (a machine that cleans their blood) or have a kidney transplant.

Living kidney donation is when someone gives one of their healthy kidneys to someone who needs a transplant. The person who gives a kidney is called the living donor. The person who receives a kidney is called the recipient. A living donor must be healthy and 18 years or older. They do not need to be related to the recipient. There is no upper age limit. Deciding if someone can donate a kidney is not simple. We must assess each person individually to make that decision.

A living donor must:
•    Be healthy enough to live with 1 kidney
•    Be 18 years or older. There is no upper age limit
•    Decide to donate voluntarily. You should not feel pressured to donate
•    Fully understand everything involved with donating and recovering from this major operation

Living donors do not need to be related to the recipient. 

There are three different blood tests that are done to check if you are compatible or a “match” with your recipient. These are blood group, tissue type and crossmatch.

Blood group: There are four different blood groups. Some blood groups can go together – these are called compatible.  Some blood groups cannot go together – these are called incompatible. This chart tells you which ones are compatible. If your blood groups are not compatible, we will talk to you about different ways you can still be a donor.

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Your Blood Type          You can give to these recipients:

              A                                          A, AB
              B                                          B, AB
            AB                                           AB
             O                                      A, B, AB, O

HLA typing, or “tissue typing” is a blood test that looks at human leukocyte antigen (HLA) markers in your blood. The crossmatch test checks if your HLA type is compatible with your recipient. If your HLA type is not compatible with the recipient, their body will reject your kidney. If this is the case, you cannot donate directly to that recipient.

Most people have some pain and discomfort after surgery. You will take pain medicine to help control pain.. There are risks with having any kind of surgery. The surgery to remove your kidney has a small risk (3 to 5 people out of 100) for:

• Bleeding

• Lung infection (pneumonia)

• Infection of the incision

• Blood clots in your legs or lungs

• There is a very small risk of death from surgery (3 people out of10,000).

• There is a higher risk that you will have high blood pressure later in life.  If you plan to have children after your donation, there is a higher chance that you will have high blood pressure during the pregnancy (preeclampsia).

In the weeks and months after surgery you won’t be able to lift anything heavy, drive or use heavy machinery for a few weeks after surgery. Your doctor will tell you when it safe to do these things. You will feel tired. You will need to ask for help from family, friends, neighbours, and other loved ones.  Plan to be off work for four to six weeks. If you have a job where you are active, you may need to stay away from work for longer. You will continue to heal for up to six months. In that time, you may sometimes feel pain. 

You will have follow-up appointments at the clinic:

• About two weeks after surgery, you will meet with the surgeon

• About three months after surgery, you will meet with the kidney specialist

For the rest of your life most people live a healthy, normal life after donating a kidney. But it’s important to stay healthy and see your family doctor regularly. You will need to see your family doctor once a year to check your kidney function, blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol.

Most people who donate a kidney feel happy to have helped someone in need. It gives their lives deeper meaning. When you donate to someone, you help improve their quality of life and, sometimes, how long they will live. A kidney transplant from a living donor usually works better and lasts longer than a transplant from a deceased donor. The recipient may not wait as long for a transplant.

Donating a kidney is your decision. It is always up to you. You can change your mind at any time in the process.

The more people who are aware of Kathryn’s Kidney Quest, the better. Help get the word out to your own social network…Kathryn’s match is out there somewhere!