January 17, 2002
Donating your ‘extra’ kidney: What’s involved?
By Pam Sowers
HS News & Community Relations
What can you possibly give someone that would be more valuable to them than lavish jewelry, a trip to the city of their dreams or even a $100,000 Lamborghini? It’s something you already have and the expense to you will be minimal.
More people are responding to the increasing need for kidney transplants by becoming living kidney donors. Dr. Christopher Marsh, associate director of the Kidney, Pancreas and Islet Transplant Program at UW Medical Center, says volunteering a kidney takes the act of giving to a different level.
“Some people are willing to donate blood or to offer their time. Others will donate their organs for use after death, and this is very important,” Marsh says. “Being a living kidney donor goes a step further. Everyone has two kidneys and only one is really needed.”
Marsh says that recently more people are talking about being altruistic donors: giving a kidney to someone who needs it, whether they know the recipient or not.
“We’ve come to recognize that for many of these living donors, this is something that is important for them to do,” Marsh says. “You get back great satisfaction. No one can question that you’re giving a gift involving time, effort and some risk.”
Donating a kidney starts with your interest in giving a gift that is free of all attachments and conditions.
Marsh says, “You can’t say, `Well, I’ll give a kidney if the recipient does something for me or gives me something in return.’ What you get is the satisfaction of giving the gift.”
Kidney transplants between closely related family members started in the 1950s. Now, thanks to the development of immunosuppressive drugs, kidney donors and recipients don’t have to be related in any way. Since the waiting list for kidneys grows 6 to 8 percent a year and organs donated after death cannot meet the entire need, unrelated living donors are key in reducing the wait. In some cases, transplant recipients are on the waiting list and undergoing dialysis several times a week for as long as five years.
About 4,000 people in the United States become living kidney donors every year.
“First we talk to the potential donor about his or her motivation,” Marsh says. “Then they need to have their blood pressure checked. If they have three blood pressure checks that are normal and no medical history of chronic disease, we then ask for a copy of a recent physical exam from the family physician. Then we move on to more detailed testing.”
The potential donor’s kidneys are tested and X-rays are taken to assure correct anatomical function.
“If the donor passes those tests, the risks during the surgery itself will be low,” Marsh says, “and we have a prime donor candidate.”
The surgery itself is done laparoscopically, through tubes with scopes and cameras.
“There is no big scar,” Marsh says. “For the donor, it is a very quick recovery and any pain diminishes rapidly. Donors are usually released from the hospital in about two days, and they’re back at work in two weeks.”
The recipient’s insurance company usually covers costs of the surgery and the preceding X-rays and special medical tests. Expenses for the donor are minimal. There should be no future impacts on health or life insurance premiums, Marsh says.
“People do a lot for their families, friends and churches,” Marsh says. “Being a living kidney donor is an extension of that, where the gift that you give really makes an impact on another person’s life, and reduces their risk of an early death.”
