[Note: I am working my way through the process of trying to be approved as a kidney donor for my brother. Part One is here.]
It’s 5 am. I’ve been awake for a while, knowing I had to arise early and follow the instructions to the letter for this 24 hour urine collection day. It all has to be timed exactly from the first collection to the last. According to the directions, the lab can tell if I didn’t time it right, and that will invalidate the entire test.
Several times, they emphasize that I must collect every single drop. From what I can glean, more people do this wrong than right the first time through.
I don’t have the luxury of messing it up. This has to be done here in California–for some reason, airlines frown on a passenger carrying a large jar of urine on board. Thursday and Friday of this week are packed full of other tests, making it impossible to do a collection. I can’t stay until next week because of other travel plans in front of me almost immediately after I return to Texas on Saturday.
It is now or never.
Surely I have adequate intelligence to manage this.
I do wonder how many people need a kidney, but understand there are about 80,000 kidney transplants a year done worldwide.
I have learned that there is a growing market for purchased kidneys. And yes, that is illegal, but when has illegality stopped desperate people and creative entrepreneurs? The desperation goes both ways: for the one in kidney failure and the one who sells a kidney to pay some bills.
Not a pretty world out there. For example, I just stumbled on this site suggesting that a person could sell his/her own kidney for $70-80,000. But most people who do indeed sell a kidney receive much, much less and the donor takes huge risks with the quality of the donated organ. This is not a solution.
Far, far better to seek a living donor. But that, too, has multiple challenges.
As part of the donor approval process, I will be meeting with several different mental health specialists. One thing they will seek to determine: that this is entirely my choice to be the donor. From what I can glean, a fair number of potential donors are actually reluctant relatives being guilted into losing a body part.
I am not one of those. In fact, my brother has on multiple occasions tried to discourage me, simply out of concern for my own health and well-being. As the instructions clearly say, there is absolutely no physical benefit to being a donor and I will experience some decrease in my own kidney function, although there should be no long-term health effects.
So why? I wish I had a clearer answer other than, “It is the right thing for me to do.” Or at least try to do, since we still don’t know if I will be approved. Just because I want to doesn’t mean I can. Among other things, I am 65, the top age that they will normally approve a donor. And, as my friends know, although I declare myself in perfect health, I also do not bother with routine physical exams. Goodness only knows what these tests this week will uncover.
According to the literature I was sent, uncovering hidden health issues is a fairly common result of all the donor testing. My insurance is not billed for this testing. All medical costs are covered by my brother’s insurance. Travel and housing for all this is our responsibility, however, and there is also no compensation for lost wages during the recovery period after the surgery. Not that I have any to lose, since I’m retired. But that is a factor for many.
It’s no wonder this is a complex decision for people who have relatives needing a kidney. Nothing easy or straightforward about it.
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