LIVE KIDNEY DONATION
Q: Who can be a kidney donor?
A: Any individual:
· age 18 to 70 years
· Including parents, children, siblings, other relatives, and friends.
· With normal kidney function and anatomy, as determined in the evaluation process
· With a genuine interest in donating and a compatible blood type with the recipient.
Q: What are the requirements to become a living donor?
A:
· Donors should be in good general health.
· Basically, you should not have any major medical or psychiatric illness.
· You must not be pregnant; you should not be overweight, although you may still be a potential donor if you lose weight.
· If you smoke, you must quit for six weeks prior to surgery
· You also must understand the risks of this surgery and comply with instructions for follow-up medical care.
Q: Must the donor be related to the recipient?
A: The three groups of potential living donors include; genetical, emotional (e.g friend) and legal (e.g spouse). And in all cases the intent must be altruistic with no commercial activity. The cases that are not first degree relatives will be subjected to interviews by an independent body and also obtain court affidavit to defend altruistic motive.
Q: What risks are associated with kidney donation?
A:
· Although some risks are associated with any major operation, donating one kidney does not pose a major risk to a healthy donor.
· Studies show that the remaining kidney will continue function normally and will compensate for the loss of the other kidney.
· Kidney donation should not restrict or interfere with your lifestyle after full recovery from the surgery.
· There is no routine need for any special diet or medication after donation.
Q: Am I at greater risk of developing kidney failure if I donate my kidney?
A: You are at no greater risk of developing kidney failure after donating than anyone in the general population.
Q: Will donating a kidney shorten my lifespan?
A: Studies have shown that donors live longer than the average population. This is because donors are selected on the basis of good health and are thoroughly screened prior to donation.
Q: Will I have to change my lifestyle after donating?
A: No. You should lead a normal healthy life as before.
Q: Will donating my kidney affect a future pregnancy or fathering a child?
A: The data available shows that, having donated one kidney, there is no evidence to suggest an increased risk of complications during pregnancy, but you should be under the care of an obstetrician. A man’s fertility will not be affected.
Q: Will the transplant be successful?
A: There is no guarantee that any kidney transplant will work. However, living kidney transplantation is overwhelmingly successful with 90-95% of live donated kidneys working well at one year.
Q: What is the first step to becoming a living donor?
A: Discuss the donation process with the transplant team; they will answer any questions so that you can make an informed decision about proceeding with donor evaluation.
Q: Will I be paid for donating my kidney?
A: The act of giving a kidney is altruistic and unconditional. There should be no payment for doing this. The satisfaction of saving the life of a loved one is the ultimate reward.
Q: What are the first steps of the donor evaluation?
A:
· Know your blood type. You must be either the same blood type as the recipient or blood type "O."
· Your Rh factor — positive (+) or negative (-) — does not affect your ability to donate as it is not important in kidney matching.
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