Three years ago I donated my left kidney anonymously to a total stranger on the kidney waitlist. AMA!

Can I get your other kidney? id like to have 3.

Depends, what are you offering? 🤔

Thank you. My wife is going on the list and will need a new kidney soon, it is thanks to advocates like you that she has a better chance.

EDIT: Can we have the other one?

Seriously, big kudos.

I'm entertaining offers on the second kidney, apparently.

Hope your wife finds a donor soon!

This makes me so happy to hear (your story in general). I was born with polycystic kidney disease so I have known for a long time that my kidneys are going to fail at some point. Most likely in the next 3-5 years. I worry a lot about being able to find a match, but they don't start the process of looking for one until you are very close to kidney failure. I can't judge anyone who would not want to donate because it is invasive surgery, but it is such a gift that can literally give someone 20+ more years of their life. You are awesome!

Thanks, and I hope you're able to find a match before too long. If you have any family/friends considering donating, I'd be happy to talk to them about the process.

Hello!

How do you care for yourself now that you only have one kidney? What differences have you noticed since giving one away?

There's actually almost nothing that's different about having one kidney as opposed to two. I can still eat the same normal diet, drink when I want, exercise, etc. Nothing really changed.

I try to make sure to stay hydrated, as that's good for kidney health. And I switched from using ibuprofen to acetaminophen if I have a headache, but that's honestly about it. There's very little impact on the donor's life.

I'm in the process of getting evaluated for anonymous kidney donation, and the one thing they said is that I need to make sure migraines can take to something other than ibuprofen as I'll need to quit that after donation. I'm really struggling with this because Tylenol doesn't even touch my headaches/migraines. You said acetaminophen works fine, do you get headaches often and are they very bad? Mine are pretty often, nothing I can do about them besides meds (I've seen a neurologist).

Thank you for posting about this. I've been in this process for over a year and my family/kids don't understand why I'd put myself at risk 'unnecessarily'. I know they're just worried about me, and appreciate your posts today.

Thanks so much for considering doing this! It's an incredible thing and I'm really glad you are.

I don't get headaches very often, so it's not been a major factor for me. How regularly do you take ibuprofen? NSAIDs are mildly nephrotoxic, is my understanding, but in small doses are probably still ok?

Do you know or have been keeping in touch with the recipient after the donation?

The way it worked was that if the recipient wanted to contact me, I gave them permission to do so. But I didn't know who they were at all beforehand, and it was their choice.

A few months after the donation, they did get in contact. The recipient was in their mid-20s, and they were born with a kidney condition. They had gotten a transplant as a child that lasted them almost 20 years, but it was failing and they needed a new one, so now they have mine!

We ended up chatting over skype a few months after the whole thing happened, but we haven't kept in touch since then. I'm happy just knowing that the initial surgery went well and he got another chance at a healthy life.

I have a 4 year old daughter who was born with only 1 kidney. Thank you for what you did! Hopefully, if needed, some amazing person will be there for her too when the time comes!

Hopefully she'll be able to lead a normal healthy life - my understanding is that most people born with one kidney don't see much practical difference. Here's hoping!

What's Dune about?

Dune is an allegory for kidney donation

Are you half as likely, equally likely, or twice as likely to get kidney stones?

As far as I know, equally likely. But it's not something I've specifically researched.

Do you need to avoid iced tea more (or other things that are more likely to cause stones)?

No doctor has ever indicated that to me, so I haven't made any dietary changes at all. As far as I know it's not a factor.

That picture of your kidney is gnarly! Are you a bio-donor of anything else (regular blood donor, liver lobe, etc.) and/or has this donation caused you to consider others? What was your recovery like?

I'm not a donor of anything else - I really should do blood donations, but ironically I really, really don't like needles so I haven't ever started. I sometimes faint when I get shots.

Recovery was painful but short, I guess? Lots of pain, lots of fatigue, unable to sleep much because of the pain for the first two days or so.

The first 24 hours post surgery were like a really, really bad flu in terms of feeling like absolute death, weak, in pain, horrible. The next 24 hours were like a moderate case of the flu where you just feel shitty and weak overall. The 24 after that were like recovering from the flu where you're still kinda weak but you can tell things are ok and you want to get moving. Point being, it's pretty bad and painful but it also gets better pretty quickly. Like a 50% reduction in awful every day, so day four post operation is only 1/8th as awful as day one.

What, if anything, do you think about the Dawn Dorland / Celeste Ng kidney short story scandal? Is it something that you think might impact people's willingness to donate like you did in the future?

Oh man, that whole thing

I can only speak for myself. I try to do some activism on this front, and part of doing this AMA is trying to raise awareness and encourage other people to think about donating. I think activism and making this more public are very good things, and I know I've inspired some donors who heard about me doing it.

But I would never, ever 'remind someone' that I donated a kidney and I'm such a good person* because of it or try to claim ownership of such an experience. the whole 'asking for praise' thing is deeply uncomfortable. It's a decision you should make not for praise, but because you want to help someone, because you think it's the right thing to do.

*I have actually said this, but in a very sarcastic way among friends where it's clear I'm joking

My SO has kidney disease and will some day need a kidney. Thank you for doing what you did for a stranger.

Also, and I say this with like a fun joking energy but maybe not, we are not above bribing people for donations when the time comes. What’ll they do, put him in jail?

What do you think about the pros and cons of a legal market for this?

Compensation for kidney donation is a tricky ethical topic. Right now only one country allows for kidney donors to be paid (Iran).

While I think that there are legitimate ethical concerns about paying people for organs, a paid legal market for kidneys would almost certainly end the kidney waitlist, which is currently around 100,000 people. 100K people whose lives could be drastically improved or saved.

I'm willing to swallow some of those ethical concerns if it means saving that many people's lives. Nobody on the kidney waitlist has to die, but tens of thousands do every single year because we don't have enough donated kidneys.

One of the proposals I like is for the government to act as a 'single purchaser' of kidneys - it's only legal for Medicare to pay for kidneys, not anyone else. Then they give kidneys to whoever needs them, and set the market price such that they get enough donors. The models I've seen say this price would be around 40-50K, although that's just from memory and could be off. This model would allow more oversight and could ward off some potential abuses.

Is it true that if you donate a kidney you’re bumped up towards the top of the recipient list should you need a kidney in the future? Kinda like a “If you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” type thing?

Yes, it's slightly more complicated but in essence if I ever need a kidney I will get elevated priority as someone who donated a kidney. Luckily, the stats show that former donors are unlikely to ever need a kidney in the future.

Do they send Happy Kidney Day cards? Great job humaning.

I don't think I've ever gotten a kidney day card, which is a rip-off.

Dm me the date and an address

That's a super kind offer! But rather than a card, maybe a small donation in Jeremiah's name to Wait List Zero? They do fantastic work on kidney policy and are helping reduce the size of the kidney waitlist.

So interesting. We’re you financially responsible for the costs of surgery? I read an article years ago that followed all the organs of an organ donor who died. I immediately signed up to be an organ donor.

I was not - Medicare basically pays 100% of all kidney donations.

There's an interesting reason, where the original Medicare bill specified that Medicare would cover 100% of all kidney disease stuff, for all Americans, regardless of whether they were on Medicare or not. Since then dialysis has gotten way more expensive, so expensive that Medicare actually saves money by paying for these transplants (because they no longer have to pay for the person's dialysis)

What's your favorite kind of bean?

i know the meme answer here, but honestly probably garbanzo beans.

I know the more common name is chickpeas, but 'garbanzo bean' is more fun to say

How old were you when you donated?

I was 32

Do you feel like the medical community could be doing more to streamline the donation process and make it as painless as possible for potential donators?

I have personal experience and it definitely feels like they could be doing more.

I went when I was younger to try and do an unmatched donation. They had to run all the prescreening stuff after filling out a ton of paperwork about my health/height/weight/family history/etc. Night before I couldn't eat or drink, had to drink nasty sugar water shit when I woke up for a glucose test later that day. Got to the hospital at 730 for all the prescreening, spent all day doing blood work, MRI, EKG, etc. Lots of waiting around for the next test appointment, waiting in the patient room for the nurse/doctor, waiting in the outpatient room for the test results, waiting for them to decide if I passed and where I needed to go next for the next tests...

Last tests come back good around 3pm, I get sent to a information session with other potential donors, doctor tells us all about the procedures, what to expect while we wait for a surgery date, what to expect day of, what to expect post-op, what to expect long term. Doctor asks why we are all donating, since I'm doing it as unmatched they do a little "good for you" speech and then we all go to a final consultation with a physician.

After waiting another 30-40 minutes for the doctor to make his way to my room its about 5pm and the doctor is visibly ready to get us out of his office so he can go home. Comes in, looks at my chart, tells me "you need to lose 90 pounds if you want to donate", calls in the nurse and tells her she needs to set me up with a long term diet and exercise plan, then leaves...

I spend all day at the hospital being poked and prodded and scanned and injected and drained....and they wait till the very end to tell me "youre too fat to donate, gtfo and come back in a year."

I understand the medical necessity of a healthy donor patient. I understand being overweight can complicate medical procedures. I just don't understand why no one at ANY point before that last little bit thought to look at the height and weight listed on my chart and say "oh you can't donate until your BMI is below X".

It honestly soured me on the whole process, I felt humiliated after spending all day hearing "youre doing such a good thing!" and then at the end hearing "just kidding, youre too fat, make significant changes to your life in order to be a good person and donate."

Seems like something a receptionist should check off on when a person first fills out their information on the donation website.

yeah, that sounds like it wasn't handled in the best way by that hospital. The process can differ from hospital to hospital so hopefully others wouldn't necessarily have the same experience.

What made you donate? What thoughts and feelings led you to made the decision to donate a organ to a stranger?

I take my hat off to you for doing it. That is very kind and generous of you. In my book you definitely score som extra points for helping a human in need.

Great question. The first thing was reading Alvin Roth's book Who Gets What and Why - he's an economist who helped design the kidney matching program and algorithm. I thought 'hmmm this whole kidney donation thing is something more people should do' and then forgot about it.

Then I read Dylan Matthew's piece (linked in my OP) where he talks about his experience doing this, and I started thinking maybe I should do this. After that I thought about it for a while, and the final thing that pushed me to make the call was watching videos of people on youtube talking about their kidney transplant and seeing the emotional impact of it.

In the end, it was something that didn't pose that much risk or trouble to me and could help save a life. Like floating in the ocean with two life jackets, when someone else has none. Makes sense to give them one of yours.

So a lot of people, myself included, would worry that the "spare life jacket" might one day be needed for a relative. Was this something that concerned you at all? Now I have a daughter I baulk at the idea of a living donation even though it is really such a small risk she would even need one. But it's really hard to accept any kind of risk with your own child.

Great question! There are actually now programs where the relatives of kidney donors now get preference if they ever need a kidney. This was in response to concerns like you just voiced. My relatives have this going for them.

Did you have any changes to how your bowel movements work out after the op? (Other than the normal post-op constipation)

No, bowel movements are largely the same

Did you talk to your family / loved ones before making your decision to donate? Were they supportive? Did you have to reassure them, e.g. that it was safe?

I did let my family know - my wife, and then my parents and siblings. Everyone was very supportive. It helped that I had really done my research and could answer all their questions/concerns with clear answers backed up by research.

Have you ever been punched in the kidney since?

I have not, thankfully

do you receive any compensations? I mean, it's one thing to be an organ donor after passing away, but to volunteering to donate seems extremely altruistic and deserves some compensation and recognition. I guess any sort of monetary compensation, whether direct payment or tax break, start to go into a slippery slope of organ commodity, but feels like a good deed must go unnoticed and celebrated.

No compensation - in most cases, it's illegal to compensate. I did get paid time off work, because my work had a generous paid leave policy.

what's your favorite dinosaur?

Not sure I have one, but maybe the stegosaurus. Such a bizarre design of an animal.

I have a kidney that produces a little rock about every three to five years. Think I can donate that kidney to someone? I mean, it's better than nothing for someone who's going to die without one, and honestly I think I'd be happier without mine.

You'd probably have to go consult a nephrologist to see if they'd let you. I think if you had absolutely chronic kidneystones they would probably say no, but I'm not sure about infrequent ones.

Would it make a difference to how you thought about the donation if the donee was someone you despise? Or someone who would later grow up to commit some unspeakable acts?

How long does a missing kidney take off your life span?

There's basically no years off my lifespan. Young healthy people who donate have near-zero impact on their future lives. There's a very slightly increased risk of kidney disease, but we're talking about moving from a 0.3% lifetime risk to a 0.9% lifetime risk. Still 99% that I never end up with kidney disease.

As far as the 'bad person' question, I guess I just deal with the averages. I think the average person on the kidney waitlist (and the average human) is a normal, good, decent person. I'm an optimist for most of humanity. As such, given the opportunity to press a button and extend a random stranger's life by a couple decades, I would say yes - even knowing there's a small risk they are Modern Hitler or something.

Not sure if you would know or not. But, with a donated kidney, does the recipient have to pay for the physical kidney itself? I understand surgery, medicine costs etc. but would they have to pay for the kidney as well, seeing as it’s donated?

Seems like a stop for me personally, I’d be more willing to entertain the thought if I knew it was absolutely free to the recipient because, it’s a donation. I wouldn’t feel like donating my kidney so a hospital could charge a ton of money for it, even if it might sound selfish.

in the US, basically 100% of all kidney disease care, including transplants, is covered by medicare. From both ends.

In the photo of your kidney post-removal, is the doctor/nurse/anesthesiologist holding it up with their bare hands?? Seems like a weird thing to do without gloves.

They're wearing gloves!

Did suddenly removing weight from a side of the body affect your sense of balance/footing at all?

So I looked it up, and apparently a kidney only weighs like a third of a pound? So it hasn't ever made any difference there, can't feel anything out of place or balance

One small thing that feels different is my belly button. That's where my scar is, where they cut. They took the kidney out through the belly button, and when they sowed it up it just feels a little bit different since then.

How does the lack of an internal organ feel in day to day life? Can you feel the empty space and does it ever feel weird?

So I looked it up, and apparently a kidney only weighs like a third of a pound? So it hasn't ever made any difference there, can't feel anything.

One small thing that feels different is my belly button. That's where my scar is, where they cut. They took the kidney out through the belly button, and when they sowed it up it just feels a little bit different since then.

Is gold money?

It used to be!

Good shit man, I donated to my sister about 7 years ago! How was your recovery? Did you do it laparoscopically or the old fashioned way?

I think they're almost all laparoscopic these days. For those in the crowd, laparoscopic surgery means they don't really cut a big chunk of you open, they just cut a small hole and then use tools to operate inside you. Shorter recovery time.

If you poke the area where the kidney was, does it feel any different?

Also, if you were punched in the area where the kidney was, do you think if would hurt less than being hit on your existing kidney?

So I looked it up, and apparently a kidney only weighs like a third of a pound? So it hasn't ever made any difference there, can't feel anything.

One small thing that feels different is my belly button. That's where my scar is, where they cut. They took the kidney out through the belly button, and when they sowed it up it just feels a little bit different since then.

No idea about the punch

Don't you miss your kidney sometimes ?

I rarely think about it unless someone brings it up.

if you start to have kidney problems later in life would you ask them to give your other one back?

Nope lol. Luckily there's only about a 1% chance of me developing serious kidney disease.

Did it hurt? What was the recover period like? I’m so scared of the pain. Thank you!

From above:

Recovery was painful but short, I guess? Lots of pain, lots of fatigue, unable to sleep much because of the pain for the first two days or so.

The first 24 hours post surgery were like a really, really bad flu in terms of feeling like absolute death, weak, in pain, horrible. The next 24 hours were like a moderate case of the flu where you just feel shitty and weak overall. The 24 after that were like recovering from the flu where you're still kinda weak but you can tell things are ok and you want to get moving. Point being, it's pretty bad and painful but it also gets better pretty quickly. Like a 50% reduction in awful every day, so day four post operation is only 1/8th as awful as day one.

Is there a way for me to know if my kidneys would be a match for my mom? She has sorta always had a pretty heavy drinking problem and I have thought about donating one of my kidneys but I am worried she is going to need one in the future. I think if I knew for a fact I wasn't a match I would probably just go ahead and donate.

Heavy drinkers usually end up with liver problems, not kidney problems.

How did they decide which kidney to take out?

from above:

They actually examine your kidneys to see if one is better than another, and if one is better they leave you with the better one.

If they're the same, they always take the left side. It's something about how the left side tends to have longer connecting tubes, which makes transplanting into the recipient easier.

Why the left kidney? Why not the right?

Also when are you going to eat bugs again?

From above:

They actually examine your kidneys to see if one is better than another, and if one is better they leave you with the better one.

If they're the same, they always take the left side. It's something about the left side tends to have longer connecting tubes, which makes transplanting into the recipient easier.

I hope to not eat bugs again any time soon, they're not very good

That’s a good looking kidney! Appreciate you posting this. My question is - are there any medical conditions (aside from the obvious kidney disease) that would preclude you from donating?

They want donors to be in good overall health, so if you generally have a chronic condition of any kind that has a serious impact on you, they probably won't let you donate.

One interesting thing I had happen with a friend was that their kidneys were messed up in terms of the number of arteries. They wanted to donate, were healthy, but it turns out that one of their kidneys had 3 renal arteries and the other had 4. This is SUPER unusual, only occurring like 2-3% of the time for 3 and less than 1% for 4. So they turned him down, because it would be too hard to match his weird number of arteries with a donor.

I know I’m a little late to the party… but if you’re still answering questions:

Do you know why we are born with two kidneys, if we really only need one? I’ve ready through all your answers here and it sounds like you have no decreased life expectancy, no real limitations to activities/foods, don’t feel different, don’t have any side effects. So I can’t help but wonder why the human body has evolved to have two kidneys if we just need one? Plenty of other organs we just have/need one of (pancreas, liver, etc). Is it “vestigial” like an appendix (I think they still haven’t found a use for that?) or backup or important for some people or in some instances? Any thoughts?!

it's a good question, and I'm not sure!

Why did you pick the left one?

They actually examine your kidneys to see if one is better than another, and if one is better they leave you with the better one.

If they're the same, they always take the left side. It's something about the left side tends to have longer connecting tubes, which makes transplanting into the recipient easier.

Does your recipient know the donor?

answered above -

The way it worked was that if the recipient wanted to contact me, I gave them permission to do so. But I didn't know who they were at all beforehand, they didn't know me, and it was their choice whether or not to get in contact.

A few months after the donation, they did get in contact. The recipient was in their mid-20s, and they were born with a kidney condition. They had gotten a transplant as a child that lasted them almost 20 years, but it was failing and they needed a new one, so now they have mine!

We ended up chatting over skype a few months after the whole thing happened, but we haven't kept in touch since then. I'm happy just knowing that the initial surgery went well and he got another chance at a healthy life.

What is the expected reduction of life expantancy?

There's basically no years off my lifespan. Young healthy people who donate have near-zero impact on their future lives. There's a very slightly increased risk of kidney disease, but we're talking about moving from a 0.3% lifetime risk to a 0.9% lifetime risk. Still 99% that I never end up with kidney disease.

Is there a minimum age for kidney donation (on paper or just in reality)? Do you process fluids slower now that you only have one kidney?

I've heard of people in their 60s donate, because they will were still very healthy. They prefer you to be young and healthy as a donor, but I'm not aware of any hard restriction.

How did you get registered? Did you have to do anything special to prepare?

There's a whole process you go through in order to be approved to donate. I first talked to some former donors in a casual setting to understand the process. Then I got registered with the National Kidney Registry, and had to go through a battery of tests. They test a lot of things:

• Your overall health from almost every angle. Lots of blood work. Pee tests, etc.
• Your kidney health and how well they are functioning
• Your mental health, you have to see a psychiatrist
• Your living situation - are you able to take time off work? Is someone going to be there to take care of you for a few days after the surgery? Is anyone pressuring you to do this? etc.

Other than that kind of process, I didn't have to do much for the actual surgery. I showed up and laid down on the table, and they put me to sleep, and I woke up with my midsection hurting like hell.

Would you do it again?

I've got no regrets and I'm super happy that I did it, 10/10 experience.

Last question, most rewarding part? Have you met the person yet?

the most rewarding part has been getting messages from other people who decided to donate after hearing about my donation. Just an incredible feeling.

I met them over skype, but never in person.

If you don’t mind sharing: what was your GFR before you donated and has the level changed much now that you only have one? Thanks. :)

oh man, I forget exactly what it was. I think it was well over 100, maybe as high as 120?

I'm not sure what it is now, haven't measured in a while.

I happened to witness dialysis and pain associated with it. I'm incredibly thankful for what you did for the humanity. But personally, aren't you scared that when you get older, if your one kidney fails, you dont have a spare to fall back to?

The risk is not that high - only about 1% of kidney donors end up getting serious kidney disease. Donating doesn't increase that risk much.

Also, I get priority on the kidney waitlist if I ever do need one, as a result of donating.

Which is your favorite element, fruit, and Spice Girl?

Carbon, because it's the basis for all life on earth.

A good honeycrisp apple is hard to beat.

Maybe Ginger Spice, because I too am a ginger.

I have been considering donating for a while now. I know there is the whole family voucher plan so that my family gets moved higher on the list if they ever need a new kidney. But something my long term girlfriend is concerned about is if our future kids have any problems, as I would be donating before I have kids. Do you know if the vouchers can apply to family members that are not born yet?

If you don't know that's find but do you have any resources not listed in your original post that I could call or take a look out to find out?

Do you know if the vouchers can apply to family members that are not born yet?

They don't, unfortunately. It's true this is a risk, but the one thing I would point out is that it's a very rare thing for a kid to need a kidney AND for the parent to be the right match.

I am interested learning more about becoming an anonymous donor.

Who covers the various medical costs associated with the donation? Does the recipient's insurance pay? I'm presuming my insurance would not cover it because it would be "elective" for me.

Medicare covers this 100% (in the united states). I've never heard of a donor in any country having to pay the medical costs.

What kind of person makes a good candidate for a donor? What makes a bad candidate?

Donors have to meet a few criteria:

• In overall good physical health
• In decent mental health - they don't rule you out for small time stuff, but if someone is actively battling severe depression they're unlikely to approve you
• Has a support system for when they'll have to be not working for about 2-4 weeks post surgery.

I meet those criteria.

I’m 28yrs old. Should I wait till I’m older to donate (just in case I have some need for one down the line) or is it ok to start thinking about it now?

If you donate a kidney and then later in life need a transplant yourself (for whatever reason), are you put at the back of the list like everyone else?

Edit: not that I think I’ll need one just want to know

I think you should definitely consider donating! And it's definitely ok to start thinking about it now.

Donors do get strong preference in the wait list if they ever end up needing a kidney (which is rare).

If you want someone to chat with about this, I'd be happy to chat or you can get in touch with WaitListZero who will have a former talk to you about the process and how it works.

Thanks for doing this AMA. I’ve been thinking about doing this for years. I’ve actually been embarrassed about it though. Like people will think I’m doing it for attention or to show what a great person I am. Which isn’t the case at all. I like your analogy of floating in the ocean with two life preservers. Like it’s a small inconvenience to me and a huge benefit to someone else. But did you have this feeling, and if so, how did you deal with it? I know I could just not tell anyone what I’m doing (which is exactly what I would do) but that wouldn’t work with my family.

Also, I saw your post about recovery. But how much work did you actually miss?

Thanks again!

I do think about this, and I think there are two forces at play. On the one hand, you don't want to be seen as a braggart or a show-off. But on the other hand, I think being public about it really does help inspire other people to do this, and that's a huge deal. So I've decided to be pretty public about it, and mostly I get great positive reactions. More people should think about this as something they could do!

I was out of work for a month, but I could have gone back after 2 weeks fine. But I had a generous paid leave policy, so I took the whole month because they gave it to me haha. Most people can be back after 2 weeks, the tiredness/weakness is basically gone by then. You might need longer (4-6 weeks) if your job is highly physical, because after major abdominal surgery you should be lifting things for about a month.

I think you must be quite young, not older that 50. And year by year the chances of that one kidney failing grow. Do you want to die younger, is there some philosophy behind that? I'm truly curious, because I know that I don't want to live behind some point of sickness, for example.

There's actually very little impact on my life. I have a very slightly increased risk of kidney disease, which grows from 0.3% to 0.9% because of my donation. But it's still a 99% chance I never end up with serious kidney disease.

The VAST majority of donors don't end up with any long term effects at all.

Was it for altruistic reasons or to make yourself feel a certain way? Or a combination? What inspired your action?

The main goal was just to help someone.

There are about 100K people on the kidney wait list, and many/most of them will die without getting a kidney. Survival rates are grim, I think it's something like only 33% of people on dialysis make it past year five. And living on dialysis sucks, it drains your energy, makes it very hard to have a normal job or life, it's awful.

And basically all of that can be solved with a donor kidney, and they can get 10, 20, or more years of normal life. If you could give that to someone at little risk, why not?

I’m assuming this is in the usa? Is it true that if you donate an organ anonymously like this you go high up on the organ recipient list if ever you need a transplant yourself?

Also, what are the side effects there in terms of quality of life after donating? And also for the recipient? As I understand it, there’s still a strict regimen of pills to ensure the recipient’s body doesn’t reject the donated organ. How would you describe the after care for both parties?

I’m assuming this is in the usa? Is it true that if you donate an organ anonymously like this you go high up on the organ recipient list if ever you need a transplant yourself?

Yes and yes

For my quality of life - basically nothing about my life has changed. I do all the same stuff, rarely think about it day to day. Literally the biggest change is that I switched from ibuprofen to acetaminophen.

For the recipient, they get better almost instantly. Kidney clean your blood, and a person with severe kidney disease has kidneys that basically don't do that. They're on dialysis, but dialysis absolutely kills your energy and makes you feel like shit, and still only gives you like 10-15% of a kidney.

When they get a new kidney, the new kidney within just a few hours cleans the shit out of their blood and very very quickly they go from 'dying of kidney disease' to 'practically normal'. They still have complications from having major surgery, and they have to worry about rejection. But recipients have dramatic, very fast changes where their quality of life drastically improves almost right away.