Living-related and living, non-related transplant
A family member, spouse, or friend may choose to donate a kidney. Living donor transplants tend to have better function and last longer. The surgery can be done when it is convenient, so there may be a very short wait. The donor also gets health screening to make sure there is no chance for kidney disease or factors that could affect his or her health.
A donor can live a healthy life after giving a kidney. But, there may be a risk. There have been very few long-term studies of kidney donors. A long-term study from Norway did find higher risks of ESRD and heart disease in donors than in equally healthy non-donors after 10 years. Since donors may be young and have decades left to live, it is important to be cautious. Many people who need a kidney are urged to ask their friends and family to be tested. If there is a match, then the person can decide whether to have more tests to see if he or she could be a donor.
It can be hard to think about someone you love giving you a kidney. A living donor must have surgery to have the kidney taken out. The donor will miss work and have to recover for a few weeks. Living donors' medical costs are most often paid by Medicare.
A number of people get angry with their family or friends for not offering to give them a kidney. Others worry about how the donor will feel if the kidney doesn't work.
Sometimes people have one or more willing donors—but none is a good blood and tissue match. Some transplant centers have programs where two living donors who do not match their loved one can "trade" a kidney to each other's recipient. The two transplants are done at the same time. In this way, two recipients get a living donor, and neither one has to wait on the deceased donor list. Sometimes these "trades", called "paired donor exchanges", can become chains with dozens of transplants. You may have seen these in the news.
There are a lot of things to think about with kidney transplant. Most transplant centers will ask patients and possible living donors to see the whole transplant team, including a surgeon, nurse, dietitian, and social worker, before they will do the transplant.
