Recovering from my Kidney Donation

I donated my kidney to a stranger on October 30th. I’m writing this to share my experience and hopefully to encourage others to donate, too. It’s not very exciting which is the point — donating a kidney is something that any (healthy) person can do without major risk or long-term consequence.

Here’s the rough timeline of my donation and recovery:

• October 2023: Read article, reached out to Waitlist Zero
• November 2023: Video call with Elaine Perlman at Waitlist Zero, reached out to Virginia Mason Medical Center. Went to Quest labs and dropped off blood samples
• December 2023: Phone conversations with a social worker and transplant coordinator
• January 2024: Ultrasound and more blood tests
• February 2024: Full-day workup: CT scan, EKG, 24-hour urine sample, mental health evaluation, more blood tests
• Gap where I was stressed about school/work
• June 2024: Appointment with endocrinologist to investigate an episode of hypoglycemia. Approved to donate towards the end of the month
• September 2024: Matching
• October 2024: Final cross-match (more blood tests)
• October 29th: Pre-op
• October 30th: Surgery
• October 31st: Discharge from hospital
• November 3rd: Started to feel normal. Able to sleep comfortably on my side
• November 4th: Returned to (remote) work. Stopped needing any medications
• November 6th: First time driving. Able to sleep comfortably on stomach
• November 7th: One-week follow up

The process leading up to donation was fairly lengthy and involved lots of testing and reading. It does take a fair bit of time, but I thought it was worthwhile considering how much it would help someone else.

On the day of surgery I arrived at the hospital around 1:00pm. I went to the pre-op area, undressed, and talked to several medical staff. They told me who they were and informed me about the procedure. I signed a few documents consenting to the procedure.

My surgery occurred around 2:30pm. It all went incredibly smoothly. I had no complications and I can’t imagine anything going better than it did. I woke up from my surgery around 9pm on the 30th. My pain levels were around a 5/10 and I was fairly out of it thanks to all of the heavy drugs I was on. The night was a little rough. The worst part was my catheter wasn’t draining due to an air bubble, so there was ~700ml of urine in my bladder. My nurse was thankfully very attentive and promptly fixed the issue.

I definitely wasn’t too comfortable, but I was able to sleep for about two hours at a time. I did this until around 7am where my nurse ended her shift and a doctor came in to check on me. Around this time my catheter was removed and I was able to walk around the nursing floor. I was also feeling good enough to have breakfast (all liquid). My pain was still at a 5/10, but I was glad to be walking since that helps with the healing process. Moving from a laying position to standing up is a significant amount of work since I wasn’t really able to use my abdominal muscles, but thankfully the design of the hospital beds made this easier.

By around noon on Friday (a little over 24 hours after arrival) I met all of the criteria for discharge. I left around 3pm with a friend who picked me up and drove me home.

After getting home I laid down and put something on the TV. Thankfully my pain was under control, so I didn’t need anything stronger than Tylenol after leaving the hospital. I also had to take stool softener (due to the anesthesia and narcotics from the hospital) and anti-nausea medicine. I was sure to drink plenty of water since that helps with recovery, but I wasn’t feeling like eating. Somehow, despite being asleep for the majority of the last 24 hours, I was able to nap some more and went to be around 10pm that night.

Sleeping Friday night was still a bit rough. I slept for two-hour intervals and woke up due to discomfort before falling back asleep. I did briefly regret going home and not staying a second night in the hospital. I live alone and had to manage walking to the bathroom by myself. As I mentioned previously, going from laying to standing requires a bit of effort which would have been much easier in a hospital.

I spent Saturday lying down, but I was able to eat a few small normal meals. I was still in pain, but it was closer to a 2-3/10.

On Sunday I started to feel normal. My pain was still present but much more in the background than before. I spent most of the day sitting up playing Factorio. I was also able to eat normal meals.

From Sunday onwards I got back into my normal routine minus anything related to exercise like walking, running, or lifting. I still feel occasional discomfort, but pain wasn’t really present.

Overall, I had three bad days of moderate pain and inconvenience. There’s an additional six-week period where I cannot lift >20 lbs. This seems like an extraordinarily low cost considering the positive impact it has on another person.

Donating

If you’re curious about donating a kidney then I recommend reading the post that inspired me, My Left Kidney by Scott Alexander. If you need help with the process or have any doubts/questions please feel free to email me at [email protected].