In 2021, my mother sadly passed away and my brothers and I agreed to organ donation. My mother’s kidneys were donated and a few months later, we received a letter from one of the recipients. I could tell that mum’s donation had changed her life.
I decided to look into becoming a live kidney donor and received exceptional care from the live donor coordinators, nurses and surgeon from the start of the process. I was able to have some blood tests taken at my doctor’s surgery which made things easier.
The whole process took about 18 months from start to surgery. My appointments were spread out so I didn’t find it stressful in any way. I had one appointment where I was at the hospital for several hours for the kidney function test and MRI scan.
My family supported me throughout the whole process. I only really told my family and friends after I had had the approval to donate, but I had their support too.
There were no surprises as I had done a lot of research before I decided to start the process so I knew what the testing would entail. I spoke to a ‘buddy’ as part of the Buddy Support Service who had already gone through it all which was good to hear about the experience firsthand.
I was admitted to hospital the day before and the surgeon came to talk me through everything and I was put on a drip overnight. The next morning I was asked to shower and put on a gown and surgical stockings. It was quite busy with different people coming to talk to me and I did start feeling nervous especially about having a general anaesthetic as I have never had one before. I was wheeled down to a waiting room and a final check was done before I was taken into a room where I had a spinal anaesthetic.
They put a mask over my mouth and the next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery ward. I didn’t really have a good night as there was lots of noise from the machine and my obs were taken frequently so hardly slept but the next morning my catheter was removed and I was able to get up and walk around slowly. I spent a total of three nights in hospital.
