At this point in my life, I considered myself very fortunate. I had never known or met anyone with kidney disease, kidney failure, or who was on dialysis treatment. I had never been ill, or been in hospital, and had always enjoyed exceptional good health.
That same day I found the phone number for the Royal Liverpool Hospital and left a message with the living donor co-ordinator to say I had seen this programme and was interested in finding out more about being a living kidney donor.
I received a call back and we had a brief conversation about donating. I was sent a DVD and some leaflets in the post explaining more about the process and procedures.
The following week, I was invited to an appointment with the living donor co-ordinator at the hospital. There, I was taken through the many technical, medical and surgical tests and examinations I would have to go through to make sure I would be healthy enough to donate and to live the rest of my life with just one kidney.
It was explained to me that, as with any operation, there is a risk. They said that kidney donation is comparable to the removal of an appendix (1 in 3000 risk of death). Also, as this is an operation that I didn’t need, and would have no benefit whatsoever for me, I would go into the operating theatre fit and well, and come out slightly less so.
During my assessment the paired/pooled scheme was explained to me. This is a scheme that enables kidney’s from living donors throughout the UK to be ‘swapped’ for the benefit of patients waiting for a transplant.
My kidney was put into the paired scheme as then two people get a kidney – one directly and another indirectly.
It took almost a year to get through all the many blood tests, X-rays, CT scans, MRI scans etc. There was nothing embarrassing or invasive about them, but I did feel a bit of a fraud going to all the various clinics and sitting with patients, some of whom had serious medical conditions, and here was I fit and well.
I also had to have a psychological assessment with a psychiatrist, and a meeting with an independent assessor on behalf of the Human Tissue Authority.
The date for my donation was decided by the smaller regional hospital. By a total coincidence they chose my 65th birthday!
I went into hospital the night before, and on my special birthday I donated my left kidney.
Later the same day my co-ordinator came to see me with the news that my recipient’s operation was successful and that the kidney was working well.
It’s amazing how a small amount of inconvenience on my part can make such a huge difference to someone else. For me it was three nights in hospital and I couldn’t put my left sock on for a few days, but I was discharged after three nights and was well enough to be back swimming 14 days later.
