A kidney transplant is a surgery done to replace a diseased kidney with a healthy kidney from a donor. The wait list for a deceased organ donor can take many years. It’s possible that a person in need of a kidney will require some form of dialysis in order to live while waiting for a kidney. A living donor can take years off the wait and could be a better option for a healthy, longer lasting kidney. Family members or others who are a good match may be able to donate one of their kidneys. This type of transplant is called a living transplant.
Giving a Kidney
Experience of Living Donation by Ann Serrano Lopez is a Renal Support Network Hope Week Presentation. Hope Week is the Renal Support Network’s Annual Patient Education meeting. Ann donated her kidney to her then husband George Lopez in 2005. Watch the video to learn about her experience with the process.
Eyewitness Account
of Living Donation
Donating a kidney to a friend or family member is becoming more common. Listen to Phillip Palmer, weekday morning anchor for KABC7 Eyewitness News in Los Angeles and hear him describe his journey of what it was like to give the “gift of life” to his good friend Dale Wade Davis.
Laughing Your Way
to Living Donation
Comic relief came in the form of a kidney from this comedian. When Alonzo Bodden learned his brother was in need of a kidney transplant, he didn’t think twice about donating one of his. Listen to this great interview about his experience.
The Kidney Donors Journey: 100 Questions
I asked before I donated my kidney
Ari Sytner is a Rabbi with a long list of impressive credentials and an incredible story to tell. He is the author of The Kidney Donors Journey: 100 Questions I asked before I donated my kidney. Lori talks with Ari about the moment that he began his journey, the events that followed and why he decided to donate a kidney to a complete stranger.
Lori has a conversation with Ellen Shukhman, Clinical Program Coordinator for a kidney living donor program in California explains the step by step process that donors go through to donate a kidney. Listen to this informative interview to learn about the ins and outs of living donation.
Learn about RSN’s Share Your Spare
Campaign and Conversation Kit
RSN’s “Share Your Spare” campaign brings awareness to the public about their kidneys and how to keep them healthy, kidney disease treatment options, deceased organ donation and about the option of living donation.
In this animated video, Neff and Nuff talk about how to “share your spare” and give the gift of life. This video is available in English and in Spanish. Click the “More Videos” to view the entire Neff & Nuff series.