On April 29, 2015 I officially began the process of donating my kidney to a stranger. Ive been considering living organ donation for the past 7 years. In 2008 my father-in-law, David Lever, was in need of a kidney transplant. His siblings and children were the first to be tested as they were the most likely to be a match. I knew immediately that if no biological family members were a good match for David I would happily give my own kidney if given the opportunity. Turns out, David's brother was an ideal match and the two of them began the process of preparing for a kidney transplant.
Throughout the last 7 years, I have considered kidney donation off and on. During that time I gave birth to a little boy (now 5 and a half), changed careers and along with my husband moved from one house to another. Back in 2008, I did sign up to be a bone marrow donor in honor of David. I was happy to do it and whenever I switched addresses or jobs I was sure to update my information with Be The Match so that they would be able to find me if they needed me. Fast forward to April of 2015. I received an envelope in the mail from Be The Match. I was secretly hoping this was correspondence informing me that my bone marrow would finally be needed. Then I realized that they would probably call or email me rather than sending me something in the mail. Turns out it was time to renew my commitment. On the same day, I saw a picture online of a truck. This particular truck, had a plea in big bold letters asking for a kidney donor for a child. It had information about blood type and a phone number for anyone interested in helping. This reignited my interest in living donation. After hours and hours and days and days of research I contacted a local hospital and began the process of moving forward as an altruistic kidney donor. I hope to share my story here to inform others of the process. If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment.
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