MrDannyOcean

Yes, if I ever end up in need of a kidney (not very common at all among living donors) i would go straight to the top of the list.

edit: not literally 'straight to the top of the list' but I get heavy preference.

Today is day 6 post-operation, and I'm feeling pretty good so far today. The pain is mostly gone, and what's left is a vague feeling of discomfort in my abdomen. That and I'm pretty tired all the time, which I've heard lasts a couple weeks.

I may meet the person in the future if they want to reach out - but if they want to keep things anonymous, I won't get to meet them. Completely their choice.

Donors have a very slightly increased risk of End Stage Renal Disease, from 0.3% to 0.9%.

Also, I'm going to switch from ibuprofen to Tylenol. Honestly that's about it.

This is an interesting question! They actually examine your kidneys to see if one is better than another, and if one is better they leave you with the better one.

If they're the same, they always take the left side. It has longer ureters (connecting tubes) which makes transplanting into the recipient easier.

I heard that as well, but I'm not sure it's accurate. They've gotten very, very good at making the donation surgery pretty seamless. My surgery was the morning of the 25th, and I was discharged from the hospital on the morning of the 27th.

The first couple days were super shitty, can't lie. But each day has gotten progressive better than the day before, and less than a week out from surgery I'm nearly pain free. At this point it's just discomfort and tired-ness. I think the recipient has a longer stay in the hospital and more recovery - the doctors have to do a lot more work to make sure the donated kidney is not being rejected, and working as it should.