I'm not Jannie but I thought the other poster was very rude to you, the chance you take posting on a public forum I guess, but he/she seemed to just go on and on. Sorry if this persons bad attitude has brought you down. You are a very strong woman, I don't think I could walk in your shoes for a day let alone all the years you've been doing it.
Stay strong and just ignore the bad judgement of others.
Hugs to you!!!
Diane

I saw it, also and agree that the other poster was unnecessarily rude! Rise above it!

I do, however, see her point although I think she could have stated it in a less confrontive manner. I can't begin to know what you are/have been going through so I won't presume. I know that if I myself got a living donor and something happened to that person I couldn't live with the guilt. And just such a thing happened to a friend of mine. His best friend donated a kidney, and nearly lost his life in the process. So while my friend John was enjoying good health, his donor was lingering in the ICU for months.

I asked gardenweb if they would start a thread for this they said go to the health forum.Thats my point,someone donates an organ he could have problems just like I could we have no guaratees in anything we do in life,You just hope fpor the best.They are so good at screening for problems chances are all will go well.The donor has to go through all I did,stress test,gallbladder xrays,chest xray,back xray,psychatrist,dental,physical,heart dr,32 tubes blood,all gyn tests,they didnt miss much and you have to pass all.Sure it would upset me but too they know going in you could die, I can,I signed papers saying I understandI could die but like 98% success rate Im happy.

I have to say, I did think that was a bizarre post, and I can't imagine it having any results.

But I do have a suggestion - have you contacted all the donor programs in your area? I have heard of "round-robin" donations specifically for kidneys - meaning you have someone willing to donate to you, but wrong type, and someone else needs your donor's type, and has someone with your type, etc.

The last one I heard of was a group of six donors and recipients.

Can I ask what you meant by helping them out in any way you can? Are you offering money?

Bulldinkie, if I could give you one of my kidneys, I would. I am A-ve. Alas I would fail the health tests that you have to go through as a donor. I am now also considered too old to be an organ donor. I signed my organ donor card about 43 years ago and still have it in my purse even though it would do no good now. If I remember correctly from my nursing school days over 40 years ago, you only need about a third of a kidney to work well to live normally. I could be wrong there, but I remember being impressed at the time on how little of a kidney organ was actually needed to function in a body.

Your story brings back memories for me. When I was in nursing school, I looked after the first kidney transplant patient, a young girl, that our hospital ever did. It was a big event back then, and it was an honour that I was allowed to be her nurse for a day when she came out of ICU. I will never forget her, she was an inspiration to me in my own life. I hope she is still doing well.

There are no guarantees in life. I can understand the frustrations and agonies of dialysis. Being placed on the transplant list gives you hope that your trials on dialysis may soon come to an end. Finding a good kidney for long term survival of course is optimum. I certainly can't fault you for looking.

My thoughts and prayers are with both you and Jannie.

I meant anything I can do to help before or after surgery,my insurance covers thiers,they get unemployment while off,if I would ,it would be between me & donor.There was a young man in the news that gave a kidney for an ipod.I would have bought him an ipod...lol I know you arent suppose to but why not if you can??I think rules should be changed for a live donor theyre off work etc...

Kim, it's 6:30 am Wednesday and I just read your post. First, I think it was very brave of you to post asking for a kidney donor. When I first got kidney trouble in 2001, the doctors knew I would go downhill and need a transplant eventually. They told me cadaver kidneys last around 10 years, living donor kidneys last about 20, but family blood relatives can last much longer. I don't plan on living to 100. I asked family members, all said no. My brother already had high blood pressure,he offered me a kidney but he's the wrong blood type (B). I joked with him "This means one of us was adopted." My two sisters said they had their reasons. One sister had a daughter with liver failure (a drug user) and was planning on giving a part of her liver to her daughter. The daughter suddenly got much sicker and needed a "full organ transplant" so only a cadaver could be used. That niece got her liver transplant in 2007 and still has health problems. For one thing, she can never have a child of her own. She can't work at all, and it's likely she'll be on Social Security and welfare the rest of her life. Other relatives (on my husband's side) also said no. I asked around at my job and at church but no one would be tested. I have type O blood and can only accept a Type O kidney. I've been "on the list" for years, on dialysis since 2007 and I'm just about as desperate. I've been told to "advertise" and reach out to any organization that might help. Second, you were rudely treated on the health forum. Being an organ donor does have risks, but medical science has done its best to minimize them. The donor surgery can be done ny laparoscopy, which uses a very small incision and very little blood loss. The medical cost to the living donor is handled by the recipient's insurance company. It's illegal to pay someone for a kidney, tho I have heard of people doing so, buying organs from India and other "poor" countries. We patients can give donors money for travel and small gifts, but that's it. We're pretty much condemned to this hellish treatment. I have had all kinds of complications, tho I have NEVER ever missed a treatment since 2007. I have felt severly dizzy, thrown up,had leg cramps, had bleeding problems with my arm where the needles are put in. And believe me, those suckers do HURT going in. Then you have to lie perfectly still for over 3 hours. Once I nearly died during dialysis , I turned blue (cyanotic) from lack of oxygen. A nurse saved my life. Anyway, Kim, I applaud you for trying. Sorry you were treated so roughly on the Health Forum. I have always lived by that American Indian saying (and I'm part Blackfoot) "Walk A Mile in My Shoes." I am so sorry what happened to you. Try to stay strong. I know how hard it is waiting. But our transplants are coming. Every day you live is another day closer to that transplant.

A couple of things I forgot to add: A "friend" at work, who is Jewish, said her religion does not allow its members to defile their bodies any way, such as no tattoos and no organ donations.I found out that was B.S. Jews can donate organs.Also, getting a transplant is not a "cure" it is just a "treatment" for kidney failure. Regardless of what treatment you get, transplant or any kind of dialysis (there are at least three kinds) you still have kidney failure, meaning your own kidneys are not performing properly. My personal "goal" in dealing with this disease is, get a transplant before I'm 60 (I'm now 58) and live to 80 (my Dad died at 76), I want to live to see my grandchildren. Then I could die happy. Kim, my heart goes out to you. Wishing you well, Jannie (real name Janice, but most people call me Jan).

Heather, you need the whole kidney. You are thinking of the liver, of which you don't need to transplant the whole thing.

Sleeperblues, I know they take the whole kidney out. What I was talking about was the fact that a kidney doesn't have to function 100 percent completely in order to service the body. When I learned this in nursing school, liver transplants weren't even being done. Yes, you only have to take part of a liver to transplant.

sorry, I misinterpreted what you wrote.

Do you have any children or friends who could make a Facebook page for you? I've seen Facebook pages for people needing kidneys and I saw a news story recently saying that some people have had luck going that route. It couldn't hurt to give it a try!

No ,I thought of that,that would be nice.

One last thing, you only need one kidney for a transplant. Most people have 2 kidneys. and certainly the doctors would check the donor fully, to make sure both kidneys are functioning normally, and that losing one would cause no harm. My niece who got the liver transplant was near death, that's why she needed a "whole" liver, which can only come from a cadaver. A person can donate a part of his/her liver without difficulty, because it is one organ that can regenerate." The human body is quite a miracle.