My journey started on June 19, 2019, when I got this packet in the mail. Well, technically it began years before that, when I met Brian Huddleston and found out he had a kidney disease, but getting this packet in the mail felt like the first "official" step to seeing if I could donate a kidney. When I found out he was officially diagnosed with end stage renal failure, I immediately asked how to go about being tested to see if I was a match. There was no question. My friend has no functioning kidneys and I have two good ones (like, really good ones - I take excellent care of my kidneys). It's a no-brainer. So I called up the UVA Transplant Center, told them who I was, and they sent me this info packet in the mail.
I haven't shared much up to this point because it was such a long shot. I've decided to start this blog, though, because I've now been formally approved as Brian's kidney donor, plus I think it's a pretty interesting process. The rest of this post is going to be an overview of all the steps I've taken thus far, so feel free to read or skip over if that sort of thing doesn't interest you (though, if it doesn't interest you, then I don't know why you're reading this blog in the first place.)
To start off, I had to get my blood drawn to see if we are the same blood type. I got that done locally, and the result was that our blood type is the same. Then I had to do a 24-hour urine sample (sorry if that is TMI, but this is the story of a kidney donation, so it is what it is). I was able to do that locally as well. Apparently they were pleased with that, so then I had to do a time-sensitive blood test. That means that instead of just going to the local lab and having my blood drawn, I had to wait until I received a special packet in the mail. It contained four empty vials and very specific instructions. I had to have my blood drawn on a certain Monday or Tuesday and have it overnighted to UVA. This was so that they could do the crossmatching test. This is when they mix the potential donor's blood with the recipient's blood to see if there are any antibodies are present in the recipient's blood that react negatively with the potential donor's blood. The crossmatching test came back negative, meaning no antibodies were present, so I passed through to the next stage.
This is where the real fun began - the day full of tests at UVA. If you didn’t pick up on the sarcasm in that last sentence, please back up and try it again. Starting at 8:30 AM I met with the kidney specialist, got an EKG, had 10 vials of blood drawn, another urine test, a CT-scan with contrast, a chest -ray, met with a social worker, and I met with the surgeon who would be doing my operation. All of them wanted to know why I’m doing this (to ensure I don’t feel pressured and that I understand it is of no value to me) and they wanted to make sure I understand the risks involved. They were making sure that I was not only a good candidate physically, but mentally as well.
Something neat about this process is that everyone I met that day is the donor team. None of them will be working with Brian; he has his own team. This team is focused on what is best for me, and his team is focused on what is best for him (his team doesn’t work with me at all). I think that’s pretty awesome. Anyway, the kidney specialist looked over my health records and the family history I gave her and determined that I have a pretty low risk of ever developing a kidney disease later in my life. The surgeon looked at the CT-scan and said if we proceed he’ll be taking my left kidney (so Brian gets Aunt Lydia and I’ll keep Steve).
One thing the paperwork said was that sometimes during testing to be a kidney donor, other medical issues show up. That was the case for me. They found some lesions on my liver that they wanted to take a closer look at. So, a second trip to UVA was scheduled, and I had an MRI with contrast. The results were good, so when the donor team met to discuss my case this past Monday, they officially approved me to donate Aunt Lydia to Brian.
And now you’re all caught up! The next step is to schedule the surgery, but I am not sure when that will happen. I’m certain it won’t be before the first of the year, so it may take a while for me to update this blog again. I’ve learned a lot over the past couple of months, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask. If I don’t know the answer, I have a whole team of experts on my side. :-)
