Being a Donor
December 1st, 2018 by admin
Do you know what the average wait time is for a kidney when you need a transplant? It’s three to five years, depending on your blood type. Sometimes it can take as long as ten years. While living with kidney disease and kidney failure is more manageable now than ever with dialysis treatments, you can’t wait forever. The longer a person has to wait the higher the chances of their kidney problems could lead to other more severe problems. Imagine being able to do nothing but watch someone you care about slowly get worse as you can do nothing but wait and hope they find a match soon. That's what some people go through, but you can help change that by becoming a donor.
While you can still choose to be a donor when you do something as simple as get your drivers license, you can be a more immediate help to those in need by being a living donor. We’re sure some of you are worried about the risks involved, so we’ll go over them. While there is always a risk going into surgery, there are minimal risks for other issues. For kidney donors, there is only a 1% lifetime increase in the donor’s own risk of kidney failure. Barely anything even when added to the general 3% risk for kidney failure anyone in the general population normally has.
By being a living donor you can help someone get a kidney when they truly need it. Your choice could make all the difference to the people who are suffering, or having to watch someone they love suffer. Become a donor and change someone’s life for the better.
Learn more about kidney transplants...
Posted in: Services, Transplants