On Line Research

I guess most potential kidney donors do the same as me - search the internet for answers to questions and, especially, for stories from people who have done it.  There is one major caution here - you must make sure that what you find is clearly dated, as medical procedures have clearly been moving very quickly.  It is easy to read a story about breaking or removal of ribs to facilitate kidney removal and think "that doesn't sound very nice"; then you discover that it was written in 1999 or 2001 which really is ancient history as far as kidney donation goes.  A major advance is that laparascopic (key hole) surgery now seems to be almost universal unless there are specific medical reasons for the older method, which is rare these days.  As a consequence of this and other changes, donors are now discharged from hospital far more quickly than in the past, which can only be a good thing in principle (so long as you actually are fit enough!).

The precise testing and the order seem to be very different wherever you go - there are lots of similarities but the differences could lead you to have some real confusion!  There are differences between the British and American approaches, and there are differences between hospitals so even if you find a recent experience on line, don't assume that what you read is what you will go through.  Absorb the information and balance it with other people's experiences, then store it as a question to ask when you finally meet a specialist.  I've already stored for later one big question about pain management; I hope this has improved as well because I have found some poor reports from 10-15 years ago.

I have to mention one particular blog which I found last night.  It's called "the kidney thing" and it is clever, informative and funny - see if you like it.