Altruistic kidney donation Seattle
May 2, 2017 7:10 PM Subscribe
I'd like to donate my kidney to a stranger who needs one, and hopefully trigger additional donations by paired donors. Several hospitals in my area have programs but I am not sure how to choose which to participate in. How do I research this? I'm in Seattle. I'd like to start the process soon because my job is ending in about 5 months and that would be a convenient time for me to do it.
The local donation programs will all have literature for you to review -- this will include outcome data, information about the transplant team, any affiliations, the strength of their network, and so on. For an example of outcome data, the UW Medicine program has a 96% three-year survival rate, which is above the national average. That's a good sign.
As someone on the waiting list for a kidney in Colorado, thank you so much for considering this.
posted by mochapickle at 8:08 PM on May 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
As someone on the waiting list for a kidney in Colorado, thank you so much for considering this.
posted by mochapickle at 8:08 PM on May 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Directed donation is for a specific person
Non-directed donation is for any person on the transplant waiting list
You are interested in becoming a "non-directed kidney donor," and that's exactly how you should describe yourself when you contact the transplant center at UWMC as your first step.
posted by BadgerDoctor at 9:38 PM on May 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Non-directed donation is for any person on the transplant waiting list
You are interested in becoming a "non-directed kidney donor," and that's exactly how you should describe yourself when you contact the transplant center at UWMC as your first step.
posted by BadgerDoctor at 9:38 PM on May 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Yup, kidney donation chain is what you're looking for. It assembles donors and recipients so that donors maximize the strength of their donation while recipients get properly matched even if "their" donor isn't a genetic match. The National Kidney Registry is one place to get connected to a chain.
posted by quince at 8:29 AM on May 3, 2017
posted by quince at 8:29 AM on May 3, 2017
You might also want to check with the Alliance for Paired Donation.
posted by littlecatfeet at 6:01 PM on May 3, 2017
posted by littlecatfeet at 6:01 PM on May 3, 2017
Me too! Here's how you do it in the UK for others who might be interested. Also has case studies.
posted by mgrrl at 4:58 PM on May 6, 2017
posted by mgrrl at 4:58 PM on May 6, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
You're going to get some Grey's Anatomy results, though, because they are based in Seattle and did one of these in an earlier season. ;)
posted by schroedingersgirl at 7:17 PM on May 2, 2017