Refused kidney donation(giving, not taking)

theTinker

I decided after a few weeks of thinking. That I would like to donate a Kidney to a person that needs it.
I was unsure for a while but after an announcement that a co-workers wife has finally recieved a kidney transplant and it's really helped. I completely knew its something i want to do. After more researching i still wanted to do it.

I looked all over the web (Its where i get all my information from) and i could not find any contact numbers etc. I managed to get one from a website for the Beaumount hospital. 8093000 btw. I rang a few times and received an answer on my fourth or so call. I was put through to the renal unit i believe where i told them i would like to donate a kidney. She said that's great, asked my name, and who i would like to donate to. I said that i didnt have a specific canidate in mind. Then I was told that they don't do non related kidney donations in ireland. I was a little shocked and told her i did not know that. I was informed that i could carry a donor card around "incase". I don't want to die, ironically i guess this could be a life goal .
I've just gotten off the phone with the hospital, I find this really crazy that i can not give something i have 2 of when so many people need one.
Was i being brushed off? Does anyone else find it a little odd that they don't take non related donors?
Im 22, male, dont smoke, dont drink, reasonable fit, clean blood and STD free(According to last test). I figured i would be a fairly fine canidate to at least be tested as a match and stuff.

What do you think about being refused?

Corruptedmorals

Well in a lot of cases, the donor has to be related to the recipient. There's a high chance of the body rejecting a kidney from a donor that isn't related, and this chance is higher with the severity of the cancer/kidney disease. They don't have to match ALL the antigens for a kidney transplant though.

5starpool

Maybe someday you will realise your dream and wake up in a bathtub full of ice in Prague or Budapest.

super_furry

5starpool wrote:

Maybe someday you will realise your dream and wake up in a bathtub full of ice in Prague or Budapest.

10/10 TOP BOARDSIE! Would read again! A++++++++++++++++++

PinkPrincess26

theTinker wrote:

I decided after a few weeks of thinking. That I would like to donate a Kidney to a person that needs it.
I was unsure for a while but after an announcement that a co-workers wife has finally recieved a kidney transplant and it's really helped. I completely knew its something i want to do. After more researching i still wanted to do it.

I looked all over the web (Its where i get all my information from) and i could not find any contact numbers etc. I managed to get one from a website for the Beaumount hospital. 8093000 btw. I rang a few times and received an answer on my fourth or so call. I was put through to the renal unit i believe where i told them i would like to donate a kidney. She said that's great, asked my name, and who i would like to donate to. I said that i didnt have a specific canidate in mind. Then I was told that they don't do non related kidney donations in ireland. I was a little shocked and told her i did not know that. I was informed that i could carry a donor card around "incase". I don't want to die, ironically i guess this could be a life goal .
I've just gotten off the phone with the hospital, I find this really crazy that i can not give something i have 2 of when so many people need one.
Was i being brushed off? Does anyone else find it a little odd that they don't take non related donors?
Im 22, male, dont smoke, dont drink, reasonable fit, clean blood and STD free(According to last test). I figured i would be a fairly fine canidate to at least be tested as a match and stuff.

What do you think about being refused?

I think that this is an amazing thing for anybody to offer..... But yes in Ireland, its not done unless a relative requires a kidney.....

You really need to be a hundred % sure though. Im just guessing you dont have children.... what in a few years when you do and your child needed the op and you've already given your kidny away.....

More people like yourself needed in the world though

Kojak

5starpool wrote:

Maybe someday you will realise your dream and wake up in a bathtub full of ice in Prague or Budapest.

theTinker

5starpool wrote:

Maybe someday you will realise your dream and wake up in a bathtub full of ice in Prague or Budapest.

The lads said the same thing earlier at breakfast.

---

Nope no children at the mo. I dont know if i want one. That and whether my siblings/mother would need one are the only concerns i have to be honest. But considering someone else needs one right now, i figure its acceptable risk.

digitally-yours

I respect you for your thinking man
You have good head on ur shoulders.

this world needs more like you.

Atleast you tried. i definately feel better after reading what u wrote.

There sre still people who have a heart !

Dirty Knuckles

Unrelated live donation is not done in Ireland.

theTinker

Dirty Knuckles wrote:

Unrelated live donation is not done in Ireland.

no way!

digitally-yours wrote:

There are still people who have a heart !

yes, and now we all know that nobody un-related can take them as a spare

sidneykidney

Sure a living related programme is only going since the start of this year,talk about bloody slow....

aidan_walsh

1) Phone Joe Duffy
2) Move to Holland
3) Remove kidney anyway, make pie.

theTinker

sidneykidney wrote:

Sure a living related programme is only going since the start of this year,talk about bloody slow....

I had no idea we were so behind. Thats fairly terrible in my opinion. I've read in the US that non related can do it. Maybe i need to do it a warm country like florida

Yes ill stay far longer than needed and eat lots of sweet florida oranges by the pool telling beautiful ladies of my heroic struggle to save a <insert gender(receiptant)>'s life but it will be worth it

AlmightyCushion

Sell it on the black market and make yourself a rake of money

Dirty Knuckles

theTinker wrote:

no way!



yes, and now we all know that nobody un-related can take them as a spare

Don't try make out your smart.

Live donation is practiced in the UK with proposals to practice here in Ireland. At the moment we don't have the facilities to test unrelated donor's.

WindSock

It is great that you weant to donate your kidney but have you really thought it through? Have you read up on the possible side effects and everything that may come with removing one of your organs in your prime of life? You are only 22, and while you may have perfectly healthy organs, think about the life ahead that you may want to experience. You say that you don't want kids now, but do you think you will have the same opinion in 10 years time? As Homer once said: 'You have shortened your life considerably to give a brief extension on another.'
If you have seriously thought it through then Best of Luck to You, but remember, you can always donate your blood/platelets if you feel iffy about letting go of a Kidney. There are heaps more people out there that need blood.

cooperguy

I might be wrong but doesnt removing a kidney significantly reduce your life expectancy?

mikemac

OP, are you anything to do with person on the front page of the Star?
Same situation as you

Evolity

Yup, CooperGuy, I believe you may be correct about that.


The Tinker, how about donating blood instead? You will actually have the opportunity to save more lives through this type of donation. (I do not mean to belittle Kidney Donors - but if a person is in a mind to give, there are always options!)

Sangre

I doubt many doctors like performing completely unneccesary, serious surgeries on patients that can reduce their quality of life.

This isn't like giving blood. They're removing an organ.

snappieT

Give to endemol, rule the world...

But really, blood or plasma would also be great. Go to a hairdressers, the hair may be used for a wig for a cancer patient. There are so many ways to help.

WindSock

snappieT wrote:

Give to endemol, rule the world...

But really, blood or plasma would also be great.

Plasma! thats what I meant. Not platelets. oops. but in a way, platelets too...

monkeyfudge

If you go down the road of unrelated organ donations then you can find yourself in a situation where wealthy people can pay large sums of money to get people to donate organs to them. It all becomes a bit ethically iffy then.

I've got 3 kidneys myself, and I'm keeping them thank you.

Oh.. and bone marrow is another good one that you can donate in Ireland if you're willing to go through it.

snappieT

monkeyfudge wrote:

Oh.. and bone marrow is another good one that you can donate in Ireland if you're willing to go through it.

Bone marrow is very picky AFAIK. Difficult to get a match.
At least thats what Gregory House MD has thought me...

January

I think they should do it, if people are well informed, know all the risks and still want to do it, then why not.

Blood donation is sooo good, there are not enough donors, so Ireland could always use one more! I'm a blood donor and I'm on the bone marrow register also. Heard that drawing the bone marrow from the hip is painful though!

monkeyfudge

adrieanne__x wrote:

Blood donation is sooo good, there are not enough donors, so Ireland could always use one more! I'm a blood donor and I'm on the bone marrow register also. Heard that drawing the bone marrow from the hip is painful though!

Yep... I think they have to do over a 100 injections deep into the bone to get enough material out.

Ha.. but don't let me put you off.... it takes guts to go on that register.

theTinker

Ye i give blood every 90 days without a miss. I can't give platelets. I'm a lil under weight and you have to be 9.5 stones! Well thats what it was the last time i tried and thats what the nurse told me before weighing me.

I've read what i can on the internet. Difficult to find unbiast information, and difficult to find info which has new points, its a little tiring reading through 100 websites each same the same thing obviously copied from one source. I hate that. Game review websites do it too. I know it would affect my 'quality' of life but i havent anything to say it will drastically shorten my life. Like obvious exceptions to myself having future kidney problems or getting smashed by car and needing one. The children and family needing it are my only main concerns, but the risk is so low that it seems ...needless to let another person die just incase.
I always imagine/hear people saying stuff like "If i had a second heart, i'd give him/her it in blink of an eye"....ye congrats, ya have a second kidney but never give it! :P

Im un-related to the Star person. I'll do a search to read that story now though .
I hate reading news papers, nothing but bad news. Puts me in a foul mood.

I'll keep reading up about it obviously, i was hoping to get some hard concrete facts from the nurse/hospital about it, let me ask questions etc.
I suppose i could look into doing it abroad...such a pain. I was hoping to do it in ireland so im closer to everything im used to/need.

edit: To be honest, i find it hard to digest that giving blood isn't mandatory yet or encouraged with tax credits or something. Such a waste to not give it. Besides, theres always nice chicks and free food at it

January

Do they do that tax credit thing in other countries? I don't think it should need to be encouraged... yep the free food is always nice, have yet to find a cute bloke there though!

wyndham

Offer €5000, can collect this evening.

dragonkin

Just on a side note I've always wondered why you have to fill in a donation card to give organs, shouldn't it be the other way around?
ie Fill in a card if you don't want to donate organs, that way there would always be a good supply...

theTinker

hehe, i proposed a business solution the other day on that logic.
"Put everyone on the email list in one month who doesn't reply with the form saying they want it on paper instead"....we had a 70% turn over

randomname2005

monkeyfudge wrote:

If you go down the road of unrelated organ donations then you can find yourself in a situation where wealthy people can pay large sums of money to get people to donate organs to them. It all becomes a bit ethically iffy then.

I've got 3 kidneys myself, and I'm keeping them thank you.

Oh.. and bone marrow is another good one that you can donate in Ireland if you're willing to go through it.

But you still cant do related live donations in Ireland which is very silly as people in desperate need of donations are often too ill to travel to countries where this can be performed.

And regarding the whole reduction of life expectancy, if your relation is going to die in a short period of time, surely it is your choice if you want to donate a kidney so you can spend an extra 40/50 years with them rather than two or three, even if it means you die at 75 rather than 85?

Sean7

Get a rich yank to fly you to the states and pay €100,000 for you healthy kidney for his dying son.

Capt'n Midnight

without a kidney you don't live long without medical intervention
and despite several hundred million years of evolution we still have two, even though we've lost or shrunk a lot of other organs since

if you donate a kidney then don't expect it back if you have a problem later on

maybe 1 in 20 recipients will die in the first year, and 1 in 10 kidneys will fail

The success rate from living non-relate donors isn't a lot better than from dead donors. This together with the risk to you in an operation and the risk of you dying earlier than you would otherwise means it's not really ethically correct to do. And besides you might change your mind.

if you really want to do something get a kidney donor card , and get everyone you know to get one and somehow push for a change in the law so we become like France where there is an opt-out database, where everyone is assumed to be a donor unless they are on the database.

also dead people don't take up space in our overcrowded hospitals while recovering from surgery.

o1s1n

Ever heard of the Jesus Christians? Over half the cult have donated a kidney to a stranger. I remember seeing a documentary about them a while back. Wouldn't mind tracking it down.

turbot

Hmmm you could offer to sell it on ebay with a low starting price.

Xylem

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

The success rate from living non-relate donors isn't a lot better than from dead donors. This together with the risk to you in an operation and the risk of you dying earlier than you would otherwise

Wrong.

monkeyfudge

Xylem wrote:

Wrong.

Any time you go under general anesthetic you run the risk of death.

cson

Xylem wrote:

Wrong.

Really, for a first post I would expect a little bit more development than "wrong". You won't last round here buddy if keep that up.

Xylem

monkeyfudge wrote:

Any time you go under general anesthetic you run the risk of death.

I was replying to the bold text, about people who donate a kidney dying younger.

Supercell

FFS , seriously to the OP, nature gave you two of them, if one was needed only - you would only have one.

No doubt some people can survive fine with only one just like some people can eat peanuts while they kill others.

Unless you have a real and urgent need to donate to someone like a family member then tbh Irish legislation is saving people like you from themselves.

joe.

5starpool wrote:

Maybe someday you will realise your dream and wake up in a bathtub full of ice in Prague or Budapest.

lololol :D:D

Capt'n Midnight

here's an idea !
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6714063.stm

CyberGhost

5starpool wrote:

Maybe someday you will realise your dream and wake up in a bathtub full of ice in Prague or Budapest.

LOL!

davyjose

OP I really think you are crazy - you are given 2 for a reason. What if your other one failed at one stage? What if in the future you had a child who needed one. While your offer is undoubtedly generous, there are other ways of being charitable.

theTinker

Sorry for delay posting, was at a christening all day/night yesterday. Good crack. f.starving for breakkie at the moment.

There seems to be a bit of different beliefs on how much life shortening effect donating would have. This is why i really wanted to speak to a nurse about it. Alot of conjecture.

Longfield wrote:

FFS , seriously to the OP, nature gave you two of them, if one was needed only - you would only have one.

No doubt some people can survive fine with only one just like some people can eat peanuts while they kill others.

Unless you have a real and urgent need to donate to someone like a family member then tbh Irish legislation is saving people like you from themselves.

Thanks for the points. Well if i overlooked the fact that its not a family member/dear friend, etc. The way i kinda see it is that there is someone who has a real and urgent need for one. Like i'd dive out onto a road to save someone from a car regardless of my relationship to them so i dont seem to believe that i have to be real close to a person in order to help them like that.
Like some kid/wife/brother etc is waiting around with a fairly good chance of dying. As morbid as it is, i dont need to rush this decision thank god as theres always someone needing one.ew.

davyjose wrote:

OP I really think you are crazy - you are given 2 for a reason. What if your other one failed at one stage? What if in the future you had a child who needed one. While your offer is undoubtedly generous, there are other ways of being charitable.

If the other one failed. Yes i would be in a fairly serious bit of trouble there. But if any of my organs ever failed, i'd be in the same trouble .
Granted this is one that i would avoid such trouble if i kept it but if everyone was a bit more freely giving them, then i would be able to recieve. Obviously im aware thats not the case at the moment(and its the whole recycling argument all over again ) but its gotta start somewhere i guess.
If my child needed one in the future, thats one of my biggest concerns. That would absolutely haunt me for the rest of my life. On the other side of the coin though, The odds are well in my favour that any children wont need one and none of my family also, plus then theres the chance that i could not be a match anyways. I completely understand that thats the optimistic view though. Could be well and truely F**ked if i was wrong.

Anyways, this was all stuff in my head before. My post was really about Ireland not allowing non related LIVING kidney donations and peoples opinions on that.
I was well and truely shocked by it. Considering thats theres so much money floating about and that we are 1st world country. It seems odd that the system hasn't progressed further than this already. Unless it was a conscience decision to refuse it, but i'm not informed on that stuff so i'm not sure.
I guess all the articles ive read have been from mostly the US/England where its allowed.

davyjose

There's also the risk, not to mention massive trauma, of a major operation being performed on you.

If it means that much to you go to America/England!!! I'm sure if you're willing to give up a vital organ, then a few bob on a ticket won't take much out of you (excuse the pun)

Xylem

theTinker wrote:

There seems to be a bit of different beliefs on how much life shortening effect donating would have. This is why i really wanted to speak to a nurse about it. Alot of conjecture.

Well I can only go by own experience.

I had an nephrectomy when I was 11 years old and just celebrated by 22 birthday last Wednesday. I can tell you that (unless all the doctors were lying to me) removing a kidney does not shorten life expentancy. Sure there are risks with all surgeries, but it was pretty straight forward, I was only in hospital for about fours days after my operation.

The follow-up is seeing a doctor every three years, just to make sure everything is going smoothly. For me the most traumatic thing about the whole experience were the stitches, which were absolute agony... oh, and the awful hospital food.

Anyway thats my story, I admire you Mr. Tinker. It's an extremely selfless and generous act for anyone to do.

theTinker

Xylem wrote:

Well I can only go by own experience.

I had an nephrectomy when I was 11 years old and just celebrated by 22 birthday last Wednesday. I can tell you that (unless all the doctors were lying to me) removing a kidney does not shorten life expentancy

Now thats what I thought before. No site i read really mentioned a definite shorter life. It was always things like "well if u have a problem with your remaining kidney then...." and there was a fair few restrictions on pain killers. I dont mind that cause i dont really take any except for serious things,

I read a few times that theres a long recovery time but i had my appendix out so i know how painful stuff like that could be. Although a kidney removal would be much longer obviously.

Xylem

theTinker wrote:

I read a few times that theres a long recovery time but i had my appendix out so i know how painful stuff like that could be. Although a kidney removal would be much longer obviously.

Honestly no, if anything I was encouraged by my doctor to continue with gentle exercise/normal living as soon as my stitches healed.