My name is Steve Leichman and I donated a kidney on December 23, 2012 at Beilinson Hospital in Israel. I was 53 years old at the time of the donation. I didn’t know my recipient before we started the process; we were connected via a Yahoo Group email. Now, of course, we are like family, sharing birthdays, emails and talking at least once a week.
The operation was a snap—my only job was to get knocked out and let the surgeon do the work. You return to normal really quickly. I was out of the hospital in 48 hours and I was back at work within a few days. I am a volunteer EMT and I was back on the ambulance after 10 weeks. That means I was lifting and carrying heavy patients with no problem. I am also a grandfather to 3 very cute and busy little ones. I was back on the floor playing with them, and being jumped around 8 weeks.
And once in a while, I stop and think that, yes, I really did help save someone’s life. That’s a wonderfully fulfilling feeling.
Kim is a Patriot Guard Rider, a volunteer-run nonprofit organization that ensures dignity and respect at memorial services honoring Fallen Military Heroes, First Responders and Honorably Discharged Veterans.
My name is Kim McFarlane. I became a living kidney donor on February 9, 2015 at the age of 52. I have been blessed with extremely good health and no one in my family has ever had kidney trouble. I found my recipient, Thomas, through kidneyconnection.org. It is a website created to connect those in need of a kidney transplant with potential donors. I responded to his profile in August 2014. We were tested and found to be a near perfect match. I continued undergoing various medical testing, passing everything.
I met Thomas and his wife in November 2014. Finally in January, I passed all the testing and we were approved by the ethics committee at Albany Med to proceed with the transplant.
I spent only four days in the hospital and had very little pain. The most difficult part of the process for me was the downtime. I am a Patriot Guard Rider and could not ride my motorcycle for several weeks. I’m now back on the bike with no problems.
I remain in contact with my recipient and his family.
On January 9, 2014, I had the honor of donating a kidney to my dad. The decision to donate was a very quick and easy one for me. It was a decision that I immediately had a surreal peace about like marrying my husband or adopting our daughter. The choice was simple: my dad needed a kidney, and I had one to give him — end of story. (It is important to point out that my mom and my siblings also stepped up to be tested for donation.)
After I recovered from surgery, I resumed all of my normal activities. A very active person by nature, I am currently Rocking 1 Kidney by taking PiYo and Insanity classes, cycling, power walking, traveling, and doing anything else I want to do. In addition, I am a wife, a mom, and a teacher. Being a living kidney donor has not interfered with my lifestyle in the least. If anything, I am more aware of my health and am, therefore, taking better care of myself.
On Saturday, June 13, 2015, my dad and I rocked it out by walking in the National Kidney Foundation Kidney Walk in Indianapolis.
As I reflect on my experience as a living donor, I have absolutely no regrets. It was a very humbling and all-around positive experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat if I could.
I was an altruistic donor nearly 11 years ago. I transplanted at UW Medical Center. My kidney went to a single mom in the Seattle area. The young lady and I did eventually meet. We have a wonderful friendship now.
11 years later and my kidney continues to be working strong as ever in the recipient. She has her life back. She has been able to be there when her son graduated from high school and is now remarried and so happy. She had lost her mother to kidney failure. A kidney never came through for her mother.
For me, after a normal recovery, I was able to do the Seattle half marathon 16 weeks post op. I ski, bike, hike, do everything I have ever done – often forgetting that I only have one kidney. My remaining kidney is strong and functioning as always.
I donated my left kidney to my father on Nov. 21, 2013 when I was 29 years old. I had found out he was in End-Stage Kidney Failure six months before and I didn’t even have to think about donating, I knew I would be willing to do it immediately.
I didn’t think I would be able to donate when my two sisters (who started the tests before I did) were both an incompatible blood type, but I was thrilled to be a match. Right now, a year-and-a-half after surgery, my father is doing amazingly well and my own kidney function is still in the normal range for a woman my age. I call it my Super Kidney.
Since donation I have finished my PhD, traveled to three countries (Portugal, Turkey, and Italy twice), moved halfway across the US, started a new job, got a new dog, and would do it all again in a heartbeat!
My name is Andrea and I donated my kidney three weeks ago to my friend’s 16-year-old nephew. I am a mother of two children ages 3 and 5 years old. I saw Michael’s story online and asked his aunt how I could check to see if I was a match.
She had mentioned he was 0+. My blood type is O+ so the next week I went to get checked to see if I could be match. After a series of test I was considered a potential match. I went home and had a discussion with my husband. He was very worried. I completely understood where he was coming from – he was worried about our children. I told him if our kids ever needed something I would want someone to do it for us.
On April 29, 2015, I donated my kidney. I feel great and Michael is doing awesome. I would do it again if I had to. I was in the hospital for two nights. I had laparoscopic and they were able to take my kidney out of my c-section scar. I had a little discomfort from the gas they put in your stomach for a couple of days and I am a little tired.
I donated a kidney to my husband on May 27, 2014. I feel that this is one of the best things that I have done in my entire life. He suddenly became ill in September 2013 and after extensive testing found out that he had been born with a genetic defect – one kidney was the size of a quarter and had never worked, and the other kidney was seriously malformed. Prior to this neither one of us had ever had surgery or a major illness, so you can imagine the shock when he discovered the state of his kidneys!!!
Now that he has my kidney, he is good as new! Kidney donation is not as scary as it sounds and I have no ill effects as a result of my donation. It is amazing to be able to give the “gift of life” to someone!!!
My kidney donation surgery was performed on December 6, 2012 at the New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. The recipient was my brother-in-law. Today, over two years later, we are both issue free and my brother-in-law’s business has him traveling internationally.
At the time of surgery, my age made me the oldest surviving donor to have successfully completed donor surgery during the hospital’s past 50 years of kidney transplant history. I was 72 at the time of my kidney donation.
Today I have become an advocate for living kidney donation. I will make presentations at hospitals, clubs, churches and organizations … anywhere that people are willing to listen. With over 100,000 people on the kidney waiting list, more has to be done! That number grows larger each year while 13 people die daily waiting for the kidney call that never comes. Sadly, using the 2014 statistics from UNOS, living kidney donation is at its lowest level since the year 2000.
Hello. My name is Samantha and I’m from Burlington, Kentucky. I donated my left kidney in August 2014 to my best friend’s father in Spokane, Washington at Sacred Heart Medical Center. My recipient had PKD and also had a dissected aorta, which made the surgery very special.
Six months post-donation I am feeling 100%. I’ve returned back to work, working out 3-4 times a week and getting ready to take a Florida vacation in April with my children.
This experience has been totally awesome! I may be rocking one kidney but he’s rocking life! #LivingDonor
I wanted to donate my kidney to someone in London but in 2001 it was illegal to donate to a stranger in the UK before 2006. So I offered my kidney for free on the internet. People were angry with me and accused me of trying to sell my kidney! I didn’t give up and eventually someone from Colorado contacted me. I flew to the States and altruistically donated to him in the summer of 2001. We have since become good friends.
My husband became an altruistic kidney donor in 2008 and I wished I could donate again. So in 2013 I became an altruistic liver donor in London this time.
My husband and I are advocates of living donation and love cycling, running and surfing. We also travel a lot.
