Sleeve and Kidney Donors

[Angie M 26]

Hi all. I have a friend that has a genetic kidney disease waiting on a living donor. I haven't been tested to see if I am a match yet.

I've never had surgery in my 41 years so the sleeve on 7/31 already has me a little freaked (can't stand the thought of an IV).

Is there anyone out there that has had the sleeve that was a kidney donor either before or after?

I feel terrible that I haven't been tested but I'm also not telling people about the surgery for now.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[Berry78 4,261]

This is a great question for your bariatric surgeon. In general, after WLS, you should be healthier and more able to function with one kidney than before the surgery (but it probably takes a year or more for this to be true).

Do you have high blood pressure? If you do, and have had it for a while, that can actually damage your kidneys, making you a poor candidate as a donor.

Talk to your doctor.. but if your friend can wait around until next summer, that would be a better time for you to consider the donation. Rapid weight loss is tough on all the body's systems, and you wouldn't want to handicap that process by removing one of your own waste filters.

By all means, get tested soon to find out whether you would even BE a candidate, so this isn't a question hanging over both of your heads for the next 12 or 18 months.

[Angie M 26]

Thank you!

[Rivka7NV 40]

Talk to your doctor (PCP) but just on a preliminary level with no medical training, I think the stress of losing a kidney and most of your stomach is a bit too much to ask your body to go through.

Donors have to be in tip top shape. VSG or GP eliminates that possibility for you. I don't know about visa versa but look at it this way: Do you really think it is ok to give up your life and health so that someone else can be happy and healthy?

Health needs to be about you first then others.