What is Reddit's opinion of The Kidney Donor's Journey: 100 Questions I Asked Before Donating My Kidney?

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Hey, I am a left lateral liver donor too, and I was just chatting with someone else on reddit the other day who was Australian and interested in liver donation. Here's the thing: Australia does almost no live liver donations; you can see from this 2019 article that "In fact, until Mila's surgery, there had been no living-donor liver transplants in Australia since 2017." New Zealand does live liver donations, though in 2020, they did a total of 3. (I think from your post history that you're from Australia though I'm not sure.) In general, I would advise being cautious about live liver donation unless you are working with an experienced surgeon and team. (You can get global data at http://www.transplant-observatory.org/ btw - and hopefully your country also has a national database.)

If you are thinking about kidney donation, I would recommend the site https://kidneydonorathlete.org/ -- there are some great stories there. There are also a couple of good books about kidney donation - I liked The Kidney Donor's Journey and Lost in Transplantation the most, though they are unfortunately both US-based experiences/memoirs.

That brings me to my last thing! Whatever you choose to donate, please check the stats for all the hospitals in your area to determine the one with the best outcomes for you. If you are near a major city, you may have more than one to choose from, and it can make a huge difference in your experience. I had a truly wonderful donation experience because the hospital was incredible, and I hope for the same for you.

Btw, I saw someone else mentioned platelet blood donation, and I recommend that too! It's an awesome way to donate lifesaving blood products on a regular basis without risking anemia.

Hey I was a liver donor rather than kidney, but it's possible that this post I wrote about the first couple days of recovery from surgery will be interesting to you, because I think the first little bit of recovery is somewhat similar for both organs. Let me know if you have any questions: I would be really happy to answer.

There are two books I'd recommend for you:

• The Kidney Donor's Journey by Ari Sytner - it's in a super easy to read 100 questions format and has a TON of practical info
• The Insider's Guide to Living Kidney Donation -- something weird happened with this book where it seems like the e-book version is no longer available. There's also this long video on YouTube with the authors (which I haven't watched). But overall, I thought this book was potentially really useful because it focused on the family, and how donation from one family member to another might affect the family as a whole.

Also, there's:

• A ton of stories from Kidney Donor Athlete
• A video essay from a kidney donor

Hey, I was a liver donor instead of kidney, but I had basically the same experience as the other commenters: it was a couple weeks of recovery and I would do it again.

Here are some books that I recommend on kidney donation experiences:

1. The Kidney Donor's Journey (Super straightforward account)
2. Lost in Transplantation (More musing, contemplative account)
3. The Insider's Guide to Living Kidney Donation -- new this year, an ensemble effort, with a lot of super interesting chapters about how donation affects the family as a whole. Since you're donating to your brother, you might find good stuff in there. I'm not sure why this is only showing in paperback, though -- I have this book on my Kindle. [[Edited to add... it looks like you can get an eBook on the BookBaby website directly ... there is probably some Amazon shenanigans that is making the Kindle edition disappear.]]

And I think https://kidneydonorathlete.org/ is a really great resource on recovery as well!!

Hey, I was a liver donor instead of kidney, but I encourage you to ask your team about taking stool softeners in the week or two leading up to surgery. I had a potentially serious and definitely painful complication after surgery, probably due to side effects from the opiates, which I wasn't expecting because as a donor I'd never had surgery before or taken drugs like those before. I don't think my experience is common, but when I was walking the floor after I got better, another donor told me about the stool softener trick. Apparently, it's potentially a good idea for anyone undergoing abdominal surgery for the first time (but talk to an actual doctor, don't take advice from internet strangers).

If you are curious about any other recovery details, just ask me (but I don't want to bother you if you're looking for strictly kidney).

Btw, there are 3 books I really love on kidney donation experiences:

1. The Kidney Donor's Journey (Super straightforward account)
2. Lost in Transplantation (More musing, contemplative account)
3. The Insider's Guide to Living Kidney Donation -- new this year, an ensemble effort, with a lot of super interesting chapters about how donation affects the family as a whole. Since you're donating to your brother, you might find good stuff in there. I'm not sure why this is only showing in paperback, though -- I have this book on my Kindle.

And I think https://kidneydonorathlete.org/ is a really great resource on recovery as well!!