Testing for kidney donation

Here's Chris and me and Andrew at Christopher's daughter, Siobhan's wedding a few years ago, before he knew he had kidney disease. It's a silent disease, so many many people don't know they have it. Have you tested yourself? You ought to, as there are things you can do to help your kidneys while they are still  working for you.

You can see more about Siobhan's beautiful wedding here. Cut & paste in your browser. It was a great day.
www.onemansfamilydigressions.blogspot.com/2008/09/siobhans-beautiful-wedding-august-23.html

It’s not as simple as saying “I’ll test to see if I qualify to donate my kidney,” but that’s a start. Recently, one of my sisters tested for him, but was disqualified. Another brother already tested and after a year and a half of every kind of probing was disqualified for random physical impossibilities. I have already tested out for the same reason that another brother was ineligible - high blood pressure. It's probably the single biggest factor in getting kidney disease. If you have high blood pressure, take your meds. Change something about your high pressure lifestyle. Get tested for kidney disease.

There are a lot of ways to be disqualified from donating your kidney. 

Most of the reasons you may or may not qualify are not in your control.

Your blood type has to match. Your genetic make up has to match to a certain threshold. (And based on that, medical professionals determine the chances of Christopher’s body rejecting the kidney of the potential donor.) You have to be in good health. If you have high blood pressure, you are at risk of getting kidney disease. Etc. The etcetera for donating a kidney is a long list so most people who test don't actually end up giving their kidney.

One of my brothers has already donated his other good kidney to a sister whose kidney also failed about fifteen years ago. There are thirteen living children in this generation of our family, but there are only three of those siblings who could be considered eligible, and I’m not even sure about that. The thing is, it's a personal decision. It's so personal.

Our brother Greg died from complications of kidney disease, and I really don't want Chris to die any time soon.That's Greg on the left of the pic above, looking proud about something. Chris is in the front, with me close behind.

Here's a pic of me and Chris at Greg's burial

Here's a website with more information about kidney disease and prevention:

https://www.kidney.org






Here's my website, where you can contact me if you're interested in testing for Chris: www.caitlinhicks.com