Diary of a Kidney Donor: Can I donate my kidney?

In Part 3 of this series, Cynthia McReynolds goes to UC Davis Medical Center for blood work and other tests to assess whether she qualifies as a donor.

In August, Cynthia McReynolds went to UC Davis Medical Center to determine if she could become a kidney donor for Wee. She shared her journey in emails to friends. Again, we are hearing from Cynthia in her own words.

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August 8, 2024

I’m figuring out if I can donate a kidney to a friend who needs it. There have been a few preliminary steps, and now the more substantial testing at the Donor Center my friend is connected to, UCDavis Medical Center, located in Sacramento. 

Day One of two days (August 8 and 9, 2024) of kidney assessing started with a small injection of a radioactive dye, to make sure I don’t have an allergic reaction because it will be used tomorrow to see how my kidneys process fluids. Tomorrow that will happen in an CT Scan with a very big dose of dye. 

Then I went to get 23 vials of blood. The phlebotomist was ph-lummoxed as she tried to figure it out. Yay for my veins! They did really well.

I waited around and then went to do a stress test for my heart with an echocardiogram. It was intense, but I survived and it seems my heart passed with flying colors. 

Then, slightly disoriented from having none of my usual projects to take care of at home, I went to the pool at the Marriott and read a book that I recommend to all of you. Timothy Snyder's illustrated version of “On Tyranny: 20 lessons from the 20th century.” It is mind illumination and fortifying. 

Now I’m having a great dinner at a local restaurant/winery. More tomorrow…

August 9, 2024

The second day was simpler. For starters, I knew my way around. This is an enjoyable, spacious campus with plenty of green space and very attractive buildings. I met my Donor Nurse, Phil, early Friday morning at the Donation Center in the Cypress Building. His story makes him perfect in this role. 

Phil was an elementary school teacher for several years until treatment of his mother’s kidney disease inspired him about medicine, and he went back to school as an RN. She received a donated kidney and he was so thrilled by the impact for her that he began working in the hospital with donors and recipients here at UC Davis. (UC Davis’ med school is located in midtown Sacramento. Confusing, right?) Phil couldn’t donate to his mother because of his diabetes, but says, “Donors were my favorite patients in the unit. They are healthy and positive, never complaining. And what they are doing is so great!”

Phil will be my contact person through the process. There is a firewall between the Donor Team and the Recipient Team to make sure everyone is operating from choice, not pressure. It turns out that occasionally people come to donate who either don’t want to really do it from the beginning, or when they learn more about it they freak out. Well, neither of those is me. 

From there, I spoke with a parade of professionals, for a variety of “Hello, what’s your birth date?” conversations. Kidney doctor (not the surgeon). Social worker. Nutritionist. This last looked over test results from all those blood vials, and results were exactly what we want = NOTHING REMARKABLE. Yay!  

Results are also in my chart from heart stuff yesterday and that all looks good. 

Friday I got a lung x-ray. And then a contrast CT scan with a big dose of the Ioxehol that was tested Thursday morning. Oh boy! They were right. When the big amount is infused rapidly, my whole body felt like boiling water was surging through, especially in my bladder. But I was holding still and holding my breath inside the whirring CT machine at that point, and happily it cooled down fast. I haven't seen those results yet, but as the kidney specialist said, “If all your blood work is coming back so clear, it’s pretty likely your kidneys are in good shape, too.” 

The CT scan is to double check first, that I do have two kidneys. Good idea! Beyond that, do they both work well, neither one being a slacker? And how many arteries and veins does each have? Easiest surgery (average = 3.5 hours) is one artery, one vein. They would likely take my R kidney and then install it in the donor's L side, without removing either of his kidneys. My remaining kidney will get bigger and step up pretty completely to the job over 12 months of full recovery. And the very important thing at the center of all this is that when someone with kidney disease receives a kidney (within hours) from a living donor, the recipient feels a lot better within the first day!!! (Organ donations of all kinds from deceased donors are very helpful and should be on all our driver’s licenses, but for kidneys, the positive results are significantly boosted if the donation is from living donor.)

As I left the Donation Center Friday morning, I read a poem inscribed on a boulder outside the door. I loved what it said: 

“I am a donor to someone in need. 
Where their life was locked, I offered a key."

Will I be fully accepted as a kidney donor? It seems likely at this point. 

My blood type is a universal donor, so that’s A-OK, but will Wee’s body have any particular antibody reactions to my blood? They will check that. If that is no problem, then it’s looking like just maybe I will be able to donate directly to Wee or in his name, which then puts him right at the top of the list.

Now I’m back home, and we await next decisions and steps from UCDavis. 

September 6, 2024

We start with fireworks because that is how the four of us (Wee, a pair of wonderfully supportive Michael’s, and I) are feeling. Exultant! Excited! Exuberant!! Everything!!!

After my battery of test and conversations at UC Davis last month, we have gotten the green light that I qualify as a Donor. More than that, we’ve gotten a GREEN LIGHT that I can donate directly to Wee. We just got all this final confirmation TODAY and we have signed up for the soonest available surgery date, November 12, 2024. The four of us are filled with emotion. 

Wee’s been on dialysis for 5 years, and still has years to wait in the queue for a kidney from a deceased donor. But now, he’s going to get the gold standard: right out of my body and smack dab into his, all in one day, on November 12. 

The results came in last week from the battery of tests I completed at UCDavis in early August. My numbers and my body did great, and it turns out my kidneys are robust and strong. (I give a deep bow to my fortunate genetics and privilege.) After the testing, our blood was run through a virtual cross-match for compatibility and that was also a go. UC Davis has been stellar in their attentiveness and kindness. I have a Donor Advocate, Phil, who holds my hand every step of the way. This week, he got one of the CT nephrology experts to explain some of the findings on my scan for me. Dr. Huang was excellent — clear, helpful. 

The day after I found out that I could be a donor, I told Wee and Michael. We were very happy, but somewhat in suspension because it hadn’t been established whether that meant donating into the kidney bank or straight to Wee. The very next day, Wee, Michael F, and the two of us went to a Rotary dinner in Rohnert Park which we had already been planning to do. We heard a presentation from Paula and Debbie (kidney donor and recipient, as well as best friends) about their easy, successful experience. It transformed Debbie’s life, and didn’t change Paula’s in any way. This is a bargain in the department of being able to give in a way that matters. 

Some of you who are reading this note from me, also read Michael Fels’s email on March 16 this year in which he was scratching his head about “how to ask for a kidney.” Reading his email was when this exploration began for me and I’m thrilled that I get to be Wee’s “needle in a haystack.”

Now, we count down the days. Wee and Michael look at all those boxes of peritoneal dialysis fluid in their living room and get ready to say “bye-bye” to the whole thing. 

Here we go….!!!

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Michael Fels to Cynthia

Besides you, 3 sisters, 1 nephew, 1 family friend and me have been examined as potential donors. All were found to have incipient health issues that might never impact them (us) but ruled out the possibility of a donation. So you stepping up and being found both qualified and an excellent match is all the more remarkable!

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Part 4 of Diary of a Kidney Donor will come next week after Cynthia and Wee return from kidney transplant surgery