My primary care physician was encouraging, in a very matter-of-fact way (which was extra-reassuring). She has two patients who’ve donated kidneys and at least one who was born with just one kidney. She confirmed that the risk is low, that you really only need one, and that “someone will really appreciate it.” Jonathan and I had another talk today and he’s on board. We strategized when to tell family, which is what he’s most worried about – not unless/until I pass all the screenings and get an actual surgery date. Friends I won’t tell until after the surgery, if I get that far.
If you’ve gotten your DNA sequenced, you might be interested in Promethease, which is now free through the end of 2019. It compiles a zillion traits from SNPedia in a nice format. I searched on “kidney” and the variants that came up for me are primarily postiive: rs1711437(A;G) correlated with “younger, healthier kidney function”, rs6495446(C;T) – “0.8x reduced risk for chronic kidney disease.” I take that with a generous side of rock salt, but hey, it sounds good!
Next kidney stop: filling out the National Kidney Registry form on my birthday.