TLDR: life on dialysis is extremely unpleasant[1] and often involves preventable early death. You can fix this by donating a kidney. I know that it is possible for a post about donating a kidney to lead someone to donate, because it is why I donated.
Two and a half years after reading @Scott Alexander's article[2] on kidney donation during law school, I managed to donate a kidney this May. My hope is to convince you to consider doing likewise. The basic utilitarian pitch is that without reducing your life expectancy, you can add 5-10 years of life expectancy to someone else, and those years will be spent at a much higher quality of life. Lots of sharp people both here and elsewhere have walked through the calculus[3], but it has been a while and I figured I would add to the chorus.
My Experience
I initially reached out to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona[4] based on a link sent by my recipient.[5] I did lots of blood tests remotely, a 24 hour mailed blood pressure monitor, and then an in-person meeting with the surgeon, nephrologist, nutritionist, social worker, and several PAs/NPs.
After approval, we scheduled the surgery. It was done laparoscopically via a human-operated robot. I have a few very small incisions, and one medium sized incision. I stayed two nights in the hospital, and a week in the area. I found the gas pain to be less bad than folks have described, and the pain of removing the catheter to be so-so. By day 5, I was up and around enough to go in-person to an MLB game, restaurants, bookstores etc. I was given a boat load of pain-killers after the surgery.
There is funding available that will reimburse up to $6000 of travel/food/lost wage expenses. I am an appellate lawyer working in government, and so was doubly fortunate to have both a keyboard job and 30 days paid leave as a State employee.
I felt some level of ambient tiredness/fatigue for about a month after donating. I am now 4 months out and feel entirely back to normal. I don't have any pain, am lifting weights, and drinking with friends and coworkers etc.
Donating a Kidney was the Most Rewarding Decision of my Life
There are relatively few individual decisions you can make that will literally, directly, observably save the life of another person, this is one of them. Probably, this is the decision I have felt the best about making in my entire life. I echo all of this by Scott Alexander:
When I woke up in the recovery room after surgery, I felt great. Amazing. Content, peaceful, proud of myself. Mostly this was because I was on enough opioids to supply a San Francisco homeless encampment for a month. But probably some of it was also the warm glow of having made a difference or something. That could be you!
I remain in regular contact with my recipient, and seeing the change in her life has been tremendously satisfying. If you have any questions, I would be happy to take a crack at them!
I highly recommend Mayo Clinic Arizona if you are in a position to choose the facility. They operate at a high volume with low complication rates. https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/kidney-transplant/sections/outcomes/txc-20203218 All of the doctors I worked with were excellent. It was the nicest medical facility I have ever been in.
I originally went through the process to be a non-directed donor at UPenn, it was also a good experience. For various work, moving, etc. reasons I was not able to donate within the approval window, and then someone I knew, although not closely, needed a kidney.
TLDR: life on dialysis is extremely unpleasant[1] and often involves preventable early death. You can fix this by donating a kidney. I know that it is possible for a post about donating a kidney to lead someone to donate, because it is why I donated.
Two and a half years after reading @Scott Alexander's article[2] on kidney donation during law school, I managed to donate a kidney this May. My hope is to convince you to consider doing likewise. The basic utilitarian pitch is that without reducing your life expectancy, you can add 5-10 years of life expectancy to someone else, and those years will be spent at a much higher quality of life. Lots of sharp people both here and elsewhere have walked through the calculus[3], but it has been a while and I figured I would add to the chorus.
My Experience
I initially reached out to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona[4] based on a link sent by my recipient.[5] I did lots of blood tests remotely, a 24 hour mailed blood pressure monitor, and then an in-person meeting with the surgeon, nephrologist, nutritionist, social worker, and several PAs/NPs.
After approval, we scheduled the surgery. It was done laparoscopically via a human-operated robot. I have a few very small incisions, and one medium sized incision. I stayed two nights in the hospital, and a week in the area. I found the gas pain to be less bad than folks have described, and the pain of removing the catheter to be so-so. By day 5, I was up and around enough to go in-person to an MLB game, restaurants, bookstores etc. I was given a boat load of pain-killers after the surgery.
There is funding available that will reimburse up to $6000 of travel/food/lost wage expenses. I am an appellate lawyer working in government, and so was doubly fortunate to have both a keyboard job and 30 days paid leave as a State employee.
I felt some level of ambient tiredness/fatigue for about a month after donating. I am now 4 months out and feel entirely back to normal. I don't have any pain, am lifting weights, and drinking with friends and coworkers etc.
Donating a Kidney was the Most Rewarding Decision of my Life
There are relatively few individual decisions you can make that will literally, directly, observably save the life of another person, this is one of them. Probably, this is the decision I have felt the best about making in my entire life. I echo all of this by Scott Alexander:
I remain in regular contact with my recipient, and seeing the change in her life has been tremendously satisfying. If you have any questions, I would be happy to take a crack at them!
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15975996/
Scott Alexander, My Left Kidney, Astral Codex Ten (2024), https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/my-left-kidney. (It is an excellent post and you should read it).
Id.; Dylan Matthews, Why I gave my kidney to a stranger - and why you should consider doing it too, Vox (2017), https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/4/11/12716978/kidney-donation-dylan-matthews; But see Nicholas Halden, Sorry, I still think kidney donation makes no sense for an EA, LessWrong, https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/A5vvRnFDgLAhjEYHS/sorry-i-still-think-kidney-donation-makes-no-sense-for-an-ea.
I highly recommend Mayo Clinic Arizona if you are in a position to choose the facility. They operate at a high volume with low complication rates. https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/kidney-transplant/sections/outcomes/txc-20203218 All of the doctors I worked with were excellent. It was the nicest medical facility I have ever been in.
I originally went through the process to be a non-directed donor at UPenn, it was also a good experience. For various work, moving, etc. reasons I was not able to donate within the approval window, and then someone I knew, although not closely, needed a kidney.