There have been more stories in the news and on social media about living kidney donation. It is great that there has been more exposure on this life-saving procedure. There are three types of living kidney donations: direct donation, paired exchange, and a Good Samaritan donation.
Direct donation: The donor knows the recipient and the kidney goes directly to them.
Paired exchange: The donor gives a kidney to one person in exchange for a kidney for their friend or loved one. Typically, this occurs when the donor does not match (e.g. blood type, etc.) their loved one.
Good Samaritan donation: Here, the donor gives a kidney to a stranger who has a donor that does not match. This initiates a chain of donations and can allow for better matching by the doctors.
While the path to each of these situations may be different, each method of donation can make a huge difference.
A living donor candidate is a person who is healthy, well-informed and makes a voluntary decision to donate one of their kidneys. Living donors must be over 18 and in good general health, have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of less than 30, a non-smoker, with no evidence of significant high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, kidney disease, heart disease or hepatitis.
Thanks for helping us find a living kidney donor. Please spread the word and/or call us at 770-310-2426 for info to do a 15-minute phone screening. You can also call the St. Luke’s Transplant Department directly to do the screening at 832-355-4100.  Just tell them your planned recipient is Dominique (Nikki) Brooks. They will ask for my birth year, which is 1967.
Be Inspired — Give Life!
Nikki