Would it be fairly easy to find a kidney donor?

Nope

That is so sad.

No. Blood types have to match, at least.

The kidney donor needs to be a match as well. He would probably do best in terms of both wait time and acceptance of the organ if there is a family member who is willing to donate to him. I knew of a brother who donated to his brother and also a wife who was a match for her husband and donated to him. He would still probably have to be on immuno-suppresant drugs afterward so that he doesn’t reject the transplant.

They’ll be checking his brother. My husband says he’s willing to donate if he’s a match.

What in the world would lead you to an assumption that “this should be easy”?

People die everywhere and every day for lack of available organs, including kidneys, lungs, livers (which can be a partial donation from a living donor, not just an entire organ from a cadaver) and other necessary organs.

Here is a waiting list – I’m sure it’s not the only registry.

Because people have 2 of them and they only need one. It’s not like hearts and lungs. I think people close to the person who needs one would be likely to donate. I know I would.

I donated a kidney.

!! Your donor does not have to be a match for you !!.

Through the National Kidney Registry you play what I call “musical kidneys”.

My brother needed a kidney, and I could not donate directly to him. My kidney was flown to California, and in exchange a compatible kidney was flown in for my brother.

Ours was a simple two-way exchange with two donors and two recipients. But they can have much bigger chains. The biggest involved 30 donors and 30 recipients.

I’d do it again tomorrow if I still had a spare kidney.

Feel free to ask me any questions about the process.

Thanks @jaytkay. I will. Why did your brother need a kidney?

My thoughts when I asked this question was are kidney’s relatively easy to come by, compared to other organs where the donor has to be freshly dead to give whatever.

My brother’s kidneys were failing from a weird medication reaction. I don’t know the details. I actually can’t listen to medical stories. Since I was very young, I can have a vasovagal response – my blood pressure drops and out go the lights.

It didn’t happen throughout all the testing for the donation, though. I guess I was too focused on the mission.

And regarding how easy it is to find kidneys – once they get on the list, the average person waits 4 or years to get one.

Bringing your own donor into the pool effectively puts you at the head of the line.

Right.

Just FYI, @Dutchess_III, since you asked, you might be interested in this. This question stuck with me, so I asked my friend about it, she was a regional co-ordinator for organ transplants for awhile.

The reasons most people don’t just donate a redundant organ, as a matter of course, are two fold. The first is that most won’t lightly go into major surgery, with all its attendant risks, and the second is that people are concerned that a family member or loved one might need a donation at some point, so they maybe want to do what @jaytkay did, and be part of a donation chain.

Edit, nevermind

Gee, did you edit the part that said “Thanks for asking your friend about this, @canidmajor, because I was honestly curious about this, which is why I asked this Q”?

Thanks for asking your friend @canidmajor! I edited because I asked if a male could receive a female organ and vice versa. Then I opened your link and gender is not a factor.

This is such an awful situation. He’s selling his beloved house, boat, cars, off loading everything so his wife won’t have to deal with it. I don’t want him to die.

I appreciate everyone’s answers.

Maybe there are local groups that your husband’s friend can find online that will expedite the living donor process? I’m sure they have already checked into some possibilities, but they are under a lot of stress and may have missed some leads. A patient advocacy group through the hospital may be able to give some information. It’s not automatic that they would contact him, so he should try contacting them.
Even a local donor support group may have leads.

I wish the best for your friend, these are rough times for him and his family.

They’re getting ready to head to Dallas to the Cancer Treatment Center of America. We just may go with them.

@dutchess_111 does the fact that he’s had kidney cancer preclude, or at least delay him from having a transplant? Genuine question. I have no idea.

No. I mean, why would it?

What are the chances of a transplanted kidney developing cancerous cells? Presumably, even when in remission, we still have cancerous cells in our system. They’re just under (I think) control. I don’t know enough about cancer treatment but I’d imagine he’s also likely to be on some heavy duty medication to keep him or get him into remission. That could affect any tranplant success. As I say, I’m guessing here. I don’t know what the standard procedures or long term expectations are.

I don’t think any. And we’re just praying that it hasn’t metastasized, or spread, yet, because if it has….that’s all she wrote. So they want to get it out ASAP before that happens.