I have yet to talk to either a donor or receiver personally. (Correction: about a week before my surgery, a restaurant manager talked to us about her experience as a kidney receiver. More at the bottom of this page.) I have talked with members from three different families who watched the results.
The first is a friend in my church congregation in another city whose 20 year old son woke up one day and decided to donate his kidney to a stranger he had never met before who was on the top of the transplant waiting list. She said he was in a lot of incredible pain, and it was hard for a mother to watch and not be able to take that pain and nausea away. She said 24/7 care is needed for at least 2 weeks, and don't plan on going back to work or normal activities for at least a month. She said that they kept asking if it was still worth it to him, and his answer was always the same, "absolutely", and he would do it all over again!
The second is a friend in my current church congregation. Several of her family members have given or received kidneys through transplant, so she is appreciative of transplantation. Her grandmother received a kidney in her early sixties and lived on that same kidney for 20 years, passing away in her eighties from other causes, with the same kidney still functioning.
The third is my best friend of 12 years, whom I hadn't told about my plans for kidney donation until two nights ago (2 weeks before surgery) in an effort to find a place near the hospital for my parents to stay. Her brother donated a kidney to her sister back in June. It took many more months than he had expected for the pain to go away to the point where he felt somewhat normal. Christmas, 6 months later, was the first time he mentioned finally feeling okay. He also mentioned that he felt better than he has ever felt.
About a week before the transplant my husband and I were at a restaurant, and the store manager came over to say hi. She told us that a year ago her brother gave her his kidney. She said that, while you usually hear that the donor has a harder recovery than the receiver, in their case it was the opposite. She said that she was so deplete of energy, that after transplant she had almost nothing to draw from to help her recover. She returned to work just short of 2 months later. Her brother, however, felt great. He was up and out of the hospital in 2 days, and in about 2 weeks he went back to work at a computer in an office. He hadn't been an exerciser before surgery, but after surgery he started exercising, and in just a few months he ran his first marathon. She also mentioned that before the surgery she was always on the cold side and he was always just a little too warm. After the surgery they seemed to have switched core temperature comfort levels.
All the medical sites mention that almost always the donors said it was worth it and they would do it all over again. I just found this link today online with testimonials from donors, and it makes me happy, called Rocking 1 Kidney. http://www.rock1kidney.org/donor-stories-2/
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