Over 6,000 people each year "share their spare" by donating a kidney. To learn how the testing and donation process works, the safety of the pro, benefits, factors to consider, and more: visit the Mayo Clinic Transplant Blog or reach out to the transplant team members who are more than willing to personally answer your questions and provide education.

The minimum age for a living donor is 18 years old. There is no maximum age limit for donation. Donors are assessed on their own health and the suitability of the kidney for the intended recipient. Gender and race are not factors in determining a successful match. You don’t have to be a relative. You don't have to live in Lucy's state (Florida).

You should have:

• Normal kidney function

• Overall good physical and mental health

• No alcohol abuse or drug abuse

• A strong support network

• Financial stability and the ability to take time off from work for recovery after surgery

Only medical professionals can determine if you're a suitable donor. Your overall health condition and history will be assessed by a series of questions and a phone interview in order to determine if you're a candidate to receive testing, and if so the testing that follows will reveal more. For details, please see the Question on this page regarding the steps of the application process.

Once you have recuperated from the surgery, you can expect to lead a completely normal life. There's no need to take any special medications, no need to follow any dietary restrictions, no need to limit your physical activities.

If you Google these words: kidney donors would "do it all over again" (the quotation marks narrow down the search to that exact phrase), you'll be absolutely amazed at how many living donors wouldn't hesitate to donate again -- if only they had a third kidney!

Yes! You have the option to complete your donor evaluation AND surgery at participating providers in your area instead of traveling to Mayo Clinic in Florida. Discuss the process with Mayo Clinic and they can connect you with the transplant center in their network that is closest to you.

In these early stages, Lucy will only know about it if you choose to personally tell her. Mayo Clinic does not disclose information about inquiries, applications, evaluations, or tests. It's kept confidential. How much information the donor chooses to share with the recipient is completely up to the donor.

And once you begin the application process, there is no obligation to continue. You may stop the evaluation at any time for any reason.

We know kidneys are SO precious! But The National Organ Transplant Act (which was passed in 1984) makes it illegal to sell or buy human organs and tissues for transplant in the United States. It is a serious crime, punishable by a fine up to $50,000 or imprisonment up to 5 years, or both. Federal law says transplant organs have to be a gift. That's why it's called Organ DONATION.

Medical costs for evaluation, testing and surgery are paid for by Lucy's health insurance.

If you choose evaluation and surgery at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida you may be responsible for some travel and lodging expenses. But there are official resources and programs available for possible reimbursement that might help you offset any out-of-pocket costs. Also you have the option to complete your evaluation and surgery at participating providers in your area. Discuss the process with Mayo Clinic and they can connect you with the transplant center in their network that is closest to you.

Check with your employer to see if you're eligible for benefits such as sick leave, short term disability insurance that covers kidney donation, and/or the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Mayo Clinic's financial counselor or social worker can help answer questions about the cost of kidney donation and provide guidance on how to avail yourself of available benefits.

WE WHOLEHEARTEDLY THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND GENEROSITY!!!

Here are the steps moving forward:

1. Appointment Request -- fill out online the Mayo Clinic Living-Donor Appointment Request to schedule an appointment to discuss the donation process by phone with the Mayo Clinic Transplant Center in Jacksonville, Florida. There's an 8 minute living donor informational video to watch before submitting the completed request. Or if you'd rather call, contact them at (904) 956-3302 or (904) 956-3309 Monday – Friday 8am to 5pm Eastern Time. After submitting your appointment request they will email you a booklet packed with information about living kidney donation and will stay in touch with you.

2. Health History Questionnaire -- Mayo Clinic will evaluate your medical history to determine if you meet the basic qualifications of donation. Before you begin, please obtain your current height and weight and be sure to fill out the form only when have adequate time to concentrate on each question. It's also recommended that you use a laptop or desktop computer instead of a mobile device. (If an answer disqualifies you, there will be a notice on the screen and it won’t allow you to proceed with the questions.)

If nothing in your Health History Questionnaire disqualifies you:

3. Phone interview -- you’ll be contacted by someone on the transplant team within a few weeks. (If you haven't heard from them after about 3 weeks, reach out to your Mayo Clinic contact person to inquire of the status of your application.)

If you’re eligible to proceed:

4. Bloodwork at your local lab.

If blood tests indicate you’re eligible to proceed:
5. Evaluations by video virtual visits and office visits, and medical testing. (If you don't live near Jacksonville, Florida: discuss with your Living Donor Coordinator what location options in your area may be available to you for the evaluations and surgery.) Evaluation involves a few days of extensive outpatient testing, which covers head-to-toe health. Also meetings with the transplant team -- a kidney doctor, a surgeon, a living donor advocate, a nurse, a social worker, an RN coordinator, and a finance specialist. Each of these individuals will help paint the bigger picture and answer you and your family's questions of what donating a kidney entails. Your evaluation is separate from Lucy's and is kept confidential, and you may stop the evaluation at any time for any reason.

If you’re not Lucy's match, you have the option to enter a Paired Donation (Kidney Swap) Program where your kidney goes to another person for whom you are a match, and Lucy could receive a kidney from another compatible donor in the Paired Donation Program. Sometimes this starts a transplant chain that enables SEVERAL people to receive a kidney!

That’s exactly what happened with our friend Alison in 2018 – extensive testing suggested that Nick, the person who offered his kidney to Alison, was the match. But near the end of the process, something was discovered that made Nick incompatible. Then he learned about the paired donation program for Mayo Clinic, so he followed through with the donation. His kidney completed a 12-person chain involving patients at all of Mayo Clinic’s locations across the country (Florida, Minnesota and Arizona) which resulted in SIX people getting a kidney! Alison’s new kidney came from someone in Arizona, and Nick’s kidney went to someone in Minnesota. Alison and Nick are both doing great to this day. (6 weeks after he walked out of the hospital, Nick started training to run his first marathon, which he ran 10 weeks after that!)

Learn more about how the Paired Donation Program works

We know living donation may not be right for everyone — but here are some ways you can still help:

• Prayers and shares are welcomed and encouraged!
  
  

• Share the link to this website with everyone you know and ask them to share it too. Spread it through social media, texts, email, and in-person conversations. If you know Lucy personally, mention that you do. Let people know that they don't have to live in Florida to be Lucy's donor -- they can live anywhere in the USA because there are options for evaluation, testing, and surgery in their local area. The website link is: AKidney4Lucy.info or AKidneyForLucy.info ... both of those links are connected to this website and can be used with or without the www in front of the address.
  
  

• Share the link to Lucy's special Facebook page with everyone you know and ask them to share it too. Spread it through social media, texts, email, and in-person conversations. If you know her personally, mention that you do. Let people know that they don't have to live in Florida to be Lucy's donor -- they can live anywhere in the USA because there are options for evaluation, testing, and surgery in their local area. We've set up the Facebook page in a way that anyone can access it even if they don't have a Facebook account. The link is: facebook.com/AKidneyForLucy Also, when posting the link on your Facebook wall, set the post to "Public" so the general public will see it instead of just your Facebook friends and followers. This will get the page in front of many more people.
  
  

• Consider registering to be an organ donor after your death. Ask us how this could help.

• We'd welcome any information about sources you may know about that provide the most economical deals on quality marketing materials. We're putting AKidney4Lucy.info on giveaways such as contact cards * (photo here), bumper stickers, bumper magnets, car magnets (photo here), etc.
  
  

• Can we give you a few contact cards for you to share around?
  
  

• If you're in our local area, please let us know of any places that you see a public announcement bulletin board, business cards on display, community announcements, free ads, etc. so we can bring a little stack of contact cards there.
  
  Or if you'd like to do so, we'll give you some cards. If you don't live locally, we'll mail some to you. Remember: Lucy's donor can be evaluated and have the surgery anywhere in the USA, not just in Florida. Do you work in a large company? Ask if you can leave some contact cards in the employee breakroom. Does where you live have a neighborhood clubhouse, shared laundry room, or library? Ask if you can leave some contact cards. Where do healthy people go? Ask if you can leave some contact cards at local health food stores, vitamin stores, gyms, etc. We can't cover everything by ourselves ... so the more helpers we have in the "Kidney Campaign", the better!
  
  It could be as simple as asking the establishment if you can tape a card to their wall, window, cash register, counter, or whatever. A local friend of ours found her kidney donor in 2018 from taping a little card on the wall of a restaurant ... an amazing guy saw it, and the rest is history! Because of that one guy, she and 5 other people got a new kidney through the paired exchange program at Mayo Clinic.
  
  * Our card has a special feature: when the second QR code (the one on the right side of the back of the card) is scanned with the appropriate reader, you land on a micro-page of contact information (.vcf/vCard) that can be saved right into your phone contacts list for easy reference -- and more important, for easy sharing. Just share it like you would share any other contact by text or email. You can also reach it from HERE and the bottom of each page of our website.
  
  

• Share with us any good ideas of how to tastefully spread the word further. We're working on a few extra ideas and will keep you posted.