Living Donors Online!

| LDO Home | General | Kidney | Liver | Marrow | Other | Message Board |

The Living Donor Experience

This is a place where you can view videos and read about the experiences of others who have actually gone through the living donation process.

Go to the bottom of this page to see how you can submit your own story, share your blog, or submit a video for the LDO Video Channel. If you need to learn how to make a video, click here for general instructions.

Videos

Click on the YouTube logo below to visit the Living Donors Online Video Channel and view videos made by living donors about their donation experiences.

LDO Video Channel

Written Stories and Blogs

In this section, you are able to read the stories of actual living donors. There are separate sections for kidney donation, liver donation, bone marrow, and lung donation.

Kidney Donation Experiences:

  • Rich Ostry's story of living kidney donation to his wife.

  • Amy's living kidney donation and her experience with post-donation pregnancy.

  • Debbie's living kidney donation to her sister and their post-op complications.

  • Kelly's anonymous kidney donation to a stranger.

  • Karl's donation to his cousin.

  • Marcia's donation to her brother.

  • Angie's living kidney donation to her brother.

  • Link to the Tissot Family site. Kidney donation.

  • Link to kidney donation testimonials on Transweb.

  • Shelly's web site about her living kidney donation to her son, Bryan.

  • Shannon's story, a kidney donation to her friend, as told on her web site.

  • Molly's story of kidney donation to her long-time friend.

  • Ellen's donation to her trainer.

  • The "living related" stories from David Goldman's "Gifts of Life" web site.

  • Cathy's donation to her friend's husband.

  • Rhoda's donation to her husband.

  • Mary donated to her brother.

  • Norm's kidney donation to his friend...after a chance encounter.

  • Father Pat's non-directed (anonymous) donation.

  • Tim's "Three Weeks"—his living kidney donation to his son.

  • Janice's birthday present to her huband...a kidney!

  • Steve's kindey donation journal.

  • Patricia donates to a stranger.

  • Lynn Chabot-Long's book on living donation.

  • Ginger donates to her dad.

  • Profile of John Hodges, living kidney donor, and link to a Newsweek "My Turn" article about his donation.

  • Sam's living kidney donation experience two years later.

  • Parmjit's donation to her husband.

  • John Martin, a transplant recipient, tells his story, including the donation from his dad.

  • Rita's story and web site link about her ABO-incompatible donation to her husband.

  • Kelly's donation to a friend.

  • Vic's donation to Sue in Western Australia.

  • Sonja's donation to a coworker's husband.

  • Jan's donation to her toddler.

  • Jenny's altruistic donation in Canada to someone she met on Living Donors Online.

  • Katie's donation to her mom.

  • Ngarie's story, "No Strings Attached," about her donation to her brother.

  • Guy's story, "El-Chupacabras Kidney."

  • A newspaper article on Twauna's unrelated donation.

  • Article from NYU Physician magazine of Amy's donation to her sister, Kim. (A PDF file that requires Adobe Reader.)

  • Susan's "joyously given gift" to Juli. (A PDF file that requires Adobe Reader.)

  • Heather's donation to her diabetic mother.

  • Steve's story of kidney donation to a stranger.

  • Yolanda's donation to her twin sister.

  • Kristen's recognition as a bone marrow and kidney donor.

  • When a selfless act became a stimulating example: William L. Willard Sr.'s attempted living kidney donation from his son.

  • Donation to Father-in-law.

  • Christi describes her donation to an acquaintance from church (requires Microsoft Word).

  • PRW donates through Matchingdonors.

  • Dennis L. Otter: No Greater Experience

  • Sandro's donation in 1993.

  • Kim's story is told in this newspaper article: Go to the link: www.huntingtonnews.net. Click on local. Go to the stories for June 3, 2006. Click on story of a man who donated a kidney to a stranger.

  • A twin sister's donation - reflections after my twin's death

  • Amanda's donation to her father.

  • Scott's amazing story of recovery and redemption: You Saved My Life!

  • Kevin's donation to his wife's friend.

  • Robert Devine shares his living kidney donation to his sister on his blog.

  • Tom Simon's blog on his kidney donation.

  • Here's Trapper's story of donating to a friend.

  • Suzanne donates to person at her temple.

  • A Kidney Donor Story by Julie Sindel.

  • Tristan's kidney donation to his cousin.

  • Honey donated to her long-time friend.

  • The Valentine's Day Gift.

  • Lee's donation to her brother-in-law.

  • Debbie donates to her husband.

  • Richard's story.

  • Cindy's living kidney donation.

  • Diane's donation.

  • Chad's non-directed living donation.

  • Aurea's donation to her step-father.

  • Steve and his brother.

  • Anna and Nicole's blog: one kidney's journey.

  • Chuck's donation to a church member-friend.

  • Mark donates to his brother.

  • Linda's donation as part of a six-way kidney exchange.

  • Gordon's donation to a former high school classmate (sound slideshow).

  • "Best-est" friends Stella and Terrie share their adventure, and a kidney

  • Melissa's blog about her donation to someone she connected with through LDO.

  • Wayne's blog about his anonymous donation experience.

  • Audrey's donation to her cousin's husband.

  • Patrice and her sister.

  • Brooke's donation and blog link.

  • My sister saved my life when i was trying to save hers

  • Lissette's paired donation experience.

  • Peggy donates to a church friend.

  • Giving the Gift, by Amanda Smith

  • A newspaper article about Stephie's gift to her father.

  • Marie donates to a parish member.

  • Donating to my father-in-law.

  • Sarah describes her donation journey in this PDF file captured from her blog (requires Adobe Reader.)

  • Liam and the ligher side of donating.

  • Michael Polodny shares the content from his kidney donation blog.

  • Paul and Laura Amador blog about their paired kidney exchange and additional living donor topics.

  • Lisa's post-donation challenges.

  • A blog about George's journey toward a nondirected altruistic kidney donation.

  • Keith's donation to his brother.

  • Two news stories about Lessa's participation in paired donation: here and here.

  • Vesper's blog about participating in the paired donation network after her mother's kidney failure.

  • Hitting the Genetic Jackpot: Giving My Son a Kidney.

  • Laura's donation of her right kidney to her hustand's sister.

  • Lee Adams wrote a book about her experiences called "Donor Girl."

  • Chrisa Mashburn's interview with ABC-TV about her donation  to her husband.

  • Dennis donates at age 67.

  • Cara's domino donation

  • Jana illustrates the story of donating to her brother.

  • A blog about one person's road to anonymous donation.

  • Elaine on managing post-operative pain.

  • Nicholle's paired exchange donation.

  • Janine Marquardson, Mrs. International 2010 and living donor, is spending her year educating others on the importance of organ donation.

  • Samantha's living kidney donation experience and her YouTube video.

  • Pearl describes her donation to her brother in the UK.

  • Diane's blog about her anonymous donation in the UK.

  • Tom has a blog about his experience as a nondirected donor.

  • Thea's blog about her experience as a unrelated directed living kidney donor.

  • David's donation to a friend from church.

  • Lauren's blog about her journey as an anonymous donor.

  • Kim's donation to her friend.

  • Donna prepares to donate to her husband.

  • Transatlantic donation story between friends. Website also provides general transplant information.

  • Reflections of a living kidney donor.

  • Tara donates to her brother.

  • Bob's anonymous donation in Canada.

  • Anne's blog about her kidney donation.

  • Tori shares her donation stories--one before and one after.

  • Jennifer's blog about her kidney donation to her step-dad and her life since then.

  • Elizabeth blogs about her experiences donating a kidney to her husand.

  • Ray blogs about becoming a nondirected kidney donor.

  • Sharon blogs about her kidney donation: Part I, Part II.

  • Debra describes her anonymous donation experience.

  • Jennifer's donation in the pre-Internet era.

  • Laura's blog about her "awesome experience as a kidney donor."

  • News video about Connie Rim's "kidney chain" donation (links may expire): here and here.

  • Blog--two guys, one kidney: http://twoguysonekidney.blogspot.co.uk/

  • My donation story: Lorri Silk

  • About Melanie's kidney donation, on YouTube

Liver Donation Experiences:

  • Caron's living liver donation to her father.

  • Lyn's liver donation to a toddler.

  • Pauline's living liver donation at Mt. Sinai.

  • Another living liver donor site—Liver Giver Girl.

  • Ann's story of donating to a child.

  • Pamela's story of donating to her sister.

  • Sherry's big adventure—this page is in a nonstandard format and may not be readible by all browsers. I've posted her story, which is primarily a series of emails, exactly as she sent it. Consider it web vérité.

  • Danielle's story and request for prayers.

  • Dave's donation to his young son.

  • Kathryn's story of donating to a friend.

  • Tammy: living liver donor to her son.

  • John donates to his wife, Christine

  • Jeremy donates to his dad.

  • Nicole shares the story of her dad's liver donation to her uncle.

  • Mike created a website in 2006 about being a living related liver donor to his nephew.  The website includes a description and photos of the surgery, some being graphic.  Mike says the site is meant as a means to show the process and hopefully to help others who are thinking about donating. http://www.wonderliver.com 

  • Naeem, living liver donor to his uncle.

  • Lorie's web site on her living liver donation gone wrong: www.livingdonornightmare.com

  • Dr. Mark Stefanelli's web site and book about his living liver donation experinence.

  • Tom shares his experience of donating to his babysitter's son.

  • Geetha's donation to her husband.

  • Primum Non Nocere by Lorraine Hawks, widow of a living liver donor.

Bone Marrow Donation Experiences:

  • Link to bone marrow donation testimonials on Transweb.

  • Lorenz's peripheral blood stem cell donation (bone marrow) donation story.

  • A link to Amber's description of her bone marrow donation experience.

  • Louis's blog on stem cell donation to his brother.

  • Ling's blog on her bone marrow donation.

Lung Donation Experiences:

  • Holding a spot for your story....

Submitting Your Own Story

We're interested in your experience with living donation! Please share your story with others so we can provide the support to other donors and potential donors through greater understanding.

To submit your written story, send an email  to ldostory [at] livingdonorsonline.org and do one of the following:

  • Include your story in the body of the email.

  • Attach a file containing your story. The file can be an ASCII text, Microsoft Word, PDF, or HTML file.

  • Include the URL address (e.g. http://www.yourplace.com/mystory) where we can find your story or blog.

Please also include the date of your donation in the email or in your story.

To submit your video, you can do one of the following:

  • Upload your video to YouTube, then send us an email to tell us where to find it. We'll add it to the LDO Video Channel as a "favorite."

  • Send us an email to let you know you have the video. We'll reply to work out an arrangement for you to send us the video file. We will then upload the video to the LDO Video Channel.

Thank you for your help in supporting LDO's goals of education and support!

© 2011 International Association of Living Organ Donors, Inc.