I’ve had an organ donor card in my wallet for as long as I can remember and I’ve always made it very clear to my loved ones that I want all my organs to be used when I die.

My question is, given that I only need one kidney, would it be better if I were to donate the other one right away rather than after my inevitable demise?

Obviously, my organs won’t be used in the unlikely event that I die in some unrecoverable way, like being lost at sea or something. And there’s always the possibility that a close relative might need a kidney at some point, so I should arguably save it for them.

Is there some other reason to do it now?

  • roguetrick@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    To be clear, kidneys need steady and high blood pressure to continue functioning. So let’s say you have a heart attack, then your able to recover circulation but your brain was hypoxic and you’re later shown to be brain dead. In that case there’s also a high chance to be in some state of kidney failure and needing dialysis.