I didn’t know much about kidneys before mine started failing me.
I didn’t know what a Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) was. I didn’t know the difference between peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis. I wrote those words down in a small notebook after hearing them at my nephrology appointments, spelling them wrong twice, circling them like I was studying for a test I did not remember signing up for. I certainly didn’t know there were people in this world, good, generous people, who would offer a piece of themselves to someone they barely knew, or sometimes didn’t know at all.
There is a lot the world does not know about kidney disease. And that is not anyone’s fault. Until it shows up at your door, it is easy to miss. Once it arrives, the facts start to matter. A lot.
So here are ten things that might surprise you. Some are medical, some are hopeful, and some remind you how extraordinary ordinary people can be. I learned each of these not in a classroom or a brochure, but in real moments and conversations with doctors, late-night worries, and the shock of realizing how much I did not know until I had to. After all, I barely remember learning about kidneys in health class.
1. Did You Know… You don’t have to be blood-related to donate a kidney?
I assumed a donor had to be a sibling, a parent, or a close biological match. It turns out that is not the case. Living donors can be friends (such as Jeff), coworkers, members of the same church, or even strangers who feel called to help. What matters most is not your family tree. It is the blood type, other compatible traits, and the health of the donor. Some of the most remarkable kidney transplant stories involve people who shared nothing but compassion.
2. Did You Know… Nearly 90,000 people in the U.S. are currently waiting for a kidney?
The national transplant waitlist is long and slow. On average, patients wait three to five years for a deceased donor kidney. Some wait much longer. That is years of dialysis, fatigue, dietary restrictions, and calendar-flipping. A living donor can shorten that wait dramatically, sometimes to weeks. Every person who steps forward to be evaluated changes the math for someone in need.
3. Did You Know… Chronic kidney disease (CKD) often has no symptoms in its early stages?
This one is both sobering and important. CKD is sometimes called a silent disease because most people feel fine until their kidneys are already significantly damaged. I did not feel dramatically different for a long time. A little more tired, maybe. But nothing screamed that something was wrong.
Routine blood work, checking creatinine and GFR levels, is often the only way to catch it early. Back then, those numbers were a foreign language. I remember staring at my lab printout, trying to match the terms to what the doctor had said, tracing each line with my finger as if it might suddenly make sense. If you are at risk due to diabetes, high blood pressure, or family history, ask your doctor about your kidneys. Do not wait for symptoms to wave a red flag.
4. Did You Know… Your donated kidney isn’t placed where your original kidneys are?
When I learned this, I had to sit with it for a moment. Surgeons typically place the new kidney in the lower abdomen, near the pelvis, rather than in the back, where your native kidneys sit. The transplanted kidney connects to nearby blood vessels and the bladder. Most of the time, the original kidneys are simply left in place. They retire. The new kidney takes over in its new home.
I named my kidney Sidney. On a kidney podcast, I heard someone name their kidney their “side chick” because of where it is placed. Kidney patients need all the humor they can get. Sidney is more like my side BFF.
5. Did You Know… A living donor can live a full, healthy life with just one kidney?
One of the most common fears people have about donating is whether they will be okay. The answer, for most healthy donors, is yes. The remaining kidney compensates over time, growing in size and increasing its function. Many living donors go on to live completely normal lives with no significant long-term health effects. It is one of the reasons living donation is considered medically reasonable, not just generous.
6. Did You Know… Kidney dialysis is not a cure? It is a bridge.
Dialysis keeps you alive by doing the filtering work your kidneys can no longer do. It is remarkable technology. But it is not a fix. It does not heal the kidneys. It does not restore what has been lost. It buys time, and for many people, it buys a lot of it.
I am grateful for every dialysis session I slept through, even the long ones, or yes, even the ones that kept me up all night. My dialysis held me from diagnosis to transplant.
7. Did You Know… You can donate a kidney to a stranger, anonymously?
This is called non-directed or altruistic donation, and it may be one of the purest expressions of generosity I have ever heard. A healthy individual decides, with no recipient in mind, to donate a kidney. They walk into the process without knowing who will receive it. Their gift is then matched to someone on the waitlist. No names exchanged. No expectation of a thank-you. Just an ordinary person doing an extraordinary thing, without fanfare, for someone they will likely never meet.
8. Did You Know… A kidney transplant recipient takes anti-rejection medication for life?
The body is protective by design. Left on its own, the immune system will recognize a transplanted organ as foreign and attempt to attack it. Anti-rejection medications, immunosuppressants, work to prevent that from happening.
Kidney transplant recipients take these medications every single day, usually twice a day, for the rest of their lives. They lower the immune system’s defenses just enough to protect the kidney from the same body it is helping, which also means being more careful around illness and infection. The pillbox becomes a daily companion. A small price to pay.
9. Did You Know… One kidney donor can potentially save even more lives through a transplant chain?
When a living donor’s kidney is not a compatible match for their intended recipient, the gift does not have to stop there. A paired exchange, sometimes called a cross-match, allows an incompatible donor to give to a stranger, whose compatible donor then gives to another stranger, and so on.
These chains can stretch across the country, saving multiple lives from a single act of willingness. Nebraska Medicine has been involved in some of the largest of these chains in the United States. The math of that generosity is extraordinary.
10. Did You Know… Kidney disease disproportionately affects certain communities?
African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans face significantly higher rates of kidney disease than the general population. Much of this connects to higher rates of diabetes and hypertension in these communities, which are the two leading causes of CKD.
There are also documented health disparities in access to transplant evaluation and living donors. Awareness, advocacy, medical illiteracy, and equitable healthcare access are not just policy conversations. They are life-and-death ones.
I did not know most of these things before my kidneys started failing. I learned these things the hard way, one appointment at a time, one lab result at a time, one internet search at a time.
But here is what I believe. Knowledge shared at the right moment can change things. It can prompt someone to get a blood test they have been putting off. It can move someone closer to saying, I should look into donating a kidney. It can help a family member understand what their loved one is carrying.
You may not be on the kidney journey yourself. But someone you love might be, or will be someday. And now you know a little more.
That matters.
Donor Resources:
Becoming a Living Donor ~ kidney.org
What doctors wish patients knew about becoming a living kidney donor ~ American Medical Association (ama-assn.org)
Become a Living Kidney Donor ~ kidneyregistry.com
Living donation ~ United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
