My testing has been ordered!

My testing has officially been ordered!! I heard from the Mayo Clinic this morning, and they let me know they have put in an order for my testing. It will happen in about 4 weeks, unless something opens up sooner. It also sounds like it may not be 4-5 entire days of testing. Some days might just have one test scheduled, so I can hopefully work with the scheduling department and get everything crammed into as few days as possible. I'm hoping these next few weeks go by fast, because I am beyond ready to get this started!

Finally, a call back!

I have been patiently waiting (or at least trying to) for the past week to get a call back from the Mayo clinic. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit frustrated that it has been a week since I gave them my information to start the registration process and I have yet to receive a phone call. Then, at 4:55pm today they finally called! It turns out the lady who I've left messages for is still not back in the office and will be out for a few more weeks, so I had sort of fallen through the cracks. I talked with Rhonda, who was the person I initially spoke with at Mayo. We went through a lot of the same information that we did before (height, weight, blood type, etc) but this time I was able to complete the initial health screening. She went through a pretty extensive list of diseases and illnesses with me, to find out if I had ever had any of them, and thankfully I was able to say no to every single one. So, I passed my first screening! One hurdle down, many more to go. Since this whole process is not something she does on a daily basis, she said she would put a call in to the doctor to find out what needs to be done to have my testing scheduled at the clinic. She said she should have some information for me either tomorrow or Wednesday. I was able to ask her a couple of my questions. First of all, once I'm tested, am I matched against a national list, or just with people who are on the Mayo Clinic's list? She said they share a program with some other locations around the country, so I will matched against their combined list. My next question was if the recipient is not someone local, would I have to travel to wherever they are for the surgery. The answer is no. I would have the surgery here in Jacksonville, and they would fly my kidney to wherever the recipient is. She also mentioned that as a non-directed donor (meaning I have decided to selflessly donate my kidney, with no one specific for it to go to) I have the opportunity to start a donation chain. I had heard of this, but honestly I wasn't really sure how it worked. I still am not quite sure about all of the specifics, but the basic idea is that in order for someone to receive my kidney, they have to have someone in their life who is willing to donate a kidney to someone else. In order for that recipient to receive the kidney, they have to have someone willing to donate to someone else, and it goes on and on. The country's longest chain is actually currently going on, with 42 donors and recipients who have taken part between December 2013 and June 2014. It's a cool idea, and definitely something I'd like to learn more about.

Another cool thing that happened today is I learned from my mom that a girl from my hometown in Ohio

happens to be donating a kidney tomorrow! She is a friend of my younger brother, and I was able to get in 

touch with her earlier this evening. I don't know much about her story and why she's donating, but I know

she's do aging to a complete stranger. How awesome is that? I'm wishing her the best, and looking forward

to hearing about her experience and recovery first hand!

I'm glad things finally seem to be progressing, even if it's just a little bit! Again, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and share this. I can't tell you how much it means to me to have this amazing outpouring of support.

If you'd like to learn more about the kidney chain I was referring to, you can read more about it here.

Moving forward, slowly but surely!

Not much of an update, but I did briefly speak with someone at the Mayo Clinic today, so I wanted to share. I was able to give the transplant center some of my information today, and they will enter that into their system and I'll be officially registered. After that happens, I'll receive a call from the donor coordinator and she'll go through some questions with be about my medical history. From that point, a kit will be sent to me to take to a lab to give blood and tissue samples, and the results will be sent to Mayo. It typically takes 7-10 days to get the results back. Assuming my results are good and I don't have any unforeseen illness that would prevent me from donating, the next step will be the 4-5 days of testing at the hospital. I won't need to be admitted, it's all outpatient type of stuff, but it will be 4-5 full days there. I still have a lot of questions about this whole process, so I'm really anxious to get to talk to the donor coordinator and get started with everything. I'm learning very quickly that is going to be a long process, and that I really need to have patience. I'm also learning that I need to stop researching and reading living kidney donor blogs right before bed, because then my mind starts going in a million different directions and it's impossible to go to sleep!

I started the Couch to 5k program (again) tonight, and it felt great! Over the last year I've really focused a lot on being healthier and exercising more, and have lost quite a bit of weight. I did this all before I ever even thought of becoming a donor, but now that I have I'm even more glad that I made those changes. I know it's very important to keep myself healthy, now more than ever. It will be beneficial to my recovery, but more importantly it will ensure that I'm giving someone the healthiest kidney I possibly can! :)

All I can say is WOW!

All I can say is WOW! I am completely overwhelmed with the response I've received since sharing my story. I must admit that I was hesitant to even share my post because I didn't want people to think I was doing it just to get attention or a pat on the back. Looking back at all that has happened over the few days since I went public with my decision, I am so thankful that I shared. My page received almost 500 views in 24 hours, and it's been viewed by people in 6 different countries. That is so crazy!! I never would have imagined that. I am so thankful to know that there are so many people out there supporting me. It's been great to see the responses and hear stories from people who I have never met, as well as from people I do know, but had no idea that kidney disease has impacted their life. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my story.


I'm anxiously awaiting tomorrow afternoon, when I can speak to the donor coordinator at the Mayo Clinic to get some questions answered and hopefully get some of my testing scheduled. To anyone reading this who is a living donor, are there any questions you asked that you feel are important, or things you wish you would have asked right away? I have a list of questions, but I'm sure there are many things and situations that I haven't thought of yet. Please feel free to share in the comments, or you can email me at karirobbins80@gmail.com. I'm looking forward to updating everyone after my call tomorrow!