Power Player- Carol

chronic kidney disease

May 7, 2018

….I’ve always been a wimp: I faint at flu shots, IVs, blood tests. And yet, in June 2006, I donated a kidney to my son, Paul. The reason is simple: his kidneys were failing and I was the only willing one who could. Wimp or not, of course, I’d do it.

He was in his early 20s when he developed ESRD [end stage renal disease]. He’d been diagnosed with IgA nephropathy when he was in college, following a lingering strep infection—not uncommon. Yeah, no hereditary disease, no diabetes or high blood pressure. He wasn’t obese. He just had rotten luck. So, in other words, what happened to Paul—and to our family—could happen to anyone.

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Published by Carol Offen

I'm a living kidney donor--I donated to my son in 2006--who happens to be a wimp (I faint at flu shots). I'm passionate about encouraging living donation, and I figure that if I can donate a kidney, you probably can, too. I'm also a professional writer and editor. I recently co-authored a book, with a kidney recipient, titled The Insider's Guide to Living Kidney Donation: Everything You Need to Know If You Give (or Get) the Greatest Gift.

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29 thoughts on “Power Player- Carol”

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