# Talk me out of doing a very good thing **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 25, 2003, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996 "2003-12-25T09:29:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AntaresJB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AntaresJB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AntaresJB)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/21 "2003-12-27T02:28:53Z")
My little brother was born with one working kidney (and apparently a shriveled shell of the other one), so I’m keeping my extra one around in case he might need it someday. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/22 "2003-12-28T03:26:01Z")
Wow, good OP. Now I am worrying that I should be doing this too. He asked whether 45 year old kidneys are still desireable donations. Are they? How about 46 year old ones? How about if you tend to get stones, and have had some surgeries and a bit of damage here and there? Are they still desireable? Is it still so easy to get by on just one? Do kidney donors have nightmares about that urban legend, where the guy wakes up in a tub of ice? ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/23 "2003-12-28T04:58:37Z")
If you honestly feel a calling to donate an organ, you might want to look at being a living LIVER donor instead. Liver failure is a horrible way to die and has a worse prognosis than kidney failure. Best of all, a healthy liver REGENERATES itself, so you really don’t lose anything by donating some of your liver (unlike with the kidney, even though the remaining kidney does grow to take up the slack from the other one’s absence). Still, donating some of your liver is a major surgery with risk of death, and I have to admit that risk scares me off the idea of donating my liver as a live donor. I HAVE made my intentions to donate my organs after death loud and clear, so my liver’s definitely up for grabs once the surgical risk to me is a no longer a concern! If you don’t want to donate, well, I’d suggest easing your conscience by making sure your family knows you want to donate your organs after death, at least. Maybe try to encourage others to agree to donate after death as well. Really, there are valid reasons for not wanting to undergo surgery as a live person, but refusing to donate after death is a lot harder to justify (besides cultural/religious prohibitions, perhaps). A kidney or liver won’t do you any good when you’re brain dead, so it really is very selfish to let it rot in your corpse instead of letting it live on in somebody else. So, maybe you can save more lives by just trying to get more people to commit to the idea of post-death donation than by giving up your kidney now? ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/24 "2003-12-28T05:09:27Z")
If anyone is interested in learning more, here’s a page with a bit of info on living donor liver transplants: [http://www.mayoclinic.org/livertransplant-rst/ldfaq.html](http://www.mayoclinic.org/livertransplant-rst/ldfaq.html) ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/25 "2003-12-28T05:17:38Z")
My excuses are that I am entirely selfish - my internal organs are mine until I die or someone in my immediate circle needs them - and that last time I had surgery - an appendectomy - I almost died from a secondary infection, and ended up spending six weeks on morphine, which is more than enough painkiller for me for the rest of my life. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/26 "2003-12-28T05:19:48Z")
How about this? [http://premium1.fosters.com/2003/news/aug\_03/august\_17/news/home\_0817a.asp](http://premium1.fosters.com/2003/news/aug%5F03/august%5F17/news/home%5F0817a.asp) ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/27 "2003-12-28T16:35:27Z")
It’s an interesting OP. For my part, I’ve had a few surgeries already, and I did not enjoy the recovery process. It can be a mess. I am not inclined to do that voluntarily again. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/28 "2003-12-28T21:23:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Paul in Saudi \* > \*\*So what excuse do I (or you for that matter) have for not doing this? \*\* _Excuse_?! With all due respect, up yours. Why don’t you take an intermediate step and work to change the organ donor rules? As if some stiff is going to need either of his kidneys! I find it hard to believe that there isn’t a lot more good you can do without giving up a vital organ. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/29 "2003-12-28T22:39:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by picunurse \* > \*\* > Your ablity to clear toxins from your body upon losing a kidney are cut in half. Over time the remaining one ramps up, but the function will never again be 100% . However, they work so well, that you’d never notice losing 50% function. \*\* Thanks for the medical info. Are there dietary changes required for the loss of a kidney and does this affect medical certification (such as airline pilots or truck drivers)? I would imagine that salt intake and alcohol consumption would have to be ramped down. ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/30 "2003-12-29T16:39:59Z")
One of my coworkers donated a kidney to a stranger a couple years ago. (\Parade\ magazine featured him on their cover for it sometime in 2001.) As I understand it, he’d volunteered as a donor some time before, but it was several years before there was a match. He was out for a few weeks, I think, but as far as I know he recovered completely and has no long-term ill effects. He met the woman who received his kidney a couple months afterwards, and he does a lot of work getting other people to sign up for regular, after-you-die organ donations. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/31 "2003-12-29T18:17:29Z")
Hell, I’d do it. I’ve done a lot worse things to myself with no positive payoff. If your remaining kidney craps out, you can always hope someone will donate one of theirs. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/32 "2003-12-29T22:44:06Z")
Bone marrow I’d give to anyone. Ditto with blood. My internal organs are reserved strictly for my offspring. What if one of your kids needs a kidney 15 years down the road and you’re their only match, OP? It’s great to want to help people, but don’t shoot yourself in the foot doing it. Just donate 'em when you die and help two people at the same time 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/33 "2003-12-30T01:03:03Z")
> [@](#): > > So what excuse do I (or you for that matter) have for not doing this? I can’t because I have chronic renal disease… shall I jot down names for when I end up on dialysis later in life? However if I were healthy I’d save mine for my kids and donate them with whatever else they could use after I died. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goofballz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@Mr.Goofballz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goofballz)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/34 "2003-12-30T04:01:24Z")
Just a comment on the article linked in the OP. I think that man is pretty damn impressive. Not just the kidney thing but the amount of money he has donated. Every day there is another example extreme greed by the rich. Whether it be by corporations or individuals. Someone like this kind of gives you hope for the human race. If nothing else it makes you think that maybe I could donate blood more often or something else to help. I think he raises the bar for almost everyone. Donating his kidney to a stranger, is he crazy? Perhaps - but it’s a damn good kind of crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/35 "2003-12-30T08:12:31Z")
Well considering I’m seeing a kidney doctor on a nearly monthly basis and the long term prognosis for my kidneys isn’t good, I think this is a great idea. Everyone line up and find out if you tissue match me. Hell, I might be able to squeeze 4 or 5 extra in me just in case! ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996/36 "2003-12-30T08:39:38Z")
I think that if you devote some time to getting people to donate their organs when they die, then you could help save many lives, not just one; plus you get to keep your kidney until a loved one needs it or you do… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-me-out-of-doing-a-very-good-thing/220996.md?page=1)