Author Archives: Ray Mueller

For the most part I’ve enjoyed the medical preparations for kidney donation.  I’m not sick.  I wasn’t in an accident.  I don’t have to worry about the cost.  I have a good excuse to take time off from work.  I … Continue reading →

Back in September, I had to meet with a “donor advocate,” someone not affiliated with the transplant center.  But why?   I could understand those that were giving to a loved one needing someone to make sure they were not feeling … Continue reading →

“Why do we have two kidneys?” My son asked this of the doctor last Thursday at the meeting the transplant center planned, in which my children met the transplant team and learned about kidney donation, the operation, and follow-up care. … Continue reading →

Diane of the National Kidney Registry called me last Friday to see how I was doing.  Getting a little nervous, I admitted.  But also excited.  I couldn’t help asking about the kidney chain they are developing with their state-of-the-art transplant … Continue reading →

The transplant center wants another urine sample.  An earlier one might have had microscopic amounts of blood in it.  I’ve worried at times about whether I would qualify as a donor, and this is a new excuse to do so.  … Continue reading →

I’ve always had mixed feelings and a knot of tension about sharing my plan to donate a kidney with others.  I don’t want to be a braggart.  On the other hand, I don’t want to hide something that is important … Continue reading →

Like my first blog post, this entry and the next several ones will mostly be a look back to catch up on my experience regarding donation.  For this I’m using a diary begun April 27, 2011, the day my online … Continue reading →

This week, the week I am finally starting my blog, it’s becoming more intimate, more real.  A sample of my blood is being mixed with the blood of the person who has been chosen to receive my left kidney, as … Continue reading →