I always share this story of a patient who donated a kidney to his brother in the 1980s. When he came for a kidney transplant evaluation a few years ago, he was already 72 years old. Just like most transplant centers in the country, we usually no longer list patients who are 70 years old or older given the long wait times in the deceased donor wait list (over 5 years of wait time). Most of these over 70-year-old patients can be considered for kidney transplant only if they can find a viable living donor who can donate a kidney to them. There are very rare exceptions if the patient is robust and has no other comorbid conditions. This 72-year-old patient was overall healthy other than his history of prostate cancer, which led to his kidney disease. Given that he was a prior kidney donor, he receives a prior donor priority upon getting listed for kidney transplant. It is important to note that there are not a lot of priorities given to our patients. Being a prior donor, patients younger than 18 years old and other medically urgent cases such as having exhausted all dialysis access sites to name a few. My 72-year-old patient was listed on a Friday and has already received a kidney offer on Sunday.

I like sharing this story because it raises awareness on the ongoing organ shortage in our country and at the same time encourages people to consider organ donation.

I’m also very passionate about increasing kidney transplant access for our patients by providing transplant education to dialysis clinics and nephrology practices. In the past year, I have worked with the National Kidney Foundation on a project to help our community better navigate the complexities of kidney transplantation.