SEEKING A LIVING KIDNEY DONOR
FOR MY DAD
Our incredible dad — a rocket scientist, small business owner, proud USC Trojan, and the family’s beloved “Sitting Google” — is in need of a live kidney donor. Despite being in great shape and officially listed on transplant registries, dialysis is taking a toll. His day to day activity level has been drastically reduced and he often is too tired to do much on any given day. Thus, we feel a kidney transplant will get him back to the quality of life he enjoyed just a few months ago.
He’s a lifelong learner, devoted father of three (who he relentlessly trolls for going to UCLA and Berkeley), and the kind of grandfather who always shows up. He spent the first half of his life at NASA and in aerospace, and the past 30+ years building a small business from scratch. He is in great health otherwise and has so much more to give — we just need help clearing this hurdle.
Living donor transplants can lead to better long-term outcomes and a shorter wait time which is why we are pursuing this route. If you or someone you know might be open to learning about living donation, please refer to the ‘Transplant Center Information’ section of this page.
Please remember that there is no commitment for reaching out to learn more, testing is confidential, donors are never pressured, living donation is safe and supported medically, almost all costs for the donor will be covered by insurance.
KEY MEDICAL FACTS
AND DONOR INFORMATION
ORGAN NEEDED:
We need a viable kidney donation
BLOOD TYPE:
Matching blood type is A+
*Please remember that a donor DOES NOT need to have a matching blood type. Modern transplant medicine uses options like paired kidney exchange to match incompatible pairs.
TRANSPLANT CENTER INFORMATION
UCI Transplant Center (Irvine, California)
714-456-8441 – ask to speak to a living donor coordinator
https://ucihealth.donorscreen.org/register/now - please include donor recipient info for my father (see below) to direct your donation to him
Recipient info – Name: Amar Nath Varma; DOB: 04/04/1949
USC Transplant Center (Los Angeles, California)
800-USC-CARE – ask to speak to a living donor coordinator
Register as a potential donor - Donor Registration - please include donor recipient info for my father (see below) to direct your donation to him
Recipient info – Name: Amar Nath Varma; DOB: 04/04/1949
Mayo Transplant Center (Phoenix, Arizona)
480-342-1010 – ask to speak to a living donor coordinator
Email: ARZTransplantCtr@mayo.edu
https://mayoaz.donorscreen.org/register/now - please include donor recipient info for my father (see below) to direct your donation to him
Recipient info – Name: Amar Nath Varma; DOB: 04/04/1949
THE EVALUATION PROCESS
Please be reassured that our team's priority is the potential donor's health and you can withdraw at any time in the process. There is no commitment for reaching out to learn more. Also, testing is confidential so donors are never pressured in any way. Most importantly, living donation is safe and supported medically.
DONOR QUALIFICATIONS:
Donors should be over 18 and in good overall health.
Donors and recipients don't need to be related or have the same blood type.
You will fill out an questionnaire to get started and then a donor coordinator from the site will reach out to you in 7-14 days to discuss next steps
CONFIDENTIALITY:
A potential donor's personal and medical information will be kept confidential by the transplant team and will not be shared with the recipient or the family.
COSTS FOR THE DONOR:
The recipient's insurance typically covers your evaluation and surgery. Additionally, there are resources that exist to help with other costs, like travel or lost wages, through programs like the National Living Donor Assistance Center.
A potential donor can learn more about what to expect from the process here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/transplant/tab/resource-36/