Kidney transplants can be performed with a kidney taken from a cadaver donor or donated by a living donor. The living donor may or may not be genetically related to the recipient. Both the donor and the recipient can lead normal, healthy lives with just one kidney each.

If you are receiving a cadaver kidney, once you are placed on the waiting list for a donor kidney, you must be able to be reached by telephone or beeper at all times. When an organ becomes available, you must be ready to come to the hospital immediately.

In some cases, you may come to the hospital, undergo a final health assessment, and then learn that the donor kidney is unacceptable for some reason. While this can be a major disappointment, it’s important to remember that it would be more damaging for you to receive an organ that was not suitable.

If you are receiving a kidney from a living donor, you and the donor will undergo the necessary medical tests and then arrangements for the hospitalization will be made. The donor’s kidney can be removed with minimally invasive (laparoscopic) methods, in which very small incisions are used. The recovery time is much quicker for donors, and most can go home just two or three days after the procedure.

During the transplant, which takes about three hours, you will be under general anesthesia and asleep. The transplant surgeon will make an incision on the right or left side of your lower abdomen, just above your groin.

The surgical team then places the donor kidney into your abdomen and connects the kidney''s blood vessels to your artery and vein. The surgeons then connect the ureter (the tube that leads from the kidney to the bladder). A small drain may be placed into your abdomen to drain any excess fluid.

While recovering in the hospital, you may have some pain and discomfort, which medication can help to relieve. You will be asked to cough periodically to keep your lungs clear. You also will have an IV line, usually in your arm, so you can be given fluids and medication for the first few days after surgery.

For several days after surgery, you will have a small tube called a catheter in your bladder to drain urine. You also still may need dialysis for a short time after surgery, until the kidney recovers from the transplant process and begins to function.