Patient Toolkit
This page is designed to provide you with information and support as you navigate the kidney transplant process. We are committed to ensuring you have the knowledge and help you need for a successful transplant experience. Whether you're just starting your transplant journey or seeking to learn more, this toolkit provides essential resources to guide you every step of the way.
Kidney transplantation is a treatment option for patients with end-stage renal disease. A transplant offers the potential for a better quality of life compared to long-term dialysis, with many recipients experiencing improved energy, freedom, and overall health. Choosing a transplant can be a life-changing decision, providing the opportunity for increased independence and a more normal lifestyle. Every patient referred for transplant is evaluated on an individual basis, to make sure they are an appropriate candidate for kidney transplant.
As part of your evaluation, you will meet with several members of the transplant team:
- Transplant Nurse Coordinator
- Transplant Financial Coordinator
- Transplant Nephrologist
- Transplant Surgeon
- Transplant Dietician
- Transplant Social Worker
You may also be referred to other providers for additional clearance, such as a cardiologist or infectious disease doctor, depending on your medical history.
There are many tests required to determine if kidney transplant is right for you. These include:
- Chest X-ray
- Echocardiogram
- Evaluation by a transplant surgeon, which may include abdominal CT scan
- Labs
- Frailty Testing (assessment of your overall physical strength)
- Other testing may be required, depending on your medical history
Sometimes, it would cause more harm than good to receive a transplant. This may be the case if you have certain medical problems, such as advanced heart or lung disease, active substance abuse, untreated cancer, or dementia. Additionally, there may be things the transplant team asks you to work on before becoming a transplant candidate, such as weight loss, smoking cessation, or establishing a good support team.
Preparing for Kidney Transplant
There are several things that you can do to prepare for a successful transplant evaluation and surgery. Below are some of the things you can work on while you are waiting for a kidney transplant.
Get Your Mind Ready
- Share your thoughts and feelings
- Talk to someone who has received a transplant
- Ask questions to help you understand
- Have a support system in place
- Find tools to manage stress
Get Your Body Ready
- Quit smoking
- Eat a healthy diet
- Exercise or walk regularly
- Keep a healthy weight
- Control your blood pressure to make sure it is in a healthy range
Get Your Finances Ready
- Check your insurance coverage
- Have transportation you can count on to get back and forth to appointments
- Make sure you have somewhere to stay locally if you more than two hours away
- Have a plan for childcare or elder care if needed
All patients are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This helps to look at all people in a fair and nondiscriminatory way. We invite you to watch our kidney transplant education video to learn more about the transplant process at our center. The video provides detailed information and insights to help you better understand what to expect.
For more detailed information about the kidney transplant process, please use the links below. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to the transplant center. We're here to support you every step of the way!
- Kidney Transplant Selection Criteria
- Transplant Evaluation Process
- Help and Support After Transplant
Do you have a possible living donor? Here is a tool that can help you keep up with who is helping you share your story, and who you have spoke to about living donation.
Patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus will be considered for kidney-pancreas transplantation with the following guidelines:
- Age < or equal to 60
- BMI < or equal to 35
Patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus will be considered for kidney-pancreas transplantation with the following guidelines:
- Age < or equal to 57
- BMI < 27
- < 1.0 units insulin/kg/24 hours
- Must be a candidate for steroid avoidance protocol
- Must have evidence of secondary microvascular complications
Contraindications for combined kidney-pancreas transplantation:
- Untreated or active malignancy
- Chronic or active infection
- Untreated or active cardiac ischemia
- Advanced heart failure
- Advanced liver disease
- Advanced cerebrovascular or neuro-degenerative disease
- Severe chronic lung disease
- Active collagen vascular disease
- Uncorrected urologic disease
- Excessive obesity
- Severe malnutrition
- Ongoing non-adherence to medications or treatment regime
- Active substance abuse, including smoking and smokeless tobacco
- Marked deconditioning
- Social instability, in particular poor family support and limited resources to maintain ongoing follow-up
- Patient’s lack of interest or refusal
- Patient's refusal to accept a blood transfusion in life-threatening situations
When you are on the waiting list, you will be routinely scheduled for a re-evaluation visit at the Transplant Center. Patients and dialysis units are asked to keep the Transplant Center updated with any changes in your condition that may affect candidacy, as well as with changes in address, phone number, dialysis center location and health insurance.
We have a dedicated team of transplant coordinators to support you while you are waiting and work with you to stay ready for transplant.
Are you on our waitlist and need to contact our kidney transplant waitlist team?
Call: 704-355-0376
Living donors are required to be at least 18. Although there is no age limit, we screen each individual carefully and require additional testing for those over the age of 60. Your safety is our main focus.
Donors can be parents, children, siblings, other family and friends, co-workers, etc. Donors need to be in good health and free of cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, liver disease, sickle cell disease, HIV or hepatitis. Every donor will be screened individually for suitability for donation.
While living donor transplants from the patients' relatives are considered the most beneficial, transplanted kidneys from living unrelated donors also have excellent success rates. Both types of living donor transplants are more likely to be successful than a deceased donor transplant.
In fact, recent studies have shown that a kidney from an unrelated living donor lasts as long as or longer than the best matched kidney from a deceased donor. In addition, the rejection rate for a living donor is significantly lower.
Your donor team will discuss all health risks with you. The risks of donation are similar to those involved with any other major surgery, such as bleeding and infection. Death from kidney donation is extremely rare. (0.03 percent of recipients, or three in 10,000) Research shows kidney donation does not change your life expectancy or increase a person's risks of developing kidney disease or other health problems. Research has shown that one kidney is sufficient to keep the body healthy, but we encourage a yearly physical and blood work with your primary care physician.
All routine testing required for the living donor evaluation as well as the hospitalization costs and physician services provided during the donation process are covered either by the recipient's insurance or Carolinas Medical Center Transplant Center. Transplant-related complications are also covered for at least 90 days. Living donors are responsible for their routine health maintenance testing (Pap smear, mammogram, colonoscopy, etc.) or medical clearance that may be required for pre-existing conditions.
Travel expenses, child care and lost wages may also be the donor's responsibility. It is important for donors and their families to consider the financial impact of these possible expenses. You may be eligible for assistance for travel, hotel, food, etc., with the "Living Donor Assistance Fund." Review the resource available through the National Living Donor Assistance Center. Your coordinator will help you with this application, if needed.
You will have a post-op appointment with your surgeon at about two weeks after surgery and again at eight weeks. Additional follow up will be scheduled at six months, one year and two years after surgery. This will allow us to monitor your kidney function, blood pressure and overall general health. After two years, we recommend annual check-ups with your primary care physician. If you do not have one, we will encourage you to find one.
If you are healthy and without signs of diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer or any other major medical issues, review the Information for Potential Living Donors packet and complete the Medical History Form: English | en Español (PDF)
Once we have received your completed forms, we will contact you to begin the evaluation which includes:
- Blood work for compatibility with your intended recipient
- Blood work and urine studies to assess your medical status
- Appointments with a nurse coordinator, social worker, nephrologist, surgeon and our living donor advocate
- Chest X-ray
- EKG
- CAT scan of abdomen and pelvis to view organs
You will be responsible for providing the following test results as applicable:
- Recent (within one year) Pap smear result for females over 18
- Mammogram report for females over 40 or younger if you have a family history of breast cancer
- Colonoscopy results for patients over 50 (men and women)
Forms may be mailed to:
CMC Transplant Center/Living Donor Office
P.O. Box 32861, Charlotte, NC 28232
Or faxed to 704-355-4910.
For additional information on the referral process, contact the Kidney Intake team at 704-355-6649 or 800-562-5752.
If you have additional questions, please call our Living Donor office at 704-355-6649.