[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2022\/06\/age-and-living-donor-kidney-transplant\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2022\/06\/age-and-living-donor-kidney-transplant\/","headline":"How Age Impacts Living-Donor Kidney Transplant","name":"How Age Impacts Living-Donor Kidney Transplant","description":"If you or a loved one are considering a living-donor kidney transplant and have concerns about age, just ask Lew and Gert about their experience. Lew Pryor, 74, underwent a living-donor kidney transplant in April 2019. His wife, Gert Morrissey-Pryor, 64, was his living donor. \u201cWhen living donation came knocking at my door, I had […]","datePublished":"2022-06-10","dateModified":"2022-06-03","author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/services\/transplant","name":"Transplant Services","url":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/services\/transplant","sameAs":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/transplant-services\/","parentOrganization":"UPMC"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"UPMC HealthBeat","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/05108-Pryor-036.jpg","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/05108-Pryor-036.jpg","height":867,"width":2000},"url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2022\/06\/age-and-living-donor-kidney-transplant\/","about":["Health Topics A-Z","Kidney Transplant","Transplant"],"wordCount":375,"articleBody":"If you or a loved one are considering a living-donor kidney transplant and have concerns about age, just ask Lew and Gert about their experience.Lew Pryor, 74, underwent a living-donor kidney transplant in April 2019. His wife, Gert Morrissey-Pryor, 64, was his living donor.\u201cWhen living donation came knocking at my door, I had to step up,” said Gert.Benefits of Living DonationLew was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in May 2011. Over the next few years, Lew and Gert worked with his doctors to manage the disease. However, in March 2018, Gert saw that her husband’s health was declining.Lew was placed on the kidney transplant waiting list and learned it would take about seven years for him to get a kidney. That’s when Lew and Gert began to discuss the living donation option.They learned that living-donor kidney transplantation has many benefits including quicker recovery times, improved long-term outcomes, and little to no time on the transplant waiting list.When Lew decided that living donation was his best option, Gert began the evaluation process at UPMC to see if she would be a compatible donor. \u201cI would have walked through fire to save my husband’s life,” said Gert.Who Can be a Living Organ Donor?To be a living donor, you must have an unselfish reason for wanting to help a friend, loved one, or stranger. Living donors can include family members, spouses, friends, neighbors, or coworkers.Potential living donors should be:Between the ages of 18 and 75In good general health and have no history of:Heart or kidney diseaseDiabetesHIVCancers or other diseases that could complicate the surgeryLife After a Living-Donor Kidney TransplantThanks to the expertise of UPMC’s kidney transplant team, Lew got back to doing what he loves most: landscaping his yard to perfection and improving his golf game one stroke at a time.\u201cDo everything you can to live your life and take care of yourself, because we are worth that effort,” said Gert. \u201cTo anyone considering living donation as an option: Consider UPMC for your transplant team.”For more information on living-donor kidney transplantation at UPMC, visit our website.Gert and Lew’s treatment and results may not be representative of all similar cases."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2022","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2022\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"06","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2022\/\/06\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How Age Impacts Living-Donor Kidney Transplant","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2022\/06\/age-and-living-donor-kidney-transplant\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]