What are the pros and cons of donating blood?

The pros and cons to donating my kidney?

• My grandma needs a kidney transplant and I am the only physically healthy person in my family that is compatible. I sort of feel forced to donate it but at this point there is nothing I can do. What is scarring life? Will I have a large scar? That is what I am the most worried about... It sounds superficial but I've battled body dysmorphic disorder for a very long time. I also have depression among other things. Will donating my kidney affect these things adversely? What is recovery like? By the way I'm 17, turning 18 in late July.

• Answer:

  This is a very difficult question to answer. Just being in good health is not the issue. Do you match exactly? What is going on with your g-mother's health that this would be necessary? Talk to her doctor to learn these things. She may not be healthy enough to have this surgery at all. You don't say what her health is like now. You are under no obligation to donate an organ, you know. The consequences to you are very real. Suppose you have kidney failure in later years? Your experience would be that this is indeed a very big operation even though you are the donor. The scar does not go away and cannot be removed. It does fade with time.