We were watching 60 Minutes last Summer when they did a segment on live kidney donation. They highlighted a website which helped bring donors and recipients together. I checked it out, but to me it just looked like a popularity contest. I'm sure the cute women and adorable children got a lot more responses than the gap-toothed men and large women. When it comes to charity, our hearts and minds should be free from whatever may prejudice our giving. True altruism comes when the donor receives nothing in return, not even a comely thank-you from an attractive lady.
For this reason, I decided to do some more research on non-directed living donation. Surprisingly, there wasn't a lot of info on the internet. This was perhaps the most frustrating part of my investigation. Clicks turned into more clicks which turned into more dead ends. Finally, I decided to just pick a big hospital, call their main switchboard, and see where it lead me. The first hospital to pop into my head was Columbia-Presbyterian in Manhattan. While it isn't the most glamorous facility in the area, its association with Columbia Med School, as well as its history, made me think I was safe in choosing it. After explaining what I was looking to do to several people, I was forwarded to the donor cooridnator. As most people are when I tell them, she was perplexed as to why I would want to donate my kidney to a stranger. She happily took down my information and sent me out a packet with a few questionaires. After filling them out and returning them, I would make an appointment to come down and meet the team. That is step two in this journey....
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