My Kidney Donation Story: Vince Golden

I’ve been a registered dietitian for over 20 years, working in an outpatient dialysis clinic and also seeing patients in the earlier stages of kidney disease at a nephrologist’s office. I’ve witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by patients who go through dialysis—the fatigue, the feeling of being run down, and the toll it takes on their lives.

At a company dietitian meeting, one of the other dietitians mentioned that she had chronic kidney disease (CKD) and might eventually need dialysis. Many people have CKD and live their lives without ever experiencing kidney failure, so I thought that probably wouldn’t happen.  

Years later, her facility administrator called to tell me our coworker was in the hospital with kidney failure and would be starting dialysis treatments. She needed me to help out with temporary patient coverage. Of course, I didn’t mind helping out with the coverage, and was surprised when my friend returned to work full-time a few weeks later.  

At this point, I had gotten to know her pretty well. She is a wonderful, caring person who is a friend to anyone she meets. I thought about what it would be like for her family if her life were shortened by kidney failure and felt like donating a kidney to her would be the right thing to do. She spent her career taking care of people with CKD, and I didn’t want to see her limited in this way. She is usually a high-energy person, but didn’t seem to have the same enthusiasm after starting dialysis.  

I talked to my wife about it. My kids were younger at the time, and I thought about how donating a kidney might put a burden on my family, especially since I would not be able to drive them around. During that time, I heard about several people in our community who had donated kidneys to individuals with great outcomes. When my son turned 16 and started driving, it felt like my family would be OK for a few weeks while I recovered from surgery.  

I decided to start the evaluation process and see what happened. I was a little surprised when my coordinator called to tell me that I was approved to donate. I consider myself in pretty good health, but I wasn’t sure if I would be deemed a candidate for kidney donation.  

After getting the approval to donate, I just assumed we would be part of a swap, but sure enough, we matched. My friend was told that she had a potential donor, but she didn’t know it was me—I wanted to remain anonymous until I knew it was really going to happen. Sometimes transplant surgeries are canceled at the last minute for many reasons, and I didn’t want to get my friend’s hopes up to be let down.  

She had some health issues that delayed things a bit, but when we got closer to the surgery date, I gave her a call. She was driving home from work, and it sounded like she came close to getting in an accident after hearing the news.  

I donated on February 16, 2023. Everything went great. My friend had been on dialysis for about three years, and she was very low-energy and you could tell she didn’t feel well—she just wasn’t herself. Once she got the transplant, her energy was back—you could really tell the difference. She went back to working full-time in her clinics soon after recovering. 

I feel great, and I haven’t had any problems. The recovery wasn’t as bad as I expected. I figured the first week would be crummy, and it was. I had an appendectomy about 20 years ago, and the recovery was about like that, maybe a little easier. I was back to 100% within about three months. 

I had done about six half-marathons before my donation and I just did another one, this time with my daughter—her first one at 16. I stayed with her for the first five miles, then I told her to go ahead and I slowed my pace. She finished at 2:14 and I came in at 2:28—a little slower than previous times, but I’m getting older and spend more time doing spin classes than running. We were both happy with our time. 

My advice to anyone considering donating a kidney is to educate yourself by talking to the professionals at transplant centers and others who have donated. When I was looking into donation, I deliberately searched the Internet for kidney donors with unfavorable outcomes or those who regretted their decision and had a hard time finding anyone who regretted donating.  

It’s a personal decision for anyone, so you really have to look at your circumstances—whether you have supportive friends or family and what your health is like. At the very least, get evaluated and see what the transplant center says. You never know what kind of impact you can have on someone’s life. I am so glad I was able to help my friend feel healthy again.

About the Author

Vince Golden lives in central Georgia with his wife, daughter, and rescue dog (Olive). Vince and his wife met as students at the University of Georgia. Their son is now attending Georgia Tech, and their daughter is trying to decide between the two schools. Vince and his wife both have over 20 years of experience working with CKD patients—Vince as a dietitian and his wife as a social worker. They actually shared an office in the same dialysis clinic for 15 years prior to Vince recently changing positions. Vince enjoys spending time with his family—kayaking, running, fishing and going to the beach. Olive is pretty demanding and keeps Vince active with walks and slow runs.