The only shortcut on the waiting list is a perfect match. If a donated kidney should happen to match all six antigens of someone on the transplant list, that person would get the kidney whether he or she had been on the list for five years or for five minutes. Of course, the chances are roughly equivalent to winning the Publisher s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. For all I knew, the chances that I would be a compatible donor for Mike weren t much better. Doreen Hartke asked the question in the afternoon as Mike and I sat across from her, mechanically answering endless questions on endless medical forms.
Immediate relatives are the first choice.
There s a much better chance of matching antigens among those who are closely related by blood. Only 12 percent of donors are unrelated, most often a close friend or spouse. Mike has a mother and a sister living in Morris County, but both suffer from high blood pressure a disqualifying condition for a living kidney donor. I answered Hartke s question more out of hope than certainty. I d like to be tested.