Altruistic Donor Starts Chain Donation at Sharp Memorial Hospital

SAN DIEGO – A Chula Vista woman’s decision to donate a life-saving kidney to someone she doesn’t even know prompted her to dramatically improve her own health. Over the past two years, Lorena Rodriguez has walked three miles every day after work and cut out junk food – including her beloved Cheetos and Saladitos Mexican treats – to lose more than 45 lbs., lower her blood pressure and qualify for kidney surgery.

Rodriguez is a 19-year employee of Balboa Nephrology Medical Group and has witnessed the heartache and suffering that patients with kidney failure endure on a day-to-day basis. That experience motivated her to call the Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Center at Sharp Memorial Hospital and offer to be an altruistic kidney donor.

Doctors told Rodriguez that she needed to lose weight before she could donate her kidney. After a lot of hard work on the treadmill, and support from her coworkers who accompany her on hikes around San Diego, Rodriquez is scheduled for surgery on Wednesday, Feb. 9.

Her donation will start a chain which will provide much needed kidney transplants to three people, including a patient in New York. Sharp Memorial is the only San Diego-based member of the National Kidney Registry which connects people willing to donate their kidney to someone they don’t know in exchange for their loved one getting a compatible kidney. Many of these donation chains start with an altruistic donor like Rodriguez.