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Darthness, you can live a completely normal life with one kidney. Having two is pretty much a "backup" situation, but if one kidney is going to fail, so is the other one, so as far as ending up where I am now, if your kidneys work fine, they both work fine. If one is going to fail, both fail together, so the risk isn't really altered at all by donation.

Thanks, John.

The average transplant lifespan from a living donor is about 15-20 years now. The reason for that, is due to the immune system suppressive medications. They cause some damage to the organ, slowly over time. Too little medication, and the immune system attacks the kidney. Too much, and it's toxic to the organ, so the med levels are regulated to find a balance between the toxicity and your own body attacking the organ. It's not perfect, but it works. If that doesn't destroy the organ over a period of years, the original disease that caused the original kidneys to fail does the job. In my case, type I diabetes I've had from the age of 3, triggered by a case of the Measles that developed after I was immunized against them.

Glass,
I hope things get better for you, and find a donor and you're able to make a full recovery soon.
I'm sorry you've been having so many medical problems over the past few years.

Have they said where on the list you are? Or how long it might take to get another donor?

The average wait now is over six years for a kidney. The wait will be longer for me because I'm a difficult match due to antibodies from previous organ transplants added to my own. Outside of waiting for a cadaverous transplant organ, my only other options are dialysis, or finding a willing living donor on my own. My mother and a few friends were tested, but they were all either an antibody conflict, or the wrong blood type to donate to me.
Now I'm left with asking people I know, and even the occasional stranger. One person locally just ran an ad in the paper asking for kidney donors from the general public to step forward and be tested. I'm still not sure if I think that was a bit obnoxious, or if I'm just mad I didn't try it first.

Hopefully something will come around for you.

6 years is a very long wait. With all the people dying daily and all the organ donors- its hard to believe its that long of a wait.

the problem is, most people who die aren't viable donors due to how or why they died, or because the family, who has the ultimate say in donation, refuses to donate the deceased organs for whatever reason, be it religions or personal beliefs, grief, or whatever.
If you die of diseases like cancer and such, you can't donate. If you have any blood disorders like Hepatitis, you can't donate. If you're beyond a certain age, same applies.
The few who are viable candidates are usually vehicular accident victims, shooting victims, etc, who died suddenly, without damage to the organs, at a premature age.
Many people are just too grief-stricken immediately following the loss of a loved one to make the decision to donate their organs, with the thoughts and memories of the person still fresh in their minds as being alive, and the morbid images of their body being dissected and parted out for organ donation.

sadly the lists are huge, and available organs are few and far between.

how does having one kidney affect someone who plays sports at the college level?

it shouldn't affect you, cause your only using one all the time, the other is a "just in case"

Unless you abused the shit out of yourself, you shouldn't need the other one.
(alcohol, drugs,etc)

Unless you abused the shit out of yourself, you shouldn't need the other one.
(alcohol, drugs,etc)

none of thee above.

won't have any effect aside from the initial recovery time after donation.
you'd go on to live a completely normal life.

There's an NFL pro football player with a kidney transplant, just YFI
I think one of his teammates was the donor.

How quickly do you need one might I ask?