I have a very close family member on dialysis. Yes, it is hard. That person gets dialiyized 3 times a week, for 4 hours out a time. Not including time to get to the dialysis center, and traveling back home. The person comes home completely exhausted. As the doctor said, having dialysis, afterward it’s comparable to running a marathon. Not to mention the nausea and cramps, one gets if too much fluid is removed. It very difficult to work, because basically, your life revolves around dialysis. Vacations are planned around it. They can only be 2 days tops. There are dialysis centers around the country, but they needed to be planned months in advance. All dialysis patients are able to receive Medicare and disablity. But, even though Dialysis is difficult, I thank Hashem that he brought such a process into the world, because without it, that person could not, Chas’VaShalom live.
We have a family member ready & willing to donate. But the person has not been well enough to received a transplant. B’H, that person should be well. Any donor has to go through a phycologoist. They are asked questions on what their motives are for donating. Are they sane? They are also given a barrage of tests.
Actually, the best donor candidate, we were told, is a woman, who has had children, as after childbirth, it is easier to access a kidney.
There are waiting lists if someone does not have a available donor. Even if you read the Torah Times, R”L, you see people need kidneys, and there are drives around to find matches.