Unquestionably, you have the potential to save a life, and that is an awesome thing. BUT – with all due respect to Caracas Chick whom I admire greatly for her chessed and courage, PBA is right. It is NOT as glatt and simple as the Kidney Donation requesters make it. There are people who have suffered serious post-surgical complications following this donation. And it IS a life-altering action. One can never again engage in contact sports or any activity that could risk injury to that area. And if your own kidney fails for some reason, you will never have the other one to take over. These are not issues to be taken lightly, but need to be well-thought out and discussed with other family members who might have a stake in your future health (including the possibility of one of THEM needing your kidney, G-d forbid – a small risk, but one which needs to be factored in).
If after really giving this a great deal of reflection, you still want to do it, yasher koach and be matzliach in every way. But don’t think it is a walk in the park, as CC implies. It is still at best, major surgery, anesthesia, potential for embolism, stroke,etc. And it is a recuperation period as after any major surgery.
I am happy for you, CC, that you could go ice skating and bowling (probably not the safest choices of activity after this type of surgery), and B”H you have three wonderful sons. May Hashem bless you with continued good health. Not everyone’s experience is like yours, unfortunately. If it chas v’sholom was a loved one, however, I would not think twice about it, no matter how risky. But we typically ONLY hear of the beautiful success stories and not the ones that go awry.