Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Maica!

Name: Maica

Location: Canada

Donation date: February 2023

Age at donation: 36

Categories of exercise before donation: Marathon, Ultramarathon

What was your activity level like before donation?

I grew up in an active household, so movement was a big part of my early life. In my late teens and early twenties, I was actually a competitive fencer at an international level. Then I quit competing, started playing in bands, and pretty much spent the next fifteen years only getting my exercise by biking around the city of Montreal. It was not until my mid thirties, right before donating my kidney, that I got back into fitness. I joined a community gym and started lifting a couple times a week (you know, the usual woman starting to lift because they heard about bone density loss in aging females), and it felt so good to feel strong again. Being in that environment, surrounded by supportive people, made the idea of donating a kidney feel possible.

How would you describe your recovery post-donation?

Honestly, it was so smooth. No complications at all. They told me the more I walked, the better my recovery would be, so I took that seriously and was doing laps around the transplant ward within two hours of surgery. The bloating pain was expected, so it did not feel as bad as I thought it would, and my scars healed quickly. Also, I had colorectal surgery four months earlier, which was about a hundred times more painful, so donating a kidney honestly felt like a walk in the park.

Describe your journey back to fitness after recovering.
It is wild to think about, because I was not a runner at all before donating my kidney, but something in me clicked during recovery. I was curious to see what my body could do now and I think I was craving adventure. Donating a kidney felt like an adventure, and it woke up the old thrill seeker in me. So I went ahead and signed up for my first running race ever, which happened to be a five hundred fifty kilometer (342 miles) relay through the Mojave Desert called The Speed Project. I hired a coach because I had no idea what I was doing and suddenly I was running five times a week and increasing my weekly mileage in a way that I would have previously thought of as impossible.

Were there unexpected hurdles along the way?
Running is just hard. That is the hurdle. It does not matter how many kidneys you have. I am still learning how to push through the tough moments.

Do you feel different now than when you did pre-surgery?

Definitely. My whole mindset feels different. I feel more confident in my body, and maybe that is partly because all the pre op tests confirmed I was healthy, but it feels bigger than that. Something really shifted. I am more curious about my limits now, and that curiosity is guiding me as a runner. Since donating my kidney and starting to run just over two years ago, I have done an ultra marathon relay, two half marathons, two full marathons, a ten kilometer cross country race and a sixty kilometer trail run that I did not finish but am excited to try again next year. I just feel like a beast now, and I definitely did not feel like that before.

Do you take precautions now that you didn’t before?

Not really. I already drank a lot of water. I am just a bit more mindful about my sodium intake because hypertension runs in my family and having one kidney increases the risk.

What advice would you give someone considering donating?

If you are even slightly curious about being a kidney donor, then I promise this is for you. There is a reason you are curious. Take the plunge. Ride the wave. It is an amazing adventure where you learn about the human body and get to take part in one of the most fascinating triumphs of modern medicine, all while giving someone something beyond what we can really understand as value.

What were your fears before donating?

I was mostly worried that I would feel limited in what I could do physically.

Looking back, how do you feel about those fears now?

Ha! Well, clearly that did not happen. If anything, I feel like the opposite person now. I am not delusional about my age or athletic ability or what I can afford, but I really do feel like most things are possible.

Tell us anything else you’d like included in your submission!

I am a proud vegan and kidney donor athlete. I honestly think more people should consider being living donors because there are very few opportunities in life to experience something this meaningful and unique. Be the minority!

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