J.F.
One of my dearest friends donated a kidney to her uncle many years ago. She was in her early 30s at the time.
It has not impacted her life in any significant way at this point, several years post. She sees her doctor regularly and goes to her nephrologist once a year to review her labs and make sure everything is okay. So far, all is well.
My husband had a kidney removed two years ago, not to donate, but because of damage and ultimate failure of the kidney due to repeated kidney stones, surgeries to remove the stones, and built-up scar tissue. So, I can tell you about the surgery side from his experience.
The surgery was not particularly complicated, but he was in operating for quite some time. Even though he was the first surgery of the morning, it seemed like I was in the waiting room forever! But really, it was just about two hours. It just seemed long waiting to be able to see him in recovery. Keep in mind that having a kidney removed in order to donate might be a bit longer surgery.
He was in the hospital for a couple of days and was given appropriate meds for pain management, so there were no complaints about pain. He recovered well with no complications. He was up and around when he came home, but he did have to take it easy. No lifting, no exercising, no golf for a few weeks.
He travels about three out of four weeks for work, so he was grounded from all air travel for about three weeks. After that, he was back at his usual routine with no problems.
He also goes to his urologist and nephrologist, but even more regularly than my friend who donated. He has had some issues with some of his labs levels, so his doctors keep close watch on that.
Hope that helps. It's very kind of you to think of donating.