Kidneys aren't body parts that you think about much — unless you
have kidney disease. Kidneys are vital to a person's survival
because they filter waste, as well as extra fluid and salt, from
the body. If they stop working (known as kidney failure), a
person will need to go on kidney dialysis or get a kidney
transplant. What Is a Kidney Transplant? A kidney transplant is
an operation where doctors put a new kidney in the body of
someone whose own kidneys no longer work properly. One healthy
kidney can do the work of two failed kidneys. Because people can
survive with just one kidney, a living person can give one of
his or her healthy kidneys to someone with kidney failure (this
is called being a donor). A kidney also can come from a donor
who has recently died, but the wait for this kind of donated
kidney can often take a year or more. Most kidney transplants
are successful. People who have kidney transplants will take
medications for the rest of their lives to prevent the body from
rejecting the kidney. But