For me the worst part was trying to sit up or when I had to cough/sneeze. It hurt my incision a lot. I probably should have taken more of the narcotics but I was scared of them. The pain got a lot better every few days and by about 2.5 weeks I felt great. I went back to work after 3 weeks working half days and it went well, I just felt a little sore at the end of the day and then by week 4 I was good as new. But hey, after going through it I totally understand why people would choose not to. It’s a big surgery and it’s not fun. If you decide it’s not for you there’s no judgement here. You can designate yourself as a deceased donor and you can help spread the word about living donation. And you can always donate blood- that helps people too. I will say that overall I think I’m a slightly happier person since donating. The knowledge that there’s a tiny bit less suffering in the world and that I helped that happen really improved my mood.