Who gets on a kidney waitlist? We're in the dark on a crucial step toward transplant

As her kidneys faltered, one woman was turned away from a transplant center in Maryland, which told her she was not a good candidate for a coveted organ.

Months later, she was recovering from surgery in New York City, where another transplant center had accepted her after she sought out another doctor and raised money for the trip.

In New York, a single mother said she was initially told she was "such a good candidate," only to eventually hear that she needed a reliable vehicle to get to the many appointments required to clear her as a kidney transplant candidate — something she could not afford.

And in Los Angeles County, a 73-year-old man lamented that he spent more than a year and a half waiting on Keck Medical Center of USC — just to hear back about whether he could get onto the waiting list. Frustrated, he turned to another center, only to be thwarted by his insurance carrier as the center was nearing a decision.

He has been stuck heading three days a week to dialysis, the tedious process of pumping out his blood, filtering it and piping it back into his body.

It has felt, Roland Coleman said, like being "a trapped animal."

To even have a chance at a kidney from a deceased donor — a lifesaving resource in limited supply — an ailing patient needs to get onto the waiting list.

But a shrinking share of Americans undergoing dialysis have been getting that chance, national data show.