How To Find A Living Liver Donor

Patient in need of transplant posting on social media. — Some patients have used social media creatively to assist spread the word about their need to find a living donor.

It can be difficult to ask for assist, even in times of nifty need. Nosotros worry about beingness rejected, relinquishing command, or showing vulnerability. Information technology's just human nature.

So, imagine request someone to donate a piece of themselves, literally, to help you. It takes a special kind of backbone for patients in demand of a transplant to inquire friends, family, or the universe at large to donate a kidney or part of their liver to save their life.

Merely once they accept that spring of organized religion and brand The Large Enquire, patients are often surprised by how many of their family members, friends, and even strangers are willing to consider the souvenir of living organ donation.

Many people are familiar with living kidney donation – when a person with ii healthy kidneys donates one for transplantation. Fewer accept heard of living liver donation. The liver is the only human organ that can regenerate – a donor can donate more than half of their liver, and it volition regrow within a few months.

Living donation can spare patients with kidney or liver failure from years of waiting on the transplant list and help them avoid complex treatment such every bit dialysis. Equally such, living donation is becoming more than common – more than 6,500 living donor transplants were performed in 2021, an increase of 14.ii% over the year before.

Each of these lifesaving procedures started with a vulnerable chat.

Our Living-Donor Kidney and Liver Transplant Program teams have gathered cardinal insights for how to start searching for a living donor and how to initiate your conversations. Forth the manner, we provide the didactics, assessments, and back up you and your donor need to make comfy and informed decisions nearly the transplant process.

RELATED READING: Arlington master donates kidney to student's male parent

ane. Find your champion(s)

Along with the emotional strain of searching for a donor, physical challenges related to kidney or liver failure such equally fatigue, weakness, or nausea tin arrive difficult to search on your own.

This is where a living donor champion comes in. A spouse, sibling, or close friend can act as your "cheerleader" to help spread the discussion so you can focus more on your health.

Our transplant team can empower your champion by helping them anticipate and understand the questions to look from potential donors, such as:

Will I take to pay for the organ/tissue removal procedure? (No.)
How much time will I exist off piece of work? (Typically, two to iv weeks.)
Will I be at risk for health issues later on? (No more than the boilerplate person.)

And we will charabanc the champion on when to seek our guidance, and how to connect potential donors with us to start the assessment process through our online living kidney donor awarding or our consultation-based living liver donor procedure.

Your champion will play a key function in what many patients consider to be i of the toughest parts of the living donor search: talking about your condition and debunking some of the myths about living donor transplant.

Y'all could begin a conversation like this: "Some of y'all may not know that I've been having problems with my health. My kidney is declining, and I need a transplant. The wait for a transplant tin be every bit piddling equally three years merely as long as five or more. A living donor is a improve option..."

2. Start telling your story

If y'all're nervous most discussing your situation, starting time with your inner circle. Invite close friends and/or loved ones over for a meal. You could also set up a video chat, especially if your family unit doesn't alive nearby.

You could begin a conversation like this:

"Some of yous may not know that I've been having issues with my health. My kidney is failing, and I need a transplant. The expect for a transplant tin can be as niggling as three years but as long as v or more. A living donor is a amend selection every bit it results in a shorter wait time and meliorate long-term kidney function, and I'd love to take your support equally I brainstorm searching for a donor."

From there, you and your living donor champion can answer questions, allay your loved ones' concerns and empower them to share your story with their networks to expand your search.

3. Share your story far and wide – safely

Applied science and digital media make it easier to share your story equally far and wide as you wish. Traditional methods have also proven effective in reaching people in your local community. Hither are a few examples of how you tin reach potential living donors:

Ask your house of worship or employer to include your story in their newsletter.
Create cool T-shirts, stickers, or custom car decals to spread the word.
Contact local media to encounter if they will highlight your story.
Create a personalized website or social media page on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or Twitter. Here are a couple of examples: That Girl Needs a Kidney. Phenomenon for Maddie.
Using hashtags and terms associated with living donation can increase attention to your social media posts. Examples: #KidneyTransplant; #BeADonor; #LivingDonor; #DonateLife.
Hand out business organisation cards with living donor information – we accept some you can apply!
Send a letter or email to friends, family, and co-workers telling them about your situation. Tell your story with photos, videos, humor, and centre.
Think exterior the box, like this man who created a imprint to concord up while at a Chicago Bears football game and ended up having his message broadcast nationwide.

A Chicago Bears fan held upwardly this sign at a game hoping to alluring attending on social media and on TV. (via Instagram)

As you share your story, be mindful of doing and so safely and legally. For example, it is illegal to requite money or other items of value in exchange for a donated organ. And it isn't always wise to provide your personal health information or contact information to people yous don't know.

Our transplant team can offering recommendations for how to share your health data safely. Nosotros can talk with you about what expenses might be covered past insurers and resources to potentially cover travel and lodging for the living donor.

Individuals who hear about your story can complete our online living kidney donor awarding at utswlivingdonor.org or consult with 1 of our kidney or liver transplant experts. Anyone can apply and our medical team will evaluate each application carefully. Permit interested people know their application is confidential, and that applying doesn't mean they have to donate.

Even if someone can't donate or is not comfy applying, they may be willing to share your story with their network.

In November 2019, Pamela Arrington donated a portion of her liver to her mother, Robin Neely. They were the first living-donor liver transplant patients at UT Southwestern.

4. Don't discourage loved ones from applying

It's mutual for patients to say they don't want their adult kid, spouse, or parent to donate a kidney or portion of their liver. Call up that kidney and liver diseases also affect your loved ones. If a friend or family unit fellow member offers to donate, it's because your life is of import to them and they want to see you lot good for you.

If a loved one wants to donate but has a different blood type, consider trying for paired donation: Our Living Donor Transplant Programme team can search our database to potentially match the two of y'all with some other donor/recipient pair who is in the same boat – by swapping donors, both patients even so could benefit and both donors still could assistance save a life.

5. Take intendance of your mental health

Finding a living donor could exist a lengthy process, with highs and lows. It's normal to experience discouraged at times. Talking most your emotions through the transplant process tin can help relieve stress, particularly if you lot talk with people who understand what y'all're going through.

Support groups offering a safe space to connect with people who can sympathise with your situation and offering encouraging communication. Every UT Southwestern patient tin can get a streamlined referral to our transplant psychologist who helps guide patients through the full range of emotions that tin ascend as y'all await for a donor kidney or liver.

Bonus tip: Lean on your transplant team

UT Southwestern's living donor squad understands the physical, emotional, and logistical challenges of navigating this niche area of wellness care. We will aid you make informed decisions about everything from eligibility and surgical risks to long-term health expectations and follow-upward requirements.

Nosotros can connect you with recipients and living donors to provide starting time-person perspectives nearly the nuances of organ donation. Nosotros too recommend a few national organizations for information well-nigh living donation:

American Liver Foundation
UNOS
National Kidney Foundation
Donate Life

Searching for a living organ donation is a claiming, and giving an organ is a remarkable gift. Don't let uncomfortable conversations stand in the fashion of your chance at a healthier future.

To talk with a living organ donation expert, phone call 214-645-1919 or request an appointment online .

Living donor liver transplant

The surgery is complex, as you'll meet in this video, just UT Southwestern has a defended team of specialists who are proud to be able to offer this life-saving option to our patients.