Types of Organ donors

So now that I am officially on the Transplant waiting list, let's take a moment and delve into what that means. Being active on this list means that I am waiting for a deceased donor. There are a lot of factors that go into that as well on whether they would work or not for me. The approximate time frame I've been given for this list could be 3.5-5yrs before one becomes available. However, if this is the route I get one, the surgeon feels confident that I should get a good kidney as I'm mostly healthy. The longer I"m on the list the closer to being run through a data base more happens. A match is determined by my blood type (A) and by antibodys or lack of.

If a perfect match comes up they could skip ahead and call me up. It's a lot like adoption, the wait and see or the phone calls that may not happen. There are over 100,000 people on the waiting list for Kidneys. 

 I could also recieve a living donor kidney. Apparently we only need one kidney. There are 3 types of living donor donations. 1. non-directed donation- you don't have anyone in particular that you are wanting to donate your organs to. 2. Directed donation- you are being tested specifically for a person 3. paired exchange- Two or more pairs of living donors swapping to make a compatible match 

 While we don't need 2 kidneys, donating is a big decision. I could never repay that kindness. If you are interested in learning more, this website is a great place to learn more. It's the national registry for everything (the list I'm on- not the hospital I'm doing it through). According to it there were 6900 living donors last year. A living donor means we can plan when surgery happens a little more (you know summer). So if you are intested in learning more and possibly be tested the first step is to really research what it means and how it will affect you. I believe my insurance covers testing and donation. It also takes you out of commission for a week or so and have restrictions for longer. I do know if you donate a kidney and somewhere down the road something happens and your kidney goes bad, you get pushed to the top faster for a donation. 

 There are a lot of requirements to even be considered. Older than 18 or 21 (depending on hospital) and younger than 65. You must be relatively healthy, no personal cancer history, and women must be up on women appointments. After you call for information, they will ask you a bunch of medical questions to see if anything automatically disqualifies you. If not, then I believe the next step is basic testing- blood type and antibodies. I can get donations from A or O blood types. After that I'm sure you will have to go through some testing to make sure you are healthy enough to go through surgery, though not as extensive as I did. If it's a match and a go, surgery would be in Overland Park, so you would need to be there for the surgery. I know that the donor also has follow up appointments and check ins for a couple years. And if you start this process and change your mind you can at any step---well until after you have it taken out. 

 Please read over the information at https://transplantliving.org/living-donation/being-a-living-donor/   That website has a lot of information and good questions to ask yourself before even calling. If you want to continue, please call 

1. Call Tracey Dickey Living Donor Advocate 816-932-2214

                             Or

2. Go to the Living Donor Website below

 

 

https://www.saintlukeskc.org/form/saint-lukes-hospital-living-kidney-donor-screener

 Thank you to everyone who is supporting me in so many ways- good thoughts, donations, etc.