transplant options

[skb28642]

The peg and ribavarin didnt work. What can you tell me about transplants? I have been told I will need one, my daughters want to donate half of their liver to me. What do I need to know? skb28642

[merryBe]

on the right of this page you willsee a list of other forums in medhelp.

the transplant forum will be helpful to you. There are some liver transplant patients in there who know far more than most HCV patients.

Mike Simons has a lot of experience and knowledge concerning this, I would start over there.

I can tell you there's a lot of criteria for getting a transplant. Not everyone is a good candidate. To be considered you have to not have certain conditions likely to cause a organ rejection, you have to be at a certain stage of liver failure to be put on a transplant list, and most importantly there must be no substance abuse. If you still drink I beleive you have to have at least 6-12 months clean and sober to even be put on the list so there's a lot to it.

the best thing to do is to call your local transplant center and ask to be sent information on their center and criteria. Some centers list all the info on their web sites, some do not.

Like I said, talk to Mike, he's very informative.

mb

[alagirl]

hey, whoa.  Hold on a sec. Who told you that you are going to need a transplant?  I'm assuming you've had a biopsy, if you share some information about those results, people will have a little more info and it will be easier to offer some advice.  Did your treating physician tell you that you needed a transplant right now?  Because there are other drugs coming down the pike and you might be able to get in on a study involving one of those.

[skb28642]

thanks for the info. I will find Mike. Thanks again.skb28642

[skb28642]

My  doctor sent me to one of his colleagues and that doc looked at the reports and said  he thought i am a candidate for transplant. I saw my regular GI and he said the same thing. Ive had 3 liver biopsys. the colleague has changed his mind, im just waiting to get an appt with my regular doc, i trust Him completely. just wondering what to expect. I wil get info the next chance i get to see my doc. I know im at stage 3, sometimes i cant remember everything he tells me. We have talked about new treatments. The colleague said it would be years before any new treatments would be available. I guess I just need to take notes and only listen to the doctor i trust. Thanks for answering. skb28642

[alagirl]

we have people here who have gone achieved SVR in clinical trials for some of the newer drugs, which is why I mentioned that you might be able to get into a trial.