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Living Donor Transplant
My husband had to stop his Hep C triple therapy treatment (with Incivik) as he has decompensated advance liver disease and was unable to tolerate the treatment after 5 weeks. His 4 week test result shows the treatment was working (viral load <43). His doctor said we can expect the virus to resurface quickly. We are now moving on to Plan B which is a liver transplant. His Meld score is now 24 after this latest hospitalization and the effect the treatment has had on his kidneys. Unfortunately, in NYC you need to have a Meld score of 30 to be highest priority. By the time he gets there I fear he will be a very sick man. So we are looking into other possibilities including maybe asking his 39 year old son if he would be a living donor for his Dad. I would appreciate it if any of you have any experience in this area that you can share. I don't even know if he is a match at this point but I am not feeling too good about putting any pressure on his son to do this.
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i apologize if my previous post was a bummer. another member of this board received a living donor transplant and is currently starting the triple therapy. i believe the donor was her child and believe both have done well. perhaps she will say a few words about her experience. things can be slow around here on the weekends, and she may not respond.
blessings
eric
blessings
eric
There are risks for both donor and recipient, but many living donor transplants have happy endings. An article about one of the NY/tri-state area's most renowned docs and living donor liver TP success:
http://www.bioethicsinternational.org/blog/2008/01/18/liver-of-love-to-save-his-dying-uncle-man-agrees-to-risky-living-donor-transplant-1st-in-ct/
Both the recipient and donor have to go through very extensive evaluation and assessment, and as Hector points out, it is not a straightforward decision; lots of caveats, medically, emotionally, and psychologically. Best of luck working this through and moving forward. ~eureka
http://www.bioethicsinternational.org/blog/2008/01/18/liver-of-love-to-save-his-dying-uncle-man-agrees-to-risky-living-donor-transplant-1st-in-ct/
Both the recipient and donor have to go through very extensive evaluation and assessment, and as Hector points out, it is not a straightforward decision; lots of caveats, medically, emotionally, and psychologically. Best of luck working this through and moving forward. ~eureka
as usual Hector gives a heartfelt, insightful and well written response. the following is a news story about a liver donor dying in denver. this death was heartbreaking to all the staff in the transplant team at university of colorado hospital. the donor was a young father with 3 children.
http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-liver-transplant-death-txt,0,3369112.story
http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-liver-transplant-death-txt,0,3369112.story
P.S. I also may have the opportunity to have my 21 year old nephew donate part of his liver to me but as of now I personally don't feel I want him to do it because he is just starting his life. He has offered to do this for me. It is a tough decision. If it is either death or a LDT I can't say if I might change my mind. It is someone each of us has to decides according to our own moral code.
Hector
Hector
Thanks for posting.
Contact the transplant center and get all of their paper work on Living Donor Transplantation. It will tell you about the process and who can qualify to be a donor and who can't. And give you guidelines for thinking about some of the question I ask below. If you need more help they probably have resources at the TP center that can help you with the decision.
Living Donor Transplants are a complicated issue. This is something that should not be entered into lightly.
Has your son offered to donate part of his liver to his dad on his own?
There needs to be no pressure on him to do so. He must be doing it of his own free will which is very difficult in a family environment.
Does your husband and yourself want your son to undergo a major operation where they is a risk, although it is very small, of him having medical complications or possibly die? A transplant is major surgery. Any surgery implies some risk. Could you and your husband live knowing that in order for your husband to live you allowed your son to have medical problems or possibly die?
I hate to be so blunt but this is the really of the situation.
The next step is to get your son's blood type. Is it compatible with match your husband's? If so, then he will start the process of seeing with his liver will work inside of your husband. They have to look at the size, connections, etc. Lots of imaging will be done. Make sure your husband's insurance will pay for all this.
A good thing to keep in mind. ONLY 1/3 of Living Donor Transplant donors match the recipient.
So it is a very daunting psychological and medical ordeal for everyone involved but because of the shortage of deceased donor organs and the long wait times in regions such as New York and California LDT has an important role to play in liver transplants.
I do have a close friend who has received a LDT about 4 months ago so my knowledge is based on what I have seen him go through.
I wish your family all the best!
Hector
Contact the transplant center and get all of their paper work on Living Donor Transplantation. It will tell you about the process and who can qualify to be a donor and who can't. And give you guidelines for thinking about some of the question I ask below. If you need more help they probably have resources at the TP center that can help you with the decision.
Living Donor Transplants are a complicated issue. This is something that should not be entered into lightly.
Has your son offered to donate part of his liver to his dad on his own?
There needs to be no pressure on him to do so. He must be doing it of his own free will which is very difficult in a family environment.
Does your husband and yourself want your son to undergo a major operation where they is a risk, although it is very small, of him having medical complications or possibly die? A transplant is major surgery. Any surgery implies some risk. Could you and your husband live knowing that in order for your husband to live you allowed your son to have medical problems or possibly die?
I hate to be so blunt but this is the really of the situation.
The next step is to get your son's blood type. Is it compatible with match your husband's? If so, then he will start the process of seeing with his liver will work inside of your husband. They have to look at the size, connections, etc. Lots of imaging will be done. Make sure your husband's insurance will pay for all this.
A good thing to keep in mind. ONLY 1/3 of Living Donor Transplant donors match the recipient.
So it is a very daunting psychological and medical ordeal for everyone involved but because of the shortage of deceased donor organs and the long wait times in regions such as New York and California LDT has an important role to play in liver transplants.
I do have a close friend who has received a LDT about 4 months ago so my knowledge is based on what I have seen him go through.
I wish your family all the best!
Hector
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There is so much that people, including the surgeons, scientists and other doctors don't know about transplantation ( among other things!)
My heptaologist is conservative. Yet, he thinks there is a possibility that the genetic link may make rejection less likely. He also thinks it may make me a good candidate for going off immune suppression meds, I controversial topic amongst the transplant community.
I have had no rejection episodes. I'm on a very minimum of immune suppression meds, .5mg prograf twice daily.
Many people years out are taking more meds than me.
However, our children our not our clones.
I went into surgery with no health problems other than my liver.
And I feel this is very important, I walked as much as I could up until surgery and afterwords. Granted my energy was ebbing away prior to my transplant and I had days I made it from the bed to the couch and back again. But if I could, I got out and walked.
With people dying from the lack of cadaveric livers, live liver transplantation is an excellent choice.
And, I think there are many advantages to it over a cadaveric liver.
You will know his liver will be younger and healthy. The cells haven't gone through the shock of death or disease.
Now, I'm not a scientist, I have no data to back me up. I only have my gut feeling, or maybe, its my daughter's gut feeling!!
OH
Cando: The reason why the father isn't the one to talk to his son, is he is extremely sick. This illness effects our emotions and our mental capacities.
I was so out of it. Although it annoyed me to have people talking about me instead of to me, my mind was not clear. I understand this now.