BECOME A LIVING DONOR | David's Search For Hope

Living Donor

A living donation is the ultimate gift

Will you be the one to make the search for hope a reality?

What is a living donor and how does it work?

A living donor is someone (MAYBE YOU) who chooses to give a portion of their healthy liver and sewing it into me (David) after their sick liver is removed . The amazing part of this is that the liver will regrow in both people to its full size in eight weeks. Imagine the feeling of being a part of saving David's life.

Call Yale-New Haven Transplantation Center at

1-866-925-3897

Requirements:

Be 18 years of age or older
Healthy and no major medical conditions
Have Type A or O blood type

Learn about Liver disease

The liver is an organ about the size of a football that sits just under your rib cage on the right side of your abdomen. The liver is essential for digesting food and ridding your body of toxic substances.

Liver disease can be inherited (genetic) or caused by a variety of factors that damage the liver which over time, damage to the liver results in scarring (cirrhosis), which can lead to liver failure, a life-threatening condition.

Causes:

Fatty Liver
- Being overweight, High Cholesterol and High Blood pressure
Bile duct disease
Alcohol
Hepatitis

When does a person need a liver transplant

Liver failure
- reflected in Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score
Complications that cant be treated with medication
- some patients with these problems may have a low MELD score that doesn't reflect how sick they are

The reality of living with ESLD

The course of liver disease is unpredictable
Patients may become very sick very quickly
Approximately, 1 out of 5 patients unfortunately die before transplant in Connecticut

Interested in donating:

Contact Yale- New Haven's Transpantation Center (866-925-3897) and they will walk you though the whole process. They will make sure you are a compaitable match and will answer any questions that you have. Please visit the transplantations center website and they also have FAQ's and much more info.

Donor quality of life after donation

The donor will have a great sense of well being.

Recovery time:

Hospital stay about 4-7 days
Liver regeneration about 6-8 weeks
Return to work generally 6-8 weeks
No long term medications
No long term special diet
No anticipated long term health affects

Costs

Life long member of the living donor community which is a commitment by the transplant team to life time monitoring. - No cost
No cost for the evaluation, surgery or follow-up care as this is covered by the recipients insurance.
Cost will include lost wages, travel, lodging and childcare which there are resources available to off set these costs. - Yale's social worker can discuss further