Hello, everyone, I have been asked a very delicate question by a very good friend and I have not heard of this "Live donor list." It is supposedly on the internet, my friend has told me her Doctor has told her about it, I think it is to do with sort of donating a part of one's liver to another person. My friend said she has looked on the internet and can find nothing of this list but also stated that she does not get along very well with her doctor. Is there such a list chaps and galls??? I don't know much, but I have not heard of one in 5 years. Perhaps one of you can help me out with an answer I hope I am not breaking any rules but its not really a medical question (Or is it ? )...
Regards
Paderico.
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Paderico
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Living donor list? I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist. There are 2 alternatives. One- someone can agree to donate part of their liver, friend or family member. They are checked for compatability and probably go through counselling, as well as being told that they may end up in worse shape than the person who receives the donated part of liver.
Two. A donor's liver(someone who has died) is split. The smaller part can go to a child and as far as I can remember, the other part goes to an adult. Obviously the donor has no say in this.
I'm pretty sure the BLT helpline will be able to answer this.
Can you imagine if there was a live donor list? They would be open to exploitation from anyone from anywhere in the world! They might not remain a live donor for long, sad to say. Or top price pays!!!!
No, there isn't a live donor list in the UK - for live liver donation the person donating has to be a person close to the recipient. There is currently no 'altruistic/non-directed' donation of liver unlike kidney where there is.
In order to be considered for live donation the recipient has to already be on the liver transplant list for receipt of a cadaveric liver. It isn't a way of by-passing the liver transplant listing procedure but can in some cases speed up transplant IF the donor is compatible and time is running short. Surgeons will always prefer to give a liver from a deceased donor rather than put a fully healthy individual through a procedure which could potentially make them seriously ill or possibly even kill them.
When my hubby was listed for transplant he was listed as being able to accept - a liver from a brain deceased donor, one from a cardiac deceased donor, a split liver (enabling the other portion to be given to a child recipient) and a live donor. All these criteria depend on the needs of the recipient and their body size, degree of ill health etc.
We ruled out me being tested as a possible donor as I would be his sole carer and would be on the same recovery path as his post op so unable to render any care, drive, lift etc. etc.
You can read more about live liver transplant at :- services.nhslothian.scot/sc... (My hubby was on the list at Edinburgh which was the first hospital in the UK to carry out live liver transplants and we were given the brochure which you can read on that page).
Pretty much what everyone else has said. However I did follow on Facebook an American Liver Transplant Group and was really surprised at how many live donors there were! I didn’t get the impression that there was a list as such, but it appeared to me at least quite a lot of the donors were not family or friends. Perhaps some of our American members would know more!
I was also really shocked at how much the operation and after are cost, people turning to fundraising sometimes and the monthly cost of their drugs.
Lamie thank;s For answering my question and yes my goodness I would have never got this far with my illness if the NHS had not been there to look after me we are truly blessed.
Paderico
Hi,
There is no separate list.
Here is our info on being a living liver donor, also the PDF link at the bottom to the NHSBT information:
Trust1 thank you so much for taking the time to reply I have informed my friend of what you all have said, alas I think she may have got involved with the initial makings of a scam, but now she knows and btw it was an american site that initiated the whole thing. thanks agin for everyone,s time and trouble.
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