Living donors can provide the gift of life to people who are in need of a kidney, lung or liver. Living-related kidney donations are the most common, but new medical advances have made partial lung and liver donations possible as well.
If you are interested in being a living donor to someone you know, call that person's transplant center to find out if you are a potential match. If you don't have a recipient in mind but would like to donate an organ, call a transplant center in your local area to get information about testing procedures, including blood tests, medical screenings, etc. The transplant candidate's insurance may or may not cover the costs of these procedures, so be sure to ask the transplant center about this. Medicare will cover these expenses to match a kidney if the patient receiving the kidney is Medicare eligible.
You can find contact information for transplant centers in your area at www.unos.org.
There are not enough deceased donors available each year to provide all the waiting patients with a suitable organ. Genetic diseases often prevent one family member from being able to donate to another. Becoming a living donor is one way to meet this need; however, anyone considering doing so should first discuss it with their family physician and give the decision careful consideration.
|
