Refer Donor to Lahey
We want all potential donors to be well-informed of the commitment they're considering. With that in mind, you should ask your potential donor to visit this site and learn the donor process. Click here to go back to the main timeline, and you'll find the living donor's section on the left side.
Your potential donor should not be pressured to volunteer; we prefer them to have an innate willingness to participate. We offer in-house counselors that can help family or friends make the decision whether donation is right for them. The ideal candidate would be someone in good health, with a genuine interest, and of compatible blood type. Unfortunately, if your donor is of an incompatible blood type, he or she will not be able to donate to you. Click here to find out if your intended donor would make a good candidate.
You’ll need to continue your scheduled clinic visits and lab tests while waiting for the donor to go through their evaluation process. This may take a few months, depending on their availability, schedule, and results of the evaluations. You’ll still be on the organ wait-list during this process, just in case the donor is not approved. That way you won’t have wasted time while waiting.
Donor Approval
The donor transplant evaluation committee will review the donor’s test results, and determine whether liver donation is in his or her best interest. The donor's well-being is their primary concern when making a decision. If your donor is declined, you may ask another person to donate, or wait for a deceased liver to become available.
If the donor is approved, the transplant team will inform you and will schedule a date for the surgery to take place. You will both need to go through a few additional tests to prepare for surgery. These tests will help the surgeons determine how best to transplant the liver, given your specific anatomies.
Occasionally, the donor will need to go through extra testing or appointments before the committee can arrive at a concrete decision. This can be due to many different conditions, such as history of kidney stones, hypertension, alcoholism, etc. The reasons for deferral are many, and are based entirely on the donor’s individual condition.
If the committee doesn’t approve the donor, it is because they have found that donation is not in their best interest. This may be due to a medical reason, a psychosocial issue, or perhaps their motivation for volunteering is questionable. We must protect the privacy of the donor, so we won’t be able to tell you the reason why they were declined.
If this occurs, your position on the wait-list won’t be affected, so you may still receive a liver from a deceased donor. You’ll need to continue getting monthly labwork, and keeping your regular clinic visits. Your nurse coordinator will call you to discuss your options, which may also include the possibility of having another donor volunteer.
