My wife is willing to be a donor
There is nothing happier than this
However, there are several conditions that must be met to be recognized as a donor.
And above all, I cannot ask her with peace of mind unless she knows the risks to the donor and what kind of surgery it will be in advance.
The 7 Conditions for a Donor
⬛️Condition 1: The donor is not being coerced and wishes to donate their organ of their own free will.
This requires more than just signing a consent form; it is necessary to undergo a
psychiatric evaluation in advance to confirm that the donor’s mental state is normal and that their signature is valid. It is confirmed whether there was any
exchange of money between the recipient and the donor regarding the organ transplant. Organ trafficking is illegal in the first place, but this is the same even between family members.
There is also a test to check for dementia. For example, please subtract 7 from 100 in sequence.
100, 93, 86, 79, 72, 65, 58, 51, 44, 37, 30………………2
⬛️Condition 2: The donor must be a blood relative within the 6th degree, a relative by marriage within the 3rd degree, or a spouse.
This has the same meaning as “relatives” in the Civil Code.
It would take too long to explain, so I will omit it.
It was a much wider range than I imagined. I think it went up to the grandchildren of cousins.
However, this is a legal matter, and hospitals that actually perform transplant surgeries may have their own self-regulations, so please check.
⬛️Condition 3: Must be 20 years of age or older and under 65 years of age.
I think hospitals have their own self-regulations for this as well, but my hospital used this standard.
⬛️Condition 4: Must be both mentally and physically healthy.
Regarding mental health, as I explained earlier, there is a psychiatric examination.
Being physically healthy is important.
It goes without saying that the donor must be able to withstand the surgery, but it is also important that the donor’s liver is healthy,
and in particular,
not having a fatty liver is a key point. There is a “pre-operative examination” in advance, and if you have a major underlying disease, you will immediately become
ineligible as a donor, but if mild fatty liver is found via ultrasound echo or CT,
the transplant surgery will be delayed to allow time for the donor to improve their fatty liver through diet and exercise therapy.
In a sense, it is good because the donor also becomes healthier, but the scheduled surgery date will be postponed.
We do not transplant a fatty liver into a recipient because the risk is high.
The survival rate becomes lower. You will be in a state of waiting for eligibility, but if the recipient’s condition is poor and they cannot wait, you will have to look elsewhere.
In my case,
the donor had a mild fatty liver. The donor went to the gym, ran, restricted carbohydrates and calories, and passed after 3 months of hard training.
⬛️Condition 5: No viral infections.
⬛️Condition 6: It is desirable that the ABO blood type matches or is compatible.
I am type A, my wife is type AB, and my eldest daughter and eldest son are type B.
I had known about the compatibility of blood transfusions for traffic accidents and surgeries as common knowledge for a long time, but I had also faintly heard recently that transplant surgery is possible even if blood types are different.
This fact would later create drama in our family, but “that is a story for another time”
The university hospital where I actually had the transplant surgery actively accepted “ABO-incompatible liver transplants.” Although it seems that “incompatible transplants” account for about 10% of all adult liver transplants, the attending physician at this university hospital is skilled at ABO-incompatible transplants, and because the transplant team and related staff are well-versed in the post-operative management of incompatible patients, they accept over 20% of incompatible patients in total, and have achieved a 10-year survival rate that is comparable to transplants where blood types are compatible.
⬛️Condition 7: The donor’s liver volume must be able to ensure
the necessary and sufficient liver volume for the recipient.
About 70% of the donor’s liver is removed and transplanted, but if the donor’s physique is too small compared to the recipient’s, the liver volume itself is too different, which apparently places a burden on the recipient’s recovery after the transplant surgery. Specifically, the risk of liver failure increases.
The attending physician determines this by measuring the donor’s liver volume with echoes or CT scans.
The key to a successful living donor liver transplant lies in the size of this donor’s liver.
I wonder if my wife meets all these conditions.
Like, what if our blood types are different?
Then my wife came over.
“You know, I talked to the kids.
I told them I’m thinking of giving my liver to your father………, and then”
