Kidney and liver donation

[pilotjjc3]

Just curious, have any kidney donors here also made a liver donation?  If so, what made you decide to donate both?

[Fr Pat]

     I have only met or read about 4 or 5 persona who have donated both a kidney and a liver lobe, and don't know if any of them are checking in here regularly now.
    Fr. Pat

[bulow54]

I donated a kidney in 2004 and the right lobe of my liver in 2006.  Both were humanitarian donations to recipients I did not know.  I did end up meeting my liver recipient but have never met my kidney recipient who did send me a letter through the Transplant office thanking me.

My motivation was because I lost a close friend to Hepatitis C who died waiting for a liver transplant.  I initially could not find a transplant center that accepted humanitarian liver donors so I ended up donating my kidney first.  After doing more research I did find a transplant center willing to take humanitarian liver donors and I decided to go ahead with the donation. 

I really just wanted to help someone because I wasn't able to do anything for my friend who died.  I vowed I would do something in her honor and this is what I ended up doing. 

Laura

[pilotjjc3]

That is pretty impressive.  I am sure the recipients appreciated your gift.  I have been thinking about doing that, but I'm probably a few years away from seriously considering it.  I would have to build up my vacation time to cover the time off of work.

[jstx]

I have also considered donating a lobe of liver at some point in the future.  No real burning desire to do it now (8 months after kidney donation) but it felt so great to help someone that I want to help another....and another....and another!    Would love to be called as a bone marrow donor since that is less invasive and a quicker recovery.

Can a person be addicted to donating?  I mentor a high schooler and when I told her mom that I was planning to donate a kidney to a friend, then found out we were incompatible so was planning to donate to a stranger she told me, "How about if that doesn't work, we look at donating some things in your closet?!"  I thought it was cute but told her it just doesn't seem to have the same feeling for me.  Don't get me wrong---I'm all for donating things but there is something really special about donating something to give another person life whether it is blood, a kidney, lobe of liver, etc.

[Fr Pat]

     I think that when one offers to donate a second organ or part-of-organ one of the things that the hospital DOES consider is whether the person is sort of "addicted". I think most of us feel very good (once recovery has passed) about what we have done. And while we may very sincerely desire to help someone else, the desire to repeat that feel-good time may also be in the back of our very complicated minds. Or, the desire to be admired, appreciated, etc. So while I have often joked that transplant hospitals sometimes treat potential donors as crazy-until-proved-otherwise, that may go double for second-time donors. So anyone trying to do so will have to be very patient and persevering.
     best wishes,
       Fr. Pat