Let't talk about living donors

Intermountain  healthcare has a wonderful living donor program.  Healthy donors can donate a portion of their liver to a liver failure patient and this greatly decreases wait times for patients on the transplant lists.  https://intermountainhealthcare.org/services/transplant-services/become-donor/ this is a link to the Intermountain healthcare living donor web page.  Here also the link to the UNOS web page for donation there is a ton of information on this page. https://transplantliving.org/before-the-transplant/frequently-asked-questions/  .There are two lobes in every liver the right lobe is removed from a healthy donor and transplanted into the recipient.


Both halves of the liver regenerate becoming the size that each person needs. Our bodies are amazing.


A while back a lovely lady named Krystal that I work with asked me what the process and compatibility for liver donations are.  We talked for a while and she said she wanted to check into the process to be a  living donor liver for Lee.  I was blown away at the idea.  Krystal explained to me that she has always been a giver and donates blood as often as she can and a while back wanted to be a living donor for a kidney but did not qualify because she has a history of a kidney stone.  A couple of weeks ago Krystal met with the living donor coordinator and went through the first stages of testing which includes a fibroscan and blood work. 

About FibroScan

FibroScan is a specialized ultrasound machine for your liver. It measures fibrosis (scarring) and steatosis (fatty change) in your liver. Fatty change is when fat builds up in your liver cells.

FibroScan will help your healthcare provider learn more about your liver disease. It can be used alone or with other tests (such as blood tests, imaging scans, or biopsies) that also measure scarring or fatty change in your liver.

Krystal's next step will be a CAT scan to evaluate her liver.  She really likes the living donor coordinator and has learned all about the living donor program.  I am forever grateful there are such loving and caring people in the world that would give so much of themselves to save someone they do not even know. 
Krystal has started a blog of her own if you would like to follow her journey through this process here is a link to her blog.  https://kristalsjourney.blogspot.com/