Living Liver Donation Quiz

Actually, there are things that can PREVENT you from being a living donor. There are many tests that a potential living donor undergoes to see if (s)he can be a donor. If your advocate team sees a medical problem, they may decide the donation is too risky for YOU or your loved one and will explain to you why it cannot take place.

Your team will also ask you about your reasons for wanting to be a donor; they will work to ensure that you understand the risks and benefits of the donation; and they will help you decide if you and your family will be able to hold up under the emotional, financial and physical stresses of this type of surgery. If you are certain you wish to be a living donor, the advocate team will give their recommendation to the surgeon and the surgeon will make the final decision as to whether or not you are a good candidate for living donation.

Living donation may create some costs for you. For example, your future health, life and disability insurance premiums may be higher as a result of this surgery; you may not be able to get insurance in the future if you are currently uninsured.

You may need to take 12+ weeks off of work for this surgery, which could ultimately impact your current and/or future employment. There may be travel expenses related to appointments for tests, the surgery and follow-up. If applicable, you may have increased childcare costs.

Unfortunately you are not correct. While living donation can produce good results for the recipient, there is a possibility that the donor segment of your liver will not work or may be rejected by the recipient’s immune system. At that time, your loved one would be placed on the waiting list again. Death may occur during the waiting time. It is also possible that some diseases (like cancer and Hepatitis C) will recur in the new liver after the transplant.

Whoops – you missed this one. You need to review the risks of this procedure with your advocate team again – this is very important information as you make the decision about living donation. Being a living donor does have its risks, after all the surgery does include removing 25-60% of your liver. The potential risks can include, but are not limited to pain, bleeding, infection, injury to the abdomen, postoperative fevers, pneumonia and bile leaks. Most problems are minor and get better on their own. However, there is a rare chance that donating your liver can result in liver failure and the need for a liver transplant or even death.

Try again…there ARE other alternatives for your loved one, should you choose not to be a living donor.  Your loved one will remain on the waiting list and continue receiving care from his/her transplant team.  It is possible that your loved one will receive a cadaveric liver (a liver from a donor who has been declared brain dead) if one becomes available.  Another suitable living donor may also be an option.

The correct answer is D – all of the above.  Let’s review – living donation is a voluntary procedure and YOU are able to decide at any point in the process that you no longer wish to be a donor.  It is also possible that your advocate team will determine, for medical or psychosocial reasons, that this option is not the best one for YOU.  Finally, the surgical team may interrupt the surgery if at any time they feel that you are at risk or the segment of your liver is not right for transplantation into the recipient.

The correct answer is D – All of the above.  Donating a portion of your liver (surgery is called a partial hepatectomy) will require that you have your gallbladder removed.  There is also a small possibility that your spleen could be injured during the surgery and would need to be removed.  Your spleen helps to prevent bacterial infections.  The infections can be prevented with vaccinations or treated with antibiotics.  If not treated, however, infection can lead to death.

Transfusions are usually NOT necessary during this surgery, however there is a possibility that you may need stored blood or blood products.  You can bank your own blood prior to surgery, but you may need more than you have banked.

You may want to review the post-surgical course with your advocate team, because the answer is E – all of these things may happen following this procedure.  After surgery, you will go to a hospital unit where you will be monitored closely and at that time you may need to be placed on a machine to help you breathe.  You will also feel pain such as backache, gas pain, sore throat and general soreness.  You will experience fatigue and sometimes confusion as a result of the medications.

Eventually you will leave the unit and move to a less acute floor.  Typically, donors are discharged from the hospital 7 days after surgery and are generally pain-free after 3 weeks.  Recovery at home can take 4-6 weeks, but any surgical complications will increase this time period.  You will have an incision scar that may fade, but will most likely always be visible.

The correct answer is B – the risk of having some type of problem is 15-30%.  Most problems are minor and rarely do they require another surgery or procedure.  However, living liver donor transplants are still very new so there may be risks that are not yet known.