An increasing number of people are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. In the United States alone, over 80,000 people were on the waiting list for an organ. However, the number of people consenting to organ donation remains unchanged. Unfortunately, the result is that some people on the waiting list die before they receive the transplant they so dearly need. According to LifeSource, the Upper Midwest Organ Procurement Organization, about 100 people are added to the waiting list each day and 17 people die waiting for needed organs or tissues.
Today, organ transplantation can be performed not only with organs from deceased donors who have identified themselves as organ donors, but also with organs or partial organs from living donors. Living donor transplants are increasingly being used for pancreas, liver, intestinal, islet, lung, and kidney transplant patients. They offer recipients better outcomes and quicker waiting time to transplant. They offer donors an opportunity to give a precious gift to those most in need.
What can you do to help?
1. Learn all you can about organ donation by going to the sites indicated in the links section. According to LifeSource, one organ donor can save the lives of eight people. Organs that can be donated are the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and small intestine. By donating corneas and small amounts of skin and bone, a single donor can save or enhance the lives of 40 other people who suffer from vision problems, burns and bone defects.
Learn more about the positive impact organ donation has on people's lives. Patients who have received a pancreas from a deceased donor and participants who have received islet cells from the pancreas of a deceased donor share their stories about how the miracle of transplantation has dramatically improved their lives.
2. If you are comfortable with the decision to donate your organs, go to the Coalition for Donation website to find out how to donate your organs in your particular state. Print out and carry an Organ Donation card with you at all times. In some states, you can also have them indicate your wishes on your drivers license or identification card. Tell your loved ones about your wishes so that they can honor them when the time comes.
3. If you are interested in more information about becoming a living organ donor to help a relative, friend, coworker, or anyone in need, feel free to contact The Living Donor Program at The Transplant Center at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, a division of Fairview. The Living Donor Program can also be reached at (800)328-5465 or (612)625-5115. Dr. Abhinav Humar is the Director of the Living Donor Program. The Transplant Center performed the first living donor kidney transplant in the region in 1963. Since that time, over 3,000 people have donated whole or partial organs in the living donor program. The Transplant Center has performed more living donor transplants than anywhere else in the world.
Read the following stories from pancreas transplant patients who have each received a kidney from living donors:
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