Living Donor Toolkit: Resources for Those Considering Living Donation

Living Liver Donor Medical Toolkit

Welcome to the Living Liver Donor Medical Toolkit, a series of chapters about specific aspects of living liver donor evaluation and experience. This toolkit was designed to add to the general information about living liver donation that you can find on transplant living, or may have received from your transplant center. Individual toolkit chapters address how a specific topic might affect your liver donation evaluation, candidacy, and experience. Your transplant team will also talk with you about your medical history and liver donation. Not all the topics will apply to you, and we invite you to choose the chapters of interest to you.

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Living donors and the people who support them through the donation may worry about costs, such as:

Loss of pay or employee benefits:

  • Lost wages due to recovery time
  • Missing work from the evaluation
  • Using up vacation, holiday, and sick days
  • Concerns that the employer might not support a person’s absence from work

Insurance and medical costs:

  • Trouble buying disability or life insurance after donating – or paying more for it
  • Uncovered medical costs, which will differ by transplant center and insurance contract.

Daily life needs:

  • Transportation to the transplant center for testing, surgery, and follow-up care
  • Food, housing, and other needs for donation-related visits
  • Paying for family care – child care, elder care, pet care

  • The Living Liver Donor Evaluation

    What is a living liver donor evaluation?

    A living liver donor evaluation is a set of tests to make sure you are healthy enough to have donation surgery, and your liver is healthy enough for a portion to be given to help the recipient (person who needs a liver).

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  • Reasons to Consider Being a Living Liver Donor

    How does living liver donation help save lives?

     

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  • Living Liver Donation for People with Obesity

    What is obesity?

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  • Surgery for Living Liver Donors

    What is surgery for living liver donors?

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  • Living Liver Donation and Biopsy

    What is a liver biopsy?

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  • Liver Donation for People Who use Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drugs

    If you are considering being a living liver donor, you need to be as healthy as possible. This includes knowing if substances such as alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and medicines can affect you and your liver.

    Can I be a living liver donor if I drink alcohol?

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  • Living Liver Donation and the Chance of Liver Failure

    What is liver failure?

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  • Liver Donation if You Have Hemochromatosis (too much iron)

    What is hemochromatosis?

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  • Liver Donation if You Have Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (AATD)

    What is alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD)?

    Alpha 1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (AATD) is a rare health condition in which you have low levels of a protein called alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) in your blood. Here’s what happens:

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  • Liver Donation if You Have a Family History of Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC)

    What is primary biliary cholangitis (PBC?

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  • Liver Donation if You Have a Family History of Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis (PFIC)

    What is progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC)?

    Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) is a disease that causes liver damage, which gets worse over time. Here’s what happens:

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  • Liver Donation if You Have a Family History of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

    What is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)?

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  • Liver Donation if You Have Pre-diabetes or Metabolic Syndrome

    What are pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome?

    Pre-diabetes means your blood sugar (glucose) is higher than normal but not high enough to be diabetic. It raises your chance of getting diabetes.

    Metabolic syndrome means you have 3 or more of these:

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  • Liver Donation if You Have a Family History of Alcohol-associated Liver Disease (ALD) or Alcohol use Disorder (AUD)

    What is alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) or alcohol use disorder (AUD)?

    Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is liver damage caused by drinking too much alcohol.

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  • Living Liver Transplants for Children

    What is a living donation liver transplant for children?

    A living donation liver transplant (LDLT) for children is a type of surgery where surgeons remove part of an adult’s healthy liver to transplant into a child whose liver is no longer working.

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  • Liver Donation and Your Social and Emotional Health

    What symptoms could I have right after liver donation?

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  • Living Liver Donation to a Stranger

    What is living liver donation?

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  • How does Living Liver Donation Affect Getting Pregnant?

    Almost half of all living liver donors are people of childbearing age. If you were born a woman and are thinking about living liver donation, learn how it may affect your ability to get pregnant and have a healthy pregnancy. 

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