Imagine a way to turn a single act of human kindness into a never-ending cascade of benevolence. In effect, that is what takes place when one altruistic donor – that is, someone who simply wants to donate a kidney to a person in need - gives a kidney to someone who is suffering from kidney failure. But it doesn’t stop there, it begins there. What happens in a NEAD™ chain (Never Ending Altruistic Donor chain) is that the recipient’s willing donor, who was found to be incompatible, is freed up to give to someone else with whom they are found to be compatible; and that person’s willing but incompatible donor can then donate to someone else who is a good match, and on and on. Because this is a cascading sequence of willing kidney donors, it is called a donor chain; because it starts with an altruistic – selfless – donor and because all the donors that follow are giving to someone who was not in their original circle, it is called an altruistic donor chain. If that chain of donors continues and never stops, it is “never ending”.
Why are altruistic living donors needed? For two very important reasons. First, in America today we have over 67,000 people waiting for a kidney transplant; twelve of these patients die every day while they are waiting. Secondly, kidneys from living donors function better than those from deceased donors. The kidney from a living donor will function for 15.5 years on average while the kidney from a deceased donor will last only about half that long.
Where Do I Begin?
If you have found our website and are reading this section, there is a part of you that finds the notion of being a “Good Samaritan” appealing. The idea of making a non-directed (meaning you don’t know who you will be matched to) living kidney donation is relatively new, and not all kidney transplant programs have a formal process for considering Good Samaritan donors. The transplant centers that are part of the Alliance for Paired Donation [APD] (see www.PairedDonation.org ) know how to evaluate you for altruistic donation. You should also contact your local kidney transplant program to request a donor information packet that will provide you with helpful information on living kidney donation. Lastly, there are several helpful websites you may wish to explore.
These include:
National Kidney Foundation
Transplant Living
Next Steps
Once you have made contact with a transplant center that you would like to work with and that accepts non-directed donors, you will meet with the medical professionals from that program. At this point you will be asked to complete a screening questionnaire that will serve as a preliminary evaluation of your suitability for surgery, as well as your motivation and ability to give informed consent.
After passing the initial screening evaluation you will proceed to further testing as determined by your transplant center. This will include psychological testing, routine blood tests and a complete physical exam. The order of testing may vary according to each transplant center’s protocol. If you are found to be suitable at this point, further testing will be done to make sure you are healthy enough to donate a kidney, and to determine your HLA antigens (tissue type).
Once you are selected as an altruistic donor
As an altruistic kidney donor, your information will be entered in the same registry as that of all other willing but incompatible donor/recipient pairs that are within the Alliance for Paired Donation. This registry and how it works can be found at www.PairedDonation.org . Each month, the computer will perform a match run to determine which incompatible donors match the patients waiting. Once a match is found for you, further testing will be conducted to ensure that your kidney will not be rejected by the recipient. From that point all the logistics associated with scheduling of the surgeries will be handled by your transplant center and the recipients’s transplant center.
The Costs of Being a Good Samaritan
All the medical costs associated with testing, donation and follow-up are covered by the recipient’s health care insurance. Many organizations and companies offer paid leave for living donation. Check with your company’s human resource department to understand the options available to you. Other out-of-pocket expenses associated with travel to the recipient’s city, lodging for yourself and a loved one and meals are not covered, and you may have to bear this expense yourself. You may find that the recipient has conducted fund raisers to help defray these costs. You can also apply for grant dollars through the APD to help cover these expenses. The Alliance for Paired Donation is committed to helping all living donors remove the financial obstacles they may face as they prepare for donation.
There are medical and surgical risks associated with being a living donor, and you must be fully aware of these before proceeding.
If you wish to be contacted for a consultation about altruistic donation, please apply here. |
