Donating:
A Kidney Transplant is a very long and careful process. According to Peter Hegger and Bernd Schroppel, two medical professors at The Mount Sinai Hospital, transplantation is the end stage for a failing kidney. They also tell us that Kidney Transplants are the most common transplant in the United States.
- In 2009, about 16,000 kidney transplants took place in the United States alone (Hegger and Schroppel).
- Richard Rohrer, a doctor at Tufts Medical Center in Washington, explains that it is much more beneficial to receive a kidney from a live donor. Due to the better connection to blood types through live donors, it makes the kidneys last longer than receiving from a deceased donor (Rohrer). It is easier to match blood types to a donor that is living. It is also very beneficial to have a donor in the same blood line as you. If you are not able to find a living donor, you are then placed onto a transplant list.
- According to Matthew Assmann, a kidney recipient the donor list depends greatly on cell type, blood type, and tissue type. He also states that in the United States the average wait time for a kidney is 53 months (Assmann, Matt).
- Doctor Richard Rohrer, a critical surgeon in Washington states that when a donor is matched to a recipient the surgery is very close to happening. The recipient will travel to the hospital that the donor was first tested at (Rohrer). After this happens, the surgeries are able to take place. A cadaver donor is also another option to receive a kidney. This is receiving a kidney from a deceased donor.
This is a diagram of a kidney being taken out of the donor. The kidney is then surgically placed in the recipients body. It also shows that the recipient has the old kidney removed before the new kidney can be placed in.
Rejection:
According to Richard Rohrer, another things that everyone needs to be aware of in the kidney transplant is the possibility of the kidney rejecting. A kidney may not attach correctly. This will result in the kidney transplant not working correctly. Going into the surgery, this is a fact that need to be known (Rohrer). Although, this did not happen in Matt's transplant, it is a possibility that it could still happen down the road. Rejection is something that need to be clear. Not all transplants are successful, although we were fortunate enough to have a successful transplant!