This is a no-brainer.
Your liver is the only internal organ apart from your kidney, a portion of the pancreas and intestines, that can be donated while you’re still breathing.
Your liver is like Deadpool. It can regenerate itself. You can take away over 70% of it, and within a few months, it’ll grow back to its original size.
Living Donor Liver Transplant (LDLT) was first introduced in 1989 for children and has worked wonders in the healthcare sector by saving hundreds of thousands of lives.
Patients wait for months, if not years, on organ waitlists to get a liver. And there is a massive disparity between the number of people who need a liver transplant and the number of livers (from deceased donors) available. This forces many people to pass on without getting a chance at life. Living donors give them this chance.
No, that is not necessary. If you want, you can even donate your liver to your neighbour or your milkman if you are the right match.
How do you know if you’re the right match?
Mainly, your blood group should be compatible. That is, your blood group should match that of the patient. The positive and negative elements of the blood type don’t play any role.
And this goes without saying. You have to be healthy too.
You should be between 18 to 55 years of age if you’re planning to donate your liver.
Yes, an adult can donate a portion of their liver to a child.
We at the Comprehensive Liver Care Institute have performed several life-saving transplants of babies, with their donors being older relatives. This includes a three-month-old boy whose donor was his grandmother.
Both the baby and his grandmother are perfectly healthy now.
Your body needs time to heal. After all, you just underwent surgery. So give it one year. After that, you can have as many babies as you want!
There is no life expectancy. You can live a healthy and safe life for however long you want. Donating your liver in no way shortens your lifespan. Of course, there are certain do’s and don’ts that you must strictly follow after your procedure, and your doctor will walk you through them.
Ideally, once a donor’s surgery is over, they’re shifted to the Transplant ICU for post-transplant care for about 5 to 7 days. After they have completely recovered, the donor is shifted to the ward, and ultimately they go back home and continue with their life.
