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Any double donors out there: liver and kidney?

Transplants | Last Active: Jul 19 1:36pm | Replies (62)

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@mauraacro

I'm no help here, just interested in the answers.
I donated a kidney & have thought about liver donation but didn't know if I would be flagged as a crazy person for considering it.
Do you know the recipient? I've heard that some places don't like to transplant if not but not sure why.
I've also heard that liver donation is more painful and a longer downtime for the donor. Your experience must have been good if you are looking at donating again. That's great!

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Replies to "I'm no help here, just interested in the answers. I donated a kidney & have thought..."

It is not as unusual as one might think. I know several liver donors who are now considering kidney donation. While it is true that many hospitals require that you know the recipient for your liver, I did lots of research and was pursuing those that allow for non-directed/altruistic donors. There are definitely far fewer hospitals that do living liver donor transplants, and even fewer that take altruistic donors. It has been my experience that there are fewer hospitals that have such restrictions for kidney donors. I am also narrowing my search to hospitals that participate in the kidney voucher program, as I do have a voucher recipient in mind. However, I would leave the decision about who gets my own kidney up to the hospital's transplant team. If you had a positive experience with your kidney donation, I would at least consider pursuing the liver donation (not sure if Mayo allows for non-directed). Good luck!