Big Update!! Please share!!
We spoke to the living donor team at Primary Children’s and they’ve said that we can now share the link for those who are interested in being a donor.
The online assessment will be to see if you are eligible to proceed with further testing. If your assessment looks good, they will proceed with labs and a blood type which can be done locally to you.
If labs look good, and they believe you’d be a good candidate, they will proceed with the following testing – MRI, CT scan, ECG, fibroscan(ultrasound).
This will be done in one long full day visit to Intermountain Medical Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.
All eligible donors must be healthy. Your health matters as much as Layla’s and they have strict criteria to look out for everyone’s best interest. This means no underlying chronic health conditions like diabetes, HBP, heart disease, obesity etc. Donors ideally would be under 45.
We want to take care of our donor! Insurance will cover all costs associated with the evaluation, surgery and post op care. There are grants the living donor advocates will help us fill out to be eligible for up to $13,000 to cover lost wages, travel and lodging. We can also help pay for things like housekeeping and meal prep during recovery. Even if the grant doesn’t come through, we’re working hard to raise funds for COTA for Laylas Journey to assist with transplant-related costs for our donor as well as our own costs. Please know you’ll be taken care of.
Recovery – the average hospital stay after donation is 5 days. For some that may be slightly longer. After discharge you are allowed to go home, but there is a one week post op check back in Salt Lake to return for. The living donation team said that most people are able to return to work in 4 weeks. For those who have desk jobs, that can be as early as 2 weeks. For those with physical jobs or could be 6+ weeks.
Surgery – the average adult will donate approximately 20% of their liver to a child. After surgery your liver should have regrown 90-95% of its original volume by 3 months. It’s an amazing organ!
Altruism – if you feel compelled on your heart to give the ultimate gift to our Layla, please reach out to me with any questions you may have or fill out the assessment in the link. Your donation would mean the world to us!
Love Christie, Joe and Layla
Link to donation assessment
https://intermountainhealthcare.org/surveys/#/access?formDefId=28950&facId=154&depId=22702
I’ve attached several infographics that are worth reviewing. #Laylastransplantjourney
