Why do we need a living donor?

Welcome to your weekly kidney donation education session! Thanks so much to our kind friends who have expressed curiosity! ❤️

People with kidney disease have 3 options: 1) kidney transplant from a living donor, 2) dialysis, or 3) kidney transplant from a deceased donor.

1. The best option is a transplant from a living donor. Wait times are months instead of years & kidneys from living donors can last up to twice as long as a deceased donor organ.

About 1/2 of the 250 annual kidney transplants at OSU use live donors. Often they are family members, but a growing number are friends or coworkers.

2. Dialysis is a temporary solution. People can take dialysis for years, however, it is not a cure. In our case, it would require a major lifestyle shift as it is very time consuming, with treatments 3 times a week for 4 hours each. We hope to avoid this, but may not have a choice if we don’t find a donor soon.

3. With deceased donor transplant, demand is much greater than supply. Currently, there are 94,000 people waiting for a kidney transplant, and in 2018 only 14,725 kidneys were transplanted from deceased donors. Finding a match can take many years. With Scott’s health history, the doctors strongly recommend we stick to the living donor option.

Ohio State Comprehensive Transplant Center Live Donor Resources