Resources on Kidney Donation and Transplants

Thought I should do a blog without me blathering on and on that JUST has resources. So here ’tis.

 INFORMATION ONLY!!!

CONSULT YOUR MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, DONOR ADVOCATE AND COORDINATOR.

General Resources

• National Kidney Foundation 
• Living Donors Online 
• University of Maryland Kidney Transplant Program 
• The University of Michigan Transplant Center 
• MedLine Plus  
• U of M Transplant Center Living Kidney Donor Video
• Gale Health and Resource Centers**

Organ Donation After Death

• State of Michigan Organ Donor Registry
• Gift of Life Michigan
• Donor registries in all states
• Medline Plus organ donation
• Richard Brodsky (state Assemblyman New York) donor law proposal

Polycystic Kidney Disease

• PKD Foundation 
• Mayo Clinic PKD 
• Polycystic Kidney Disease -The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine **

Kidney Donor and Recipient Stories

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oynBMHhlG98&feature=related
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd3d6IOXUvM
• http://www.livingdonorsonline.org/experiences/experiences.htm
• http://www.med.umich.edu/trans/transweb/stories/kidney/index.shtml
• Here’s Looking at You, Kidney 
• The Kidney Chronicles 

Matching Donors and Recipients

• Living Donors Online
• The Living Kidney Donor Network
  

Donor Evaluation 

• Medline Plus  A great place to read about the tests you will have such as the Cat Scan.
• Living Donors Online
• Living Donors Online Questions 
• National Kidney Foundation

The Kidney Removal Procedure (Nephrectomy)

Laparoscopic Procedure

• http://www.umm.edu/media/video/misc_single_incision_lap.htm
• http://urology.jhu.edu/MIS/lap_partialnephrectomy.php

 Open Procedure

• http://www.livingdonorsonline.org/kidney/kidney5.htm
• http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003001.htm

Preparing for Surgery and Care After Surgery

FOLLOW WHAT YOUR HOSPITAL SAYS (This is just to give you an idea.)

 http://urology.jhu.edu/MIS/lap_nephrectomy.php 

Support and Psychology

If you have trouble from your employer about time off etc. or trouble from an insurance company when trying to buy coverage in the future, have your donor advocate or coordinator from the hospital talk to them.  Check with your state to see if there are laws that help employees with paid leave for donation or that protect your position while you are off. If you are a federal employee and a donor, there are federal laws that cover you. See if your state offers tax deductions for any uncovered donor expenses. 

• http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2246296390
• Help Hope Live 

After Donation

• Life with One Kidney
• Perioperative Mortality and Long-term Survival Following Live Kidney Donation 
• Living Donors Online 
• What to Expect After Donation
  

GFR Rate

• NKF KDOQI Guidelines
• Medline Plus GFR
• Frequently Asked Questions About GFR Estimates
• Does Reduced Glomerular Filtration Rate Equate to Chronic Kidney Disease? BMJ 2012;344:e1167
• CKD Develops in Many Living Kidney Donors
• What low GFR Means for Kidney Donors
• Living Donors Online Message Board

Paired Donation

• The University of Michigan Transplant Center 
• Johns Hopkins Transplant Center 
• The Alliance for Paired Donation
• Multihospital, domino kidney transplant

Altruistic and Non-Directed Donation/Donor Chains 

• http://www.nationalkidneycenter.org/treatment-options/transplant/a-chain-of-hope/nead-chain/
• http://www.komonews.com/news/health/79350327.html

The Future

• Programs for Donor/Recipient Pairs with Incompatible Blood Types 
• ABO-Incompatible Kidney Transplantation
• UCSF Unveils Model for Implantable Artificial Kidney to Replace Dialysis

Statistics

• Organdonor.gov
• Gift of Life Michigan

**Requires a Michigan driver’s license or check with your local library.

 

October 2012