More about the donation process

I've had a lot of people asking questions about the donation process (which I am SOOOO thrilled about), so I figured I would dedicate this next post to just that. I will try to make this as simple as I can...it can get quite confusing..

So basically, there are three things that need to match up; blood type, tissue type, and a cross match.
Blood type O is the universal donor...they can donate to anyone. However, they can only receive from a type O. Matt is a type O. The next step would be tissue matching. All people have antigens which makes up their genetic profile. There are 6 specific antigens that they look for to match a kidney donor to a recipient. The more antigens that match up, the better the success of the transplant. It is not necessary for all six antigens to match up, however, because they have come so far with the immunosuppressive medications (those are medications that Matt will be on for the rest of his life, that will weaken his immune system, so that his body will not reject the transplanted kidney). The last matching process is a crossmatch. It is a mixing of cells and serum to determine whether a transplant will be successful or not. This has come a long way in just the past couple of years. When mixing, you either get a positive result or a negative one. If a positive result occurs, the transplant will not be successful and the body will reject the kidney. With a negative result, no reaction occurs and the transplant should be ok.
Obviously, I am not a doctor, and this is very basic information that I am trying to relay to everyone as simply as possible.

Now, just to make this even more confusing....we don't need an EXACT matching donor. There are programs now throughout the country where you can swap donors. So, for example...

Person 1 wants to donate a kidney to Person 2. And Person 3 wants to donate a kidney to Person 4. However, neither of them are a match. BUT....Person 1 matches Person 4 and Person 3 matches Person 2 so they swap donors and both Person 2 and Person 4 receive matching kidneys from strangers. Did I lose you?? (I'm better when I can talk with my hands...)

This system is making it possible for more and more people to receive kidney transplants that would otherwise not take place. Pretty amazing (thanks to modern technology)!!

So, really, we don't necessarily need a matching donor, just a willing, healthy one.

And of course, you can email or call me with any questions mrsbonica26@gmail.com or 978-580-1383. Or if you wish to call Mass General directly and talk with them about any donation questions, contact Frank Korn at 617-643-6513.

Thanks again for reading!