Organ Donation

Share Your Life - Share Your Decision

So — you've signed the back of your driver's license. That makes you an "official" organ donor. Right? Wrong!

Unless you share your decision to become an organ donor with family members, your family may not know what your wishes are at a time when you may not be able to speak for yourself. Making family members aware of your desire to donate will help them carry out your wishes without hesitation or uncertainty.

Your decision to become an organ donor can save or improve the lives of up to 25 people who can benefit from the donation of your organs and tissue. Nationwide, more than 55,000 people are on the waiting list to receive a kidney, pancreas, lung, heart, liver, cornea, bone or cartilage, bone marrow, or tissue.

That's why St. John Transplant Specialty Center encourages you to have a heart-to-heart talk with your family members. By talking with them about your organ donation decision, you can give someone else the greatest gift of all — life.

Information for the Organ Donor

Q. Does insurance cover the hospital bill for the living donor?
A. Yes. The recipient's insurance will cover the hospital bill for the living donor.

Q. How long can I expect to be hospitalized after donating a kidney?
A. With a laparoscopic live-donor nephrectomy, the hospital stay is generally one day. With traditional kidney removal, the donor generally stays in the hospital for 3-4 days.

Q. What is the recovery time like for the donor?
A. With a laparoscopic live-donor nephrectomy, recovery generally takes 1-2 weeks. With traditional kidney removal, the donor can usually return to normal activities within 2-3 months.

Q. How can I find out if I am a candidate for the laparoscopic live-donor nephrectomy?
A. Call the St. John Transplant Specialty Center and speak with a transplant coordinator.  

 Minority Organ Donation

Did you know that of the nearly 55,000 people on the national wait list for organ transplants, more than 40% represent minorities? At the same time, minorities represent only 12% of all organ/tissue donations.

Some experts attribute this to the minority population's lack of awareness about the need for organ/tissue donations; mistrust of the medical community (fear that physicians will be more concerned with retrieving organs than saving a life); fear that the body will be disfigured and not presentable for funeral viewing; religious beliefs/superstitions (fear that a body which is not "intact" cannot be "resurrected").

To address this situation, St. John Transplant Specialty Center sends trained representatives (people who are either organ transplant recipients or members of a recipient's family) out into local communities to speak at schools and churches about organ donation. Included among these transplant advocates are several minorities who seek to educate and empower other minorities about the importance of organ/tissue donation.