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The Melynck effect: NHL owner's plea raises awareness on organ donations

There’s been much controversy surrounding Eugene Melnyck’s public plea for a liver and his ensuing successful transplant. Some say the owner of the Ottawa Senators used his wealth and public profile to his advantage, jumping the queue ahead of other Canadians on a wait list. Regardless of diverging opinions on that subject, there’s no denying his case has raised awareness of life-saving live donations tremendously.

“Canadians die every day waiting for an organ,” says Aubrey Goldstein, president of the Canadian Transplant Association and a liver transplant recipient himself. “Many people don’t realize how much impact they can have with a donation.”

While people often associate organ donation with a dying person’s wishes, live donation is becoming more common, with people getting used to the idea of sharing a piece of themselves while they’re alive and well.

The most urgently needed organs from living donors are kidneys and livers. Of the approximate 4,600 Canadians waiting for an organ transplant, nearly 80 percent need a kidney, according to the Kidney Foundation of Canada.  In 2013, there were 498 people on the waiting list for a liver transplant, according to the Canadian Organ Replacement Register (CORR).

Organs that are most frequently donated by a living donor, according to the Canadian Blood Services include:

  • One of two kidneys

  • Two lobes of a liver

  • Part of a lung

  • Part of a pancreas

  • Part of the intestines

B.C. leads the country when it comes to living donors. With 107 living donors in 2014, the province has a living donor rate of 23 donors per million, compared to the national rate of 15.5. B.C. has an average of 100 living kidney donors every year.

While living donors are often related to the organ recipient, they don’t have to be. In Melnyk’s case, 500 people who were willing to donate piped up. Twenty have said they’re willing to donate to others in need of a new liver.

When it comes to kidneys, transplant outcomes are generally better with those from living donors than deceased donors, according to BC Transplant. A living kidney transplant is the most successful of all transplant procedures, according to the Kidney Foundation of Canada.

“Kidneys are the most needed organ and the easiest to donate for live donors,” says James W. Breckenridge, president and C.E.O. of the Canadian Transplant Society. “The latest technology makes live kidney donation really easy.”

The living donor evaluation process aims to ensure not only that potential donors are healthy and that it’s safe for them to donate but also that they’re making a well-informed decision and aren’t feeling pressured by anyone else. At any point along the way, they can change their mind and decide not to proceed.

According to B.C. Transplant, most live donors can have minimally invasive (laparoscopic) surgery. Donors usually spend two to four nights in the hospital and require four to 12 weeks to recover. From there, live kidney donors require routine, ongoing monitoring.

The risks of the procedure for live kidney donation include the possibility of infection, allergic reaction to general anesthesia, pneumonia, and the formation of a blood clot. The risk of dying from donating a kidney is 0.03 percent, according to BC Transplant. The risk of serious complications is about 1 to 2 percent. Donors commonly have post-operative incision discomfort, constipation, abdominal discomfort, and nausea for the first week or two following surgery.

In the case of living liver donors, people typically require a five to 10 day-hospitalization and two to three month period of recovery. Within a few months, the donor’s liver regenerates to within 90 per cent its original size, according to the Canadian Liver Foundation.

One advantage of living donation is time to plan: the organ donation and transplant surgeries can be scheduled when both the donor and recipient are in the best possible health. The quality of the donated organ is usually at its best, according to the Kidney Foundation of Canada.

There’s less waiting too. The length of time the recipient waits for an organ to become available is shorter when it comes from a living donor. Plus, other people waiting for a transplant who don’t have a living donor themselves move up the list once a recipient of a living donor is removed.

“There are more people in need of organs than there are available donors,” reminds Peggy John, manager of communications and community relations with BC Transplant.