Contents:
- Medical Video: What Actually Happens To Your Body When You Donate Your Organs?
- What is an organ transplant?
- Where can I get a new organ donor?
- What needs to be prepared before an organ transplant surgery?
- Prepare yourself mentally
- Pay attention to your lifestyle before organ transplant surgery
- Prepare the costs needed
- List of questions you can ask your doctor before organ transplants
- How long does the organ transplant surgery take?
- How is recovery after an organ transplant surgery?
Medical Video: What Actually Happens To Your Body When You Donate Your Organs?
If you need a new organ to replace the organs in your body that are in trouble, surely there must be feelings of raging inside you. Here are things you need to know about organ transplants so that you have a clearer picture if you need a new organ.
What is an organ transplant?
Organ transplantation is an operation to remove a healthy organ from a person to be transplanted to another person whose organs are problematic or damaged. This can usually save the lives of people who receive organ transplants.
Organ transplants that are commonly performed at this time include the kidneys, pancreas, liver, heart, lungs, and small intestine. Sometimes, a "double" transplant is also carried out, such as a kidney / pancreas or heart / lung. Kidney transplants are the most common transplants nowadays, while small intestine transplants are the least commonly performed.
The requirements for organ transplants vary depending on the type of organ to be transplanted. To look for organs that fit the patient's body, blood tests and organ size are usually tested. Another thing that will be checked is how long you have registered on waiting list people who need organs, how sick the patient is, and how far away the donor's organs and people will receive organs. Regulations for organ transplants in Indonesia are regulated by law.
Where can I get a new organ donor?
You can choose whether you want organ donors for you from people who are still alive or have died. Living organ donors are usually close family or friends. Potential donors will then be tested for blood to see if their organs fit the recipient of the organ. However, if the test results show that the donor's organ is not right, you can still find a program that provides donor representatives.
If it is an urgent need, your name will be listed as the top priority for getting donors. There are also options for buying organs. But in Indonesia, this is prohibited and regulated in the Article 64 paragraph (3) of Law 36/2009.
What needs to be prepared before an organ transplant surgery?
Once you get the news that there is an organ candidate that is suitable for you, maybe you can relax and relax a little while waiting for the schedule for surgery. Well, the times before this transplant are the best time for you to prepare yourself mentally, physically and financially.
Prepare yourself mentally
You must prepare yourself mentally when you face organ transplants. It's good for you to express what you feel to your doctor or nurse, so they know what you feel. Of course, the doctor will tell you about what possibilities you will face. However, usually the doctors themselves have never experienced organ transplants. Try talking or sharing with people who have experienced for themselves how it feels to transplant organs.
If you have no acquaintance with people like this, you can ask for help from a nurse or doctor to introduce you to their other patients who have had an organ transplant.
Maybe you feel excited when waiting for news about an organ donor that is right for you. Use that time to think carefully about what is going on and what you will face. Usually, it takes a few months for the patient to accept that he needs an organ transplant and is aware of the effects of his life changes
Even though everyone might need time to accept the fact that their health is no longer the same as before, it is recommended that you will undergo an organ transplant to be optimistic. Remember to yourself that you are not a disease, you are still the way you were, but there are problems in your body that need to be repaired and organ transplants are the best way to make your life better.
Pay attention to your lifestyle before organ transplant surgery
Usually, people who are going to undergo an organ transplant need lifestyle changes, such as losing weight or stopping smoking. This is indeed difficult for some people. Prospective organ transplant recipients usually hope to think of sophisticated technology that will replace their organs, and underestimate or forget the lifestyle needed for organ transplants. This is a perspective that needs to be planted for people who will receive organ transplants, and make sure that you really need an organ transplant.
Prepare the costs needed
Whatever type of organ, the name of an organ transplant is definitely expensive. Don't forget to prepare yourself financially. Check with your insurance agency whether they will also replace the operating costs of this organ transplant. Or maybe you ask for donations to the organizations that provide them. Or you can use BPJS or KIS provided by the Indonesian government.
List of questions you can ask your doctor before organ transplants
While preparing yourself mentally, physically, and financially, you must have a myriad of questions that you want to ask. The most frequent question is when you have to be in the hospital before the surgery begins. The answers to these questions vary and depend on a variety of factors, including your own health condition.
Here are the list of questions that you can ask your doctor before organ transplants:
- Can doctors explain the risks and benefits of organ transplants?
- Can the doctor explain how it works waiting list for organ transplants?
- Can the doctor explain to me about the success rate of organ transplants that are the same as mine and my age?
- How long waiting list for the organs that I need?
- How high is the level of safety for one year at this hospital for the same organ transplant as me?
- How many surgeons can I do the type of organ transplant I need?
- How long should I stay in the hospital after an organ transplant surgery?
- Can I travel immediately, or do I need to stay in one place with the specified distance for a few moments?
- Are there other tests that I need to go through and for how long?
- What are the reasons for having to go back to the hospital after surgery?
How long does the organ transplant surgery take?
The duration of organ transplant surgery depends on the transplanted organ and also various other factors. For example, you might spend more time in the operating room if you have had surgery on the same organ or have had the same organ transplant before.
The following are estimates of the average time of organ transplant surgery:
- Liver, 5-8 hours
- Kidney, 4-5 hours
- Pancreas, 2-4 hours
- Kidney-pancreas, 5-7 hours
However, do not stick to the times above. Your surgeon will tell you the estimated operating time according to your condition.
How is recovery after an organ transplant surgery?
Recovery after organ transplantation depends on the operation you are undergoing and the standard process of the hospital itself. Once the operation is complete, you are usually transferred to the ICU. You can start accepting guests as soon as the doctor allows it, usually this is faster than you expect. Even if your condition is good, you can begin to receive guests on the same day as the day of the operation.
During recovery, the most important thing is to make you able to move and be active again. Usually, you begin to be asked to sit in a chair a day or 2 days after surgery. How long you stay in the hospital also varies. The doctors and nurses will assess how sick you are before the transplant and how good you are after the surgery is carried out. For kidney transplants, usually around 4-5 days, for the pancreas, usually 7-10 days, and for liver transplants usually 7-10 days.
READ ALSO:
- What is the Kidney Transplant Process Like?
- Get to know the ins and outs of heart transplant
- 9 Things You Need to Know If You Want to Donate Organs
