Organ transplant resources

Why Aurora?

At Aurora, you can find support through:

• Our transplant support group, where you and your family can share and connect with fellow patients awaiting or recovering from transplants.
  
• Individual counseling with our transplant nurse coordinator, transplant social worker and staff psychologist or psychiatrist.
  
• Classes and events that can help you on the road to better health and well-being.

You’ll find many more resources about organ transplants and donation online, at the links provided below.

Education

Coalition on Donation is a nonprofit alliance of local and national groups that have joined forces to promote organ and tissue donation. The Living Bank International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to public education and awareness about the need for organ-transplant donors.

Resources

Organ Donor provides transplant and donor data, as well as information about how organ matching works, how to volunteer and more. It’s sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) provides statistics, reports and data on organ transplants.

Organ sharing

Lifegift is the designated organ-procurement organization (OPO) for North, Southeast and West Texas, which partners with more than 200 hospitals across 109 counties. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) maintains a nationwide computer network linking all organ-procurement organizations, transplant centers and names of patients accepted to their waiting lists.

Support

The National Foundation for Transplants is a national nonprofit group that offers health care and financial support services, as well as patient advocacy for transplant candidates, recipients and their families. Transplant Buddies provides a forum where people can share their thoughts and feelings about the transplant process. Transplant Recipients International Organization (TRIO) is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of transplant candidates, recipients, their families and the families of organ and tissue donors.

Research

The Roche Organ Transplantation Research Foundation is a medical-research charity dedicated to advancing the science of organ transplantation through grants for research projects.

Specific organs

Bone marrow

The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) helps patients find marrow donors, provides support through the transplantation process and promotes saving lives through transplants.

Heart

The American Heart Association is a nonprofit health organization funded by private contributions to reduce disability and death from cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

Kidney

The American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) is a national nonprofit organization that provides education, support and advocacy services to kidney patients and their families.

The American Diabetes Association is a nonprofit health organization that provides diabetes research, information and advocacy. The American Kidney Fund (AKF) is a national voluntary health organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with chronic kidney disease. The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is a voluntary health organization working to prevent kidney and urinary tract diseases, improve the health of people affected by these diseases and increase the availability of all organs for transplantation.

Liver

The American Liver Foundation is the only national, voluntary nonprofit health agency dedicated to preventing, treating and curing hepatitis and all liver diseases through research, education and support groups. The Children’s Liver Association for Support Services (C.L.A.S.S.) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the emotional, educational and financial needs of families coping with childhood liver disease and transplantation.

Organizations for transplant professionals

The American Society of Transplantation (AST) is an organization of 1,300 transplant professionals dedicated to research, education, advocacy and patient care in transplantation science and medicine. The North American Transplant Coordinators Organization (NATCO) is the largest group of transplant professionals in North America, with more than 1,750 transplant coordinators as members.

Living donor information

Resources for living donors include:

• Living Donors online
• Living Organ Donor Advocate Program
• National Institutes for Health
• National Kidney Foundation
• National Living Donor Assistance Center
• Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network
• Transplant Living
• The National Kidney Registry
• U.S. Government information

Living donor transplant

Between brothers

Why choose Aurora? Watch Joe and his brother-in-law share their story about the kidney transplant process at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center.