Are lung transplant hopeful patients chosen by need or can a pair of lungs be bought in Michigan?

Question

My nephew with cystic fibrosis has been on the list for over three years, constantly told he is at the top of the list. He is 27 years old and registered with the national lung transplant organiation through the U of Michigan hospital.

Answer 1

lung transplant these days are very succesful but carries the risk of rejection nevertheless, and the possibility that the CF will reattack the new lungs and eventually make them like the original.

but your question actually involves more than how long one is on "the list". there are multiple transplant patients, well over a few hundred thousand, many of whom are at the top of the list. there are only a few donors throughtout the country depending on a variety of issues as to whether or not they would make good donors for your nephew. of course tissue matching and rejection possibilities play a big part in the selection, as does age, priority of illness, organ itself, staff availability, and a few other key issues. survivability is another factor which is looked at and can sway the decision as to whether one patient or the other gets the organ.

it can be overwhelming. there are also many success stories where out of the blue you recieve a call because "bingo" everything matches your nephews need. so dont despair, the odds are better than the lotto but in general can be hard to win.

on a different note but relative to CF; there are many fine advances in the contol and treatment of CF. gene therapy, dna alteration, and similar biotech approaches are also available and should be considered, they have their successes too.

lastly understand that CF is not a primary respiratory problem; it is secondary. CF is a metabolic disease with respiratory involvement. CF patients are prone to many recurring lung infections like pneumonia but not limited to pneumonia.

good luck.

Answer 2

there is no buying of organs on the transplant list, eventhough it seems that way.
Here in tn i know someone personally who waited 4 years for his lung transplant, who also had cystic fibrosis
the sad thing is not only do you have to wait for one to come availble, you also have to have one that matches the patient
the donor people are very paticular with the lungs and hearts that they choose.
a lot of people want to be donors, and families are okay with it, then the donor people check the organs out, and there are someitmes prob with that person that the person had no clue of (ie hepititis, cancer, etc)

I worked at a level 1 trauma center, where we got a lot of people that were "brain dead" which is what they have to be to be a organ donor and when the donor people came it was about 3 actual people every 4 months that they could use some organ.

I am so sorry that you all are having to wait like this.... I have an aunt that was waiting on a liver, she had cancer and was at the top of the list in North Carolina, and unfortanally we found out in her last 3 months that the cancer had got into an artery in her liver (portal vein) that there ws no way they could transplant a new liver. we lost her in 2004.. she was my mother since i was 12, she took over when my mother turned into a severe alcoholic.

I will pray for him, and your family.
DON'T GIVE UP the call can be anytime

Answer 3

There other lists to be on. I cant think of their names, but I know there are. 27 is the time to be getting them. Please keep looking into it. Does his dr realize how important it is that he get the lungs soon?