September 12 2012 Paired Donor exchange.

Mike went to Vancouver to St. Paul’s Hospital for the last of his test.   He is now done with all his test!    We will be entered in the,  October computer generated Paired exchange program.   This LDPE  Registry Program is when an incompatible Donor and recipient are interested in a paired exchange,medical tests are done to see if they are healthy enough to participate.  If they qualify, their medical information is entered into the LDPE  Registry as a pair.  The LDPE Registry is a secure computer database. It contains medical information about incompatible donor-recipient pairs from across Canada.  The Registry compares the medical information on all the pairs in the database and identifies pairs that might be able to exchange donors.       Here’s  how it works:

Let’s say donor A wishes to donate a kidney to Recipient A, but they are not a match.

Donor B would like to donate a kidney to Recipient B, but they are not a match

However, Donor A is a match with Recipient B and donor B is a match with Recipient A.

By being in the Registry, the computer can identify these matches so doctors can

determine  if it is possible to exchange donors.

The National LDPE Registry gives incompatible donors another way to help a CKD patient receive a transplant.  The chance of finding a matching donor increases if there are more donors to select  from.   The LDPE Registry can search a large number of pairs from all over Canada for potential donor exchanges.   Without an electronic national registry, only a small number of pairs can be evaluated at one time, making the potential matches more difficult to identify.

That is the Paired Exchange program in a nut shell .   The next one is in October, as I stated earlier, and we will be entered into it.    So if there is a matched pair found than we would be told in November some time.    If no  match is found than we will be entered  again in four months time,  three times per year.    Basically Three times a year every four  months.     There is a lot more to receiving and donating a kidney than one realizes.     The medical team,need to make sure that recipient and donor are healthy enough and will have the best chance to thrive once  the procedure is done.   Mike is thrilled that all the test are done.     He hates needles and looking for  potential health problems.    I am relieved that he is getting the best medical check up he will  probably ever receive  in his life.    He is my Hero and  I am very proud of him for doing all of this for me, even though he hates it so much!    He never complains,    I love him and respect him for this and I always will.