First off, I never imagined how early the idea of a Seeking List was in the world of Living Liver Donation. Let me explain. The first Living Liver Donation was performed in 1989 at UChicago Medicine. This opened the door for life saving options that would soon change liver transplants and the possibilities of hope. So, you had another option other than waiting for a deceased liver. Not only that but as time went on studies showed the recovery and health benefits of a living liver were far better than A deceased liver.

The controlling company in Organ Donation is called UNOS. In 1984 UNOS was Awarded the Government contract for Organ Donation and pretty much was involved in everything that came along with it (more about UNOS in another Blog!!). In 2023 UNOS started a pilot program for paired living liver transplants. This where a select few transplant centers would focus in on trying to create matches for recipients through nonmatched donors. The idea is great (mainly because it is what the seeking list is trying to do lol) but the pilot program was restricted to certain hospitals, and it didn’t allow any outsiders in.

If you need a liver transplant, the first thing they will tell you is to ask your family and friends. It is not so easy to match someone as there are many factors involved in getting that perfect match. If you don’t locate that perfect match you are left to wait on the waiting list until you get sick enough and something comes along. Being hampered by HIPAA laws the hospitals are not allowed to just say hey you don’t have a match, but we have options to trade donors if you are willing to talk. This is why they tell people don’t give your blood type and have everyone get tested. During the testing they do ask as a donor if you don’t match would you be interested in donating to someone else. I believe this is the open door they hope leads to an LPD. An LPD (Living Paired Donation) is an opportunity to trade Donors.

This is just me talking about an idea that seems to be the start of the next opportunity in Liver Donations. Let’s say you need a liver transplant. You have multiple people see if they match. Not one match seems to be a fit. I believe it doesn’t have to be straight to the waiting list. Just because your donors did not match you, it’s a possibility they matched someone else in the same situation. And what if that someone had a match for you. The only way this is even an option is through communication and willingness to do what needs to be done. That means if an opportunity comes up then a donor may have to travel to another state to fulfill the transplant. Example: Bob needs a liver but has no matches. Sally needs a liver but has no matches. Bob has a donor that matches sally, and sally has a donor that matches bob. Bobs donor travels to sally and sally’s donor travels to bob. The expenses are paid for by the NLDAC which means it is a minor inconvenience to save a loved one’s life.

In the beginning I stated The Seeking List was getting started in the early stages of Paired Living Liver Donation. With UNOS just launching their pilot program in early 2023 it would seem to be true. The one thing I can say is that The Seeking List is not confined by HIPAA laws and doesn’t discriminate against hospitals and transplant centers. UNOS program stays within the network, so they refuse to trade donors outside that network. The Seeking List is an open forum where you can place your information in hopes that someone somewhere has a match for you. Even if that open communication leads to a paired liver exchange. The biggest thing I’ve learned is just keep talking! One day we will see a Seeking List that auto populates paired donations by the click of a button. Until then it’s on us to do some leg work and the more legs the faster we move.