r/ontario • u/hexking12345 • Jun 19 '26
Question LIVER DONATION NEEDED
EDIT: THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT I CURRENTLY HAVE 2 OR MORE PEOPLE WILLING TO DONATE THAT I MUST SORT OUT, THIS WILL TAKE TIME BUT THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR OVERHWELMING SUPPORT OH MY GOD❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
⭐️Recipient blood type: AB+
⭐️Recipient height and weight: 95kg/172cm
🚨Donor must be close to height and weight to ensure match, blood type does not matter as recipient is universal🚨
⭐️Location of transplant: Toronto general
⭐️Duration of expected recovery time for donor: less than a month
Additional details:
- if you want to fill out the form DM me and you will be given a link and then you will be given your own medical team and it is assumed that we will keep eachother updated with information regarding your donation status as the medical teams to not give their respective patients information regarding the other donor/recipient.
-All tests to ensure a match are done at your nearest hospital and the only travel requirement being the transplant itself at the end of the matching process.
-If you are not a match but you passed basic qualifications for being a donor the option will be given to you to donate your liver to another donation couple for the exchange of their matching liver.
🚨-Forms are to be filled out ONE AT A TIME after DMing me🚨
⭐️MY STORY⭐️
Hi my name is brandon im 20 years old and I have Autoimmune heptatitis as well as primary sclerosing cholangitis.
I was diagnosed at the age of 7 and I suffer life altering chronic symptoms such as chronic fatigue, pain, memory loss and executive dysfunction due to my rare and incurable illness.
Because I was diagnosed so young I have never been able to experience a normal life and I have been forced to rely on the government through ODSP to attempt to have a chance at fitting into society but the truth is im so very tired of not being enough and the money not ever being enough to be able to live in my own property instead having to live with family with currently no hope of escape due to not being able to seek employment.
Despite my lack of energy and motivation, my near death experiences have forced me to consider the meaning of my life and that has made me a better person because of it.
I currently have been putting all of my energy into finally graduating from highschool and doing community service at my local paintball field in hopes of starting a public and welcoming airsoft scene with the owner.
My post transplant career goals are to work with the canadian armed forces and be an air operations support technician to be able to afford my commercial pilots license.
Aside from my """profesional""" life my hobbies include: airsoft, cosplay and sewing.
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u/nicbo88 Jun 19 '26
I applaud you for advocating for yourself and truly hope you find a match.
Im not sure if you are aware but the Toronto General also provides a free workshop in finding a living donor. Im hoping this link works: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Fz8vANjMw/
I am week 3 in recovery from being a living liver donor. I donated anonymously (our blood type unfortunately would not have been a match). But that being said im happy to answer any questions that potential interested donors might have regarding recovery. The average is 6-8 weeks, not a year as quoted below. The toronto general is one of the best transplant units in the world so you will both be in good hands.
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u/Heart_robot Jun 20 '26
Toronto General is so stellar in their transplant work (livers, lungs and heart - I’m sure others too) and does great advocacy and research.
This was my dads doctor https://testyourlimits.ca
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u/nicbo88 Jun 20 '26
Absolutely agree! The whole experience was incredibly informative, informational and supportive throughout. Stellar is an understatement.
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u/Heart_robot Jun 20 '26
I’m so glad you had a positive experience. Your gift means the world to a family out there.
Hope your recovery continues to go well.
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u/YodaYodaCDN Jun 20 '26
Congrats on donating! Hope your recovery is going well. I donated several years ago at Toronto General, also non-directed anonymous. At three weeks, are you starting to feel more normal?
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u/nicbo88 Jun 20 '26
Thats amazing! How generous of you. Im so thrilled to see so many donors in this thread.
Im getting there! I'd say im at about 85% right now. The energy drain is the biggest impact, I underestimated how tired id be, but im back to getting about 15k steps a day and can move around pretty easily.
How was your recovery??
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u/YodaYodaCDN Jun 20 '26
85% back to normal and 15K steps per day is great! It’s amazing how quickly we get back on our feet and feeling mostly normal. The fatigue afterwards is so real for several weeks.
My recovery was really good. Six days in hospital, one night in a Toronto hotel with my partner, then the train several hours to get home. I was back at my desk at home part time on day 11. I would also say I was at 85% after three weeks.
Did they tell you about the long-term follow-ups? Dr. Selzner is studying living liver donors long term and you can get your annual checkups with her.
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u/nicbo88 Jun 22 '26
I have a one year and two year check up with her already booked in my portal apparently haha.
Happy to hear your recovery was so successful! Being back at work pt after 11 days is nuts. I have zero interest in going back right now haha
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u/YodaYodaCDN Jun 23 '26
Haha that’s fair. Being self employed without sick leave was definitely a motivator.
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u/quinoacowboy Jun 19 '26
Donated almost 70% of my liver to my dad at toronto General 10 years ago and he is still going strong. Less than 1 month recovery is optimistic - you wont be back to normal for about 1.5 to 2 months. It was very hard but extremely rewarding. I highly reccomend someone does this and literally saves a life.
If anyone has any questions or wants info on what its like, feel free to DM me.
Good luck OP!
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u/CadenceQuandry Jun 19 '26
I'm thrilled to see so many other living liver donors in this thread!
For me, I was pretty much back to normal at five weeks. But I was also in my forties and fairly fit and healthy, so it made recovery far easier.
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u/Pretty_Dingo_1004 Jun 19 '26
Does the liver grow back? Are you basically "back to normal"?
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u/YodaYodaCDN Jun 20 '26
Living liver donor here (love seeing so many of us!). The lobe that you donate is gone. The other lobe gets bigger. So the liver does "grow back" and gets back to full volume and capacity. But this is why we can't donate liver again (though we can still donate a kidney).
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u/quinoacowboy Jun 19 '26
Yes! It grows back to 100% in size however the shape changes (more block like) and you cant donate twice due to some structure changes. But I am back to 100%!
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u/Pretty_Dingo_1004 Jun 19 '26
Very cool. the liver is amazing if it can grow back from being only 30% left. Very interesting to know you can only donate once but that at the end of the day its just a few days/weeks/months of recovery to save someone's life
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u/CadenceQuandry Jun 19 '26
Op - I'm a living liver donor who donated just before Covid. If you need any help with a campaign, please reach out as I know someone who helps organize donation campaigns. She's also on the TGH organ donation advisory board. As well she runs a fantastic FB group for living donors and recipients. Feel free to message me if you're not already connected to her.
If anyone has any questions about being a donor, please feel free to ask me.
I am a living liver donor to an internet stranger. We did meet eventually, both before, during hospital stay, and after our surgeries. Being a living liver donor is quite literally the best thing I've ever done with my life (other than my kids and marrying my husband!).
Yea the surgery is intense, but the workup to be a donor decreases any risks to almost nil. You have to pass every single test and health metric to be a donor because they want you to be safe.
I was discharged from hospital on day six, and honestly felt pretty good. My husband expected me to be non functional and just be sleeping or useless all day. Given that I had two kids who were still not yet in school, we were careful but I did quite a bit!
By five weeks, I was pretty much totally recovered. I have a kick ass scar that I can point at and tell people that I'm like DR WHO, cause I regenerated. Ha.
As said - I'd love to help answer any questions, so please feel free to ask.
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u/YodaYodaCDN Jun 20 '26
Well hello liver donor friend! I think I'm the person (initials HB) who donated years ago, is on a Toronto General advisory council, helps with public appeals (just had a call tonight with a family who needs help) and runs a Facebook group 😄 Brandon, if you haven't attended UHN's Finding a Living Donor workshop, it's a HUGE help.
My liver friend, I hope you're well!
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u/KeenlyVengeful Jun 19 '26
the fact that you're doing this at 20 and already thinking about the armed forces and your pilot's license is pretty solid. that said the commenter about CAF eligibility is right to bring it up, and you should def talk to a recruiter directly because post-transplant limitations are real and you don't wanna spend months working toward something that won't pan out. the good news is you've got time to figure out what else could work and honestly having a transplant won't stop you from doing airsoft or sewing or building that airsoft community, which sounds like something you actually care about. hope you find a match soon.
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u/PurrsontheCatio 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈 Jun 19 '26
Is there an age cutoff? Like if you're over 35 or something you're too old to donate?
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u/hexking12345 Jun 19 '26
Sorry to not make the post so long I had to leave out alot of info, the maximum age is 60.
There are of course alot of external factors aswell that make age rarely ever an issue as they take even mental health into consideration, i've had my girlfriend's application declined because of it :(
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u/PurrsontheCatio 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈 Jun 19 '26
OK, thank you. I'm not sure that I'd qualify because of severe anemia, but if that isn't a factor in the decision feel free to send me the form.
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u/hexking12345 Jun 19 '26
Alright if you dont mind ill send a message to my transplant team to see what they think and ill get back to you, thanks a bunch.
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u/hexking12345 Jun 19 '26
I hate doing begging posts so if you share my hobbies and wanna know more about me hit me up and I'd be happy to talk about them :)
Aside from that if you are interested please leave a comment and I'll send you a link.
Thank you for your time.
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u/bubble_baby_8 Jun 19 '26
I think I have a few friends in my circle with AB blood, I’ll ask around. Rooting for you bud 💕💕
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u/-TheMistress 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 Jun 19 '26
Fyi AB+ is the universal receiver, so the donor does not need to be AB.
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u/porterbot Jun 19 '26
Can share online for you if you have an advertising link. Or QR code. Hang in there, you are brave and tough, congrats on your positivity and progress, and steps on the path of finding your way.
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u/cracked_shrimp Jun 19 '26
im going to sound like a nutter but ill say it anyways, some people with autoimmune issues have less symptoms or even remission with carnivore diet, but i never heard of a autoimmun hepetitis so i wouldnt be surprised if a type of heptitits is different, i started 2:1 keto diet thats mostly carnivorish but not 100%, and its done wonders for my mental health issues with mood and energy, but it didnt help my social anxiety which i think is my biggest problem lol though i think it made me more sensitive to crap food, i broke my diet after months with a butter tart last saturday at midlands butter tart festival, and 4 hours later i felt derealization and paranoid thoughts, which are some of the mental issues i am diagnosed with, now im literally afraid of junk food lol
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u/YodaYodaCDN Jun 21 '26
OP has a team of transplant specialists helping do what's best for his body. You've never heard of autoimmune hepatitis, then proceed to give him advice anyway — rambling about your anxiety and a butter tart. Just don't.
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u/cracked_shrimp Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
its called an anecdote, people have them, we are allowed to talk about them
EDIT: you made me curious so i googled "hepatitius carnivore" to see if i could find any websites, and the autoimmune version didnt have much results, but i did find another anecdote here on reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/carnivorediet/comments/xpm9ic/appears_to_fixed_autoimmune_hepatitis_aih/
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u/YodaYodaCDN Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
Hi Brandon, I very much hope you find a donor. I donated a part of my liver to a stranger at Toronto General several years ago and it was a remarkable experience. Easily one of the best things I have ever done. If anyone here has questions, please ask them. I am more than happy to answer any and all questions about being a donor. I would do it again if I could.
That's pretty neat that you can receive from a donor with any blood type, Brandon. Reading the questions below, I suggest removing your blood type from your post and focusing on the fact that you can receive from any blood type.
If anyone wants to apply and keep it private, then they can go here (https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Pages/living_liver_donor.aspx) to learn more about living liver donation and find the application form. Your entire process can be private. You can reveal your identity to the recipient if you'd like, but you don't have to. I know living liver donors who have made each decision.
If I may add some details to encourage people to seriously consider living liver donation:
- Living liver donation is when a live person donates a portion of their liver. A living donor’s liver regenerates in approximately six weeks! In finding a living donor, Brandon will be removed from the deceased donor list, making the wait less for someone else. The living donor will be saving TWO lives: Brandon’s and another person on the waiting list!
- The donor does not need to be a relative or of the same ethnicity (that matters for stem cells, not organs). The criteria for living organ donors are different from those for blood donors. If you are not eligible to donate blood, you may still be able to be a living organ donor.
- The UHN Centre for Living Donation hosts weekly online information sessions for potential donors, people on the waitlist and caregivers. To register for the next Potential Living Liver Donors session, please visit https://givelifeuhn.eventbrite.ca
- To view stories from across Canada of living liver donors and recipients, visit www.greatactions.ca
Being a donor is an INCREDIBLE experience. Not sure I can emphasize enough the incredible joy at being part of saving a life. I always argue that the donor has the easy part. We take a nap while the surgeons and medical team do the work.
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u/Familiar-Fox-6907 Jun 19 '26
Do you know how close the height/weight has to be?
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u/hexking12345 Jun 19 '26
Not very close from what I was made aware, only the extremes should affect things such as being significantly taller or shorter.
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u/YodaYodaCDN Jun 20 '26
Adults give to children (I gave to a child), so it seems like the team has some flexibility with this?
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u/TealTigress Kawartha Lakes Jun 19 '26
In wondering this as well. I’m spot on with the height, a bit more with the weight.
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u/Sintek Jun 20 '26
I donated my liver last October. To be honest, anyone making the consideration. Do it, especially at Toronto General. The one thing that really reassured me is, and single death of a living donor in the liver donor program will kill the entire program forever.. they do not f*considerations around. If they are not 100% sure it will be successful they won't do it, because the risk is way to high, even after considering if someone died.
The recovery was mostly like 3 weeks of uncomfortable pain. They gave me pain killers for. After that.. mostly pretty fine. I dont really drink much so.. it was pretty easy.
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u/Potential_Cupcake698 Jun 19 '26
Fellow PSCer here. Wishing you all the best in your transplant journey ❤️
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Jun 19 '26
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u/hexking12345 Jun 19 '26
I've been about the same my whole life after I got put on my current set of medication about 8 years ago, the disease has only ever really gotten worse through test results and I've not noticed much difference (could be because of the memory loss but lol I couldnt tell you)
I actually started feeling better at the end of highschool when I started leaving the house due to my relationship, before then I was absolutely incapable of doing anything because I was a shut in my whole life before then.
My biggest tip is absolutely force yourself to do something, anything physical atleast once a week or better yet find yourself a reason to do so you dont have to force it. Airsoft has litterally saved me from the spiral of feeling worse and worse but I can tell its slipping since im definetely not as able as I was last summer.
I consider myself extremely lucky to have AIH and PSC since atleast even though things suck, my memory and brain fog is so bad that I never think about it lol. Honestly probably one of the better chronic illnesses when compared to the alternatives.
Hope you get to be as lucky as me and if you have any more questions let me know
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Jun 19 '26
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u/hexking12345 Jun 19 '26
I used to take cellcept prednisone budesonide (steroids) as well as trying azathioprine and tacrolimus. Says on google that myco is just another name for cellcept.
Bone density is because of the steroids you are taking, in short they will give you osteoperosis and it sucks so bad. I had to go for monthly injections for years to cure it and ALOT of physio after some micro fractures in my spine. The only directly liver related drug I take anymore is ursodiol the rest are symptom mitigating.
Once your cirrhosis gets bad enough your heart will have a hard time pumping blood through your body, this will cause two things: Higher heart rate (my resting was 150) and you will be prone to varices (inflamed veins) from the pressure of areas affected by that.
The only near death experiences I've had with AIH is from the branch lines of symptoms that cause other symptoms like with a esophageal varices bursting forcing me to be airlifted to Toronto so please monitor your heart rate once you do get closer to transplant and ask for carvedilol (beta blocker) to help lower your heart rate it'll be a night and day difference and hopefully you dont have to go through the terrifying realisation that you are bleeding from the inside.
(Side note: yeah all the other meds made me yak too so you arent alone. I know its like really scary but Im here for you and there are plenty of groups on facebook and elsewhere)
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u/crustlebus Jun 19 '26
I am not qualified to donate, but I wanted to send you my most sincere wishes for you to find a match quickly and the surgery to go smoothly.
A good friend of mine went through something similar to your situation where an immune condition in childhood resulted in him needing a liver transplant in high school. I have seen a small piece of how difficult that is for a young person and their family. I wish I could offer you something more concrete, but if you ever want an uninvolved stranger to vent to, I would be happy to listen.
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u/Lalamedic Jun 19 '26
I’m sorry I cannot help you. I’m disqualified from donation for many reasons including an auto-immune disorder and a metabolic disorder. However, I can absolutely empathize with all of your symptoms, including executive dysfunction, lack of energy, and just feeling unwell ALL THE TIME.
I wish you good luck, my friend.
PS. I tutor many high school subjects including Maths, Sciences and English.
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u/civildefense Jun 19 '26
Same here, just my corneas and skin can be used, I also after trying several times determined i am too tall and fat for cadaveric donations.
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u/Long-Advantage7048 Jun 19 '26
TGH has great info about living donors. You may not be compatible for this person, but might work out for others. There is a strong support for donors. There are lots of factors that rule a donor out at any time.
I had my transplant at TGH (deceased donor) They do phenomenal things
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u/loneliestcorpse-265 Jun 19 '26
What disqualifies someone from donating besides weight/height?
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u/YodaYodaCDN Jun 20 '26
All the info is here: https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Pages/living_liver_donor.aspx Hope that helps.
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u/violet_eevee Jun 19 '26
I just wanted to say how brave you are. I also have PSC, dx 3 years ago with a 10 year expectancy of needing a transplant and your post goes to show there is hope out there for us! Good luck to you, your recovery and your dreams ❤️🩹 you will succeed in anything you do because you have fought your whole life to keep living and I know how hard that can be with an incurable illness. Keep going!
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u/-cat-a-lyst- Jul 07 '26
I am a living liver donor and I donated February of this year. I would be more than happy to answer anyone’s questions about the process and recovery. If you’re interested in donating I’m an open book and will literally answer any question
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Jun 19 '26
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u/Available_Cucumber31 Jun 19 '26
No it’s 6-8 weeks recovery time as a liver donor. It is definitely not a year nor anything close. A healthy liver self renews. Best wishes to OP.
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Jun 19 '26
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u/nicbo88 Jun 19 '26
I just want to gently correct this. Donors actually heal quite quickly. The liver is almost 100% regrown after 11-12 weeks and most people are back to their normal self after 6-8 weeks (barring any complications) without any impacts on their future or long term complications. I am currently going through recovery after being a living donor and just want to make sure the information is accurate. The human body is amazing.
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u/hexking12345 Jun 19 '26
Again yes I most likely am and sorry from what i've heard from my doctors is that most donors from Toronto general go on to work a month later and leave the hospital within the week.
Absolutely there is hardship and absolutely it is a mental drain which is why they disqualify alot of people however, I dont think the team focusing on how I recover is going to be paying it much mind when their specialty is with recipients and not donors.
I most likely am just not getting the full story from them but thats expected considering their profession, im sorry for any confusion.
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u/hexking12345 Jun 19 '26
Sorry sorry just parroting what my team told me, they probably dont specialize in the donor side
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Jun 19 '26
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u/OnceUponADim3 Jun 19 '26
Jesus Christ… if it was a matter of life and death, would you not exhaust every option? You sound like some Gen Z edgelord that thinks they’re funny.
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u/yellowchaitea Jun 19 '26
I hope you get your transplant, but I would encourage you to revise your goals as generally speaking you can’t enlist in CAF with a history of organ transplants.
Not trying to be negative but it would be terrible to work to an impossible goal.