Organ Transplants: A Patient's Guide

The replacement of a diseased organ by a healthy one is a medical dream that has become a reality for thousands of men and women, boys and girls. Once considered experimental and highly risky, transplantation is today a successful therapy for disorders affecting the heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas, eyes, ears, and bone marrow. Combining the most advanced techniques in surgery, immunology, infectious diseases, cardiology, nephrology, psychiatry, and nursing, organ transplantation is at the forefront of medical science.Despite the advances in transplantation, the literature available to potential transplant recipients is scant. This book, written by members of the world-renowned transplant team at the Massachusetts General Hospital in collaboration with a veteran medical journalist, is expressly for patients and their families, the lay public, and allied health personnel.With an unparalleled sweep, the authors present a history of human organ transplantation, a review of transplant immunology and antirejection drugs, a survey of the national donor organ network, a description of the hospital transplant team, the process of harvesting donor organs, the realities of surgery and recovery, a review of potential complications, and hints for transplant recipients and their families on how to cope with emotional and financial stress.In providing a clear picture of what to expect from an organ transplant, the authors include case studies of patients' experiences before and after transplantation, and they depict how patients and their families interact with the hospital's medical team. As a result, this book offers a sympathetic and unsensationalized guide for the more than 20,000 patients each day who await an organ transplant--and for those who are intimately involved with the patients successful recovery.