Expectations From Liver Donation Surgery

There are several expectations from liver donation surgery. One is to have a successful operation and recovery process; another is to gain an improved self-esteem or sense of well-being. However, it is important to keep these expectations from liver donation surgery in perspective. You may experience difficulties during and after the surgery and you will not receive any medical benefit from it.

Expectations From Liver Donation Surgery: An Overview

Since you are a healthy person, your evaluation team expects that you will recover from this surgery without any significant long-term problems.

However, it's important for you to know some of the things that have happened to other people with liver donation surgery.

As a positive effect of this surgery, some donors find that they have an improved self-esteem or feeling of well-being after donating part of their liver.

On the other hand, it's important for you to also have realistic expectations about some of the difficulties of the recovery process and how liver donation can affect you. Some people even feel depressed after the surgery (see Depression Following Living Donor Liver Transplant).

Since this is a major surgery, you will likely experience pain during your recovery period. It may be frustrating to not be able to get around very well or do the things you used to do for a while. Having this surgery may also add stress to your relationships with family and friends.

Please also keep in mind that you will not receive any medical benefit from this surgery. You are also not allowed to receive any type of payment other than having your medical tests and surgery paid for and possible reimbursement for other expenses.

In addition, having this surgery may make it harder for you to get health and life insurance in the future, or it may be more expensive, although this is unlikely and has not happened in the past.