Living liver donor for Issy Fialho, Toronto, ON (2025)

09/11/2023

*Please share*
Hi Everyone, I had a checkup last week with a transplant nurse at Toronto General Hospital. My numbers are thankfully holding stable. Still, I’m more and more tired every day. I’m still a candidate for a living liver donor. Anyone with blood type O+ or O- between the ages of 16 and 60 years and in good health (no diabetes, cancer, kidney or heart disease) can apply to be my living liver donor.

I am trying very hard not to let this disease get the best of me. As some of you know I love the outdoors so I decided to take a ride up to the beach last weekend. For the days that I’m not very energetic I turn to my gardening and cuddle with my baby Harley. Soon it will be halloween decorating so stay tuned.

The donor does not need to be a relative or the same ethnicity (that matters for stem cells, not organs). The criteria for living organ donors are different than for blood donors. If you are not eligible to donate blood, you may still be able to be a living organ donor.

👉👉 To learn more about living donation and to apply to become my mom’s living liver donor, please visit: https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Pages/living_liver_donor.aspx. There is an 11-page health history. Completing and submitting this health history is your application. The application form asks for my full name (Isilda Fialho) and date of birth (March 27, 1971). 👈👈

Candidates go through a comprehensive assessment to ensure they are healthy enough to donate.

For expenses like travel, food, accommodation and income replacement, there is a reimbursement program through Trillium Gift of Life for up to $5,500. They will reimburse expenses even if you get part-way through the screening process and change your mind or aren’t accepted. You can also submit receipts for reimbursement throughout the process and don’t need to wait until after the surgery. You can live anywhere in Canada and will still be reimbursed to travel to Toronto.

Anyone can help by sharing this post.

If you’d like answers to any questions about living liver donation, contact:

Centre for Living Organ Donation at UHN
Phone: 416-340-5400
Email: livingorgandonation@UHN.ca
Website: https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Centre_for_Living_Organ_Donation

You can ask questions anonymously to learn more about living liver donation. Communications between a potential living donor and donor team are confidential and not shared with the recipient.

The UHN Centre for Living Donation hosts a monthly on-line information session for Potential Living Liver Donors: https://www.eventbrite.ca/o/the-centre-for-living-organ-donation-at-uhn-18428442380.

There is also a Canadian Facebook group that may be helpful: Organ transplant recipients and living donors in Canada: https://www.facebook.com/groups/630523730672476.

Please share this with anyone you know who might be willing to help. We will need someone brave and generous to give me the gift of life.

Thank you so much to anyone who applies and spreads the word. We are all deeply grateful to you.

08/30/2023

*Please share to help my mom*
My name is Nicholas. My mom, Issy Fialho, has liver failure and is on the transplant list for a liver. She needs a living donor with blood type O+ or O- to donate at Toronto General Hospital.

For a person diagnosed with liver disease there is a long and difficult wait for a deceased donor. Sadly, some patients will die waiting. As she gets sicker, Issy is looking for a living liver donor with blood type O+ or O- to donate. Every three days a person dies in Ontario because they don't get the lifesaving transplant they need.

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, my mom will be removed from the deceased donor list and everyone else eagerly waiting for a liver will move up one spot. The living donor will be saving TWO lives: my mom’s and the person behind her on the waiting list!

Since 1990, more than 1,000 living liver donor transplants have been done at Toronto General Hospital. All donors have returned to their regular lifestyle with no restrictions.

When her health allows, my mom has lunch with friends. She loves to plan gatherings with friends and family, where she plays ‘80s music to get everyone dancing. Weather permitting she keeps active with walks, goes to Saint Jacob Market and goes down to the beach. She reads, loves to garden and go camping.

My mom has been an executive assistant for nearly 15 years. Before that she was a florist for eight years.

She was born in the Azores in Portugal. Her family moved to Toronto when she was 11. We now live in central Toronto with my dad, my sister, me, and Harley, our cockapoo.

My mom is looking past the transplant to her life afterwards. She wants to see her children graduate. She’s looking forward to being a grandmother in the future (no pressure on me!).

Anyone with blood type O+ or O- between the ages of 16 and 60 years and in good health (no diabetes, cancer, kidney or heart disease) can apply to be a living donor for my mom.

The donor does not need to be a relative or the same ethnicity (that matters for stem cells, not organs). The criteria for living organ donors are different than for blood donors. If you are not eligible to donate blood, you may still be able to be a living organ donor.

👉👉 To learn more about living donation and to apply to become my mom’s living liver donor, please visit: https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Pages/living_liver_donor.aspx. There is an 11-page health history. Completing and submitting this health history is your application. The application form asks for my mom’s full name (Isilda Fialho) and her date of birth (March 27, 1971). 👈👈

Candidates go through a comprehensive assessment to ensure they are healthy enough to donate.

For expenses like travel, food, accommodation and income replacement, there is a reimbursement program through Trillium Gift of Life for up to $5,500. They will reimburse expenses even if you get part-way through the screening process and change your mind or aren’t accepted. You can also submit receipts for reimbursement throughout the process and don’t need to wait until after the surgery. You can live anywhere in Canada and will still be reimbursed to travel to Toronto.

Anyone can help by sharing this post.

If you’d like answers to any questions about living liver donation, contact:

Centre for Living Organ Donation at UHN
Phone: 416-340-5400
Email: livingorgandonation@UHN.ca
Website: https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Centre_for_Living_Organ_Donation

You can ask questions anonymously to learn more about living liver donation. Communications between a potential living donor and donor team are confidential and not shared with the recipient.

The UHN Centre for Living Donation hosts a monthly on-line information session for Potential Living Liver Donors: https://www.eventbrite.ca/o/the-centre-for-living-organ-donation-at-uhn-18428442380.

There is also a Canadian Facebook group that may be helpful: Organ transplant recipients and living donors in Canada: https://www.facebook.com/groups/630523730672476.

Please share this with anyone you know who might be willing to help. We will need someone brave and generous to give my mom the gift of life.

Thank you so much to anyone who applies and spreads the word. We are all deeply grateful to you.

Address

Toronto, ON

Telephone

+14163405400

Website

https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Pages/living_liver_donor.aspx

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