Let's take a look at our final two treatment options: transplant and comfort care.
Transplant
A kidney transplant requires major surgery to put a donor kidney into the body of a person who has kidney failure.
Many people with kidney failure see a kidney transplant as the goal. They believe that once they get a kidney, life will go back to normal. And sometimes it does work this way.
Be realistic about kidney transplant, though. A transplant is a treatment, not a cure. Often, people need more than one transplant in a lifetime with kidney failure.
Just any kidney won't do for a kidney transplant. The new kidney has to match the blood and tissue type of the person who needs it. Otherwise, the patient's body would reject the kidney as foreign. The kidney would stop working. Matching blood and tissue type is done through blood tests. Even so, rejection can occur at any time—even years after a transplant.
Can More Than One Organ Be Transplanted at a Time?
Yes. Some people do get two or more organs at a time. For instance, a person with kidney failure and type 1 diabetes might receive a kidney and a pancreas during the same surgery.
