Diseases that require transplants.

Kidney disease is the obvious one. With regular dialysis people can spend years waiting for a transplant

There is leukaemia, which could require a bone marrrow transplant - though they probably wouldn't be well enough to be at home

Chronic kidney diseases can cause kidney failure and it's possible to donate a kidney without dying as people have two. If no suitable donor can be found they are usually put on dialysis until one can be found.

Also, it's possible to donate part of a liver and still survive. It's used to make new liver tissue in unhealthy livers as it helps the growth of new liver cells. Although, the most common cause of liver disease is excess alcohol. However, for most children with liver disease, the cause is unknown.

Bone marrow, liver and a kidney are the only things I can think of that people can donate without dying. There are probably others, but watching ER is where my medical training ends.

Hope that helps

Bayley said:

There is leukaemia, which could require a bone marrrow transplant - though they probably wouldn't be well enough to be at home

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FWIW, I went to jr high and high school with a guy who had leukemia who only missed noticeable amount of time in the last 2 years--and then it was merely weeks at a time, not the entire semester or something. (He graduated with us--the doctors told him that he wouldn't live to do that, but he proved them so very wrong, just the way he was.) And this was back in the 1970's, so I'm sure that medical science has advanced quite a bit.

Like any cancer, there's ups and downs. Home stays and hospital stays. Just depends on how they're doing at any given time during the course of the disease.

My experience, at least.

What level of investment do you want this family member to have with the kid? Bone marrow transplant is a relatively not-big-deal, a day at the hospital, needle in the bone, sore for the week. A partial liver or one kidney transplant is a much bigger deal-you get put under, cut open, parts taken out, have to stay in the hospital. and there is a small but real risk of dying from complications. I remember a powerful short story where a nephew was asked to donate an organ to his uncle. he was honored to do so and was about to do it when he discovered that the uncle had concealed the fact that the uncle's sons were compatible donors too-he was just too afraid his own kids might die while donating, but the nephew was 'expendable.' The nephew was so hurt that he declined to donate at the last minute.

Living donors can donate a kidney or a chunk of liver and live a very healthy life afterwards. They can also donate a lung!

Wikipedia tells you what are some diseases that require donation:
Liver: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver_transplantation
Kidney: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney_transplantation
Lung: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lung_transplantation

If you want to keep a kid at home go with a bad kidney. If your kidneys fail you can be on dialysis for quite a while waiting on a new kidney. you go to a med center to get it. A nurse can also come to your home and do dialysis to you there. that's like 2-4 hours a session, 3-4 sessions a week. your character would be unwell but not deathly ill and bedridden.