posted on March 21, 2001 08:38:17 AM new
Up for discussion.
I have two favorite causes: the Humane Society and Organ Donor Awareness. I'm not vocal about either; I just do my small bit.
If you have made arrangements to be an
organ donor when your time on this earth has ended, thank you. While there has never been a need in my family to receive the ultimate gift from a stranger, I am reminded that none of us knows what tomorrow may bring.
In my immediate family, we all are donors. If we can improve the quality of someone's life, how could we not?
Personally, I think it is why I am here (in existence). Maybe you've never questioned the purpose of your existence, but I have. I never felt my reason for "being" was to be someone's child, sibling, friend, wife, mother or grandmother, although I hope I've enriched the lives of the recipients of each of my roles.
It saddens me to know that so many people die awaiting an organ transplant, when I know so many more died with healthy livers, hearts, corneas, etc.
I've never taken the opportunity to talk with anyone who is opposed to becoming a donor, which is the purpose of this thread. It is not to pass judgement.
I realize that many probably have just not given it a thought, but also realize that many have made the conscientious decision to not become a donor.
If you are one of the latter, I would be interested in hearing why you made this decision.
Great subject! I agree 100% with the need for more donors.
My mother, on the other hand has always said that she will gladly donate any part of her body except for her heart. Her reasoning is that the Bible says to love God with all your heart and that she doesn't want to go to heaven and have to answer as to why she gave hers away. In other words, she's convinced that it would be a sin. GO FIGURE???
Trust me, we've had heated debates over it and she absolutely will not budge.
I have a sister who has arranged to have her body donated to science when she passes so that they can study diabetes, etc. I think that's a very giving thing to do but I have a little heeby geeby about that one so I haven't arranged to do that yet... just the standard donor card agreement for now.
posted on March 21, 2001 09:05:54 AM new
I am in favor of organ donation, but as a recipient of a cadaver organ, you might feel my opinion is somewhat biased.
I do have to say that I am against selling them on eBay though.
posted on March 21, 2001 09:09:33 AM new
I am a supporter of Organ Donation as well. I am not sure at this point if I would be able to donate though, due to the fact that I have "Probable Benign/Mild Multiple Sclerosis". I do know that I cannot donate blood because of this. The last time I had my drivers license renewed, I took the organ donation sticker off.
posted on March 21, 2001 09:58:35 AM new grannyfox...I never dreamed that one of "us" may have received this gift personally. Excellent!! And, I trust you are doing well.
mybiddness...Your mom does not object to donating other organs, though. That's a good thing.
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I really admire the living who donate a kidney or bone marrow for a complete stranger. I don't think I could be that brave or unselfish. I wouldn't hesitate for a family member, though.
posted on March 21, 2001 10:04:36 AM new
Sorry I am just a little worried about the ethics of a lot of doctors and about the time I am laying in emergency and they are trying to revive me I don't want the nurse telling the doctor "Oh it says here in his wallet he is a organ donor. Dr. Ellis is waiting for a heart for three patients."
He may be more worried about not damaging the goods than saving the whole.
posted on March 21, 2001 10:11:14 AM new
I am sure you would be surprised about some of "us". Quite a diverse lot, we are.
Actually the subject has hit our family hard. My Mom and her brother both received transplants while two of their brothers died of renal failure.
I received a kidney in December 1993 and it does well.
My 27 year old daughter and my 23 year old daughter-in-law are currently on a "list" waiting for kidneys.
I have written papers from several perspectives of the relationship between doners and recipients and doner families, attended banquets that honor Doners and their families, manned booths at the state fair as well as smaller health fairs.
The wishes of the individuals and the families must be respected...always. I just want to get dialog started as to what those wishes are. It does not matter if you sign your card, if your family says no the organs won't be taken. Open up communication with family members. What do they want? What do you want. And always respect the decision of others. Where ever they draw the line on this matter is the right choice for them. There is no right or wrong...just base your decision on information that is credible.
Seriously, read more than UNOS answer. Some healthcare providers may not be ethical, but I think that is a very low percentage of the whole (JMO). However, in this case it would be pretty much impossible for your treating physician to be a transplant surgeon, nephroligists or anyone else that would have a conflict of interests. These are specialists and do not do ER duty. In addition, for this to exist you would have to include the Doc that does the EEGs, etc.
There are reasons, personal, belief, gut feeling, reasons to not donate. These should be respected. But I don't like decisions to be based on false info.
I clicked on my link and it just takes you to the main news page. To get where I was attempting to take you, you need to click on the Myths in the left column. Thanks.
[ edited by grannyfox on Mar 21, 2001 10:31 AM ]
posted on March 21, 2001 10:53:18 AM new
I have been a "card carrying" organ donor since 1979. The following is from an old, tattered, yellowed newpaper clipping from Ann Landers that I keep in my wallet, right behind my drivers license, which indicates my wishes for organ donation. It speaks of my feelings much better than I could express them
"At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposed, my life has stopped.
"When that happens do no attempt to instill artificial life into my body by the use of a machine. And don't call this my 'deathbed', call it my 'Bed of Life', and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives."
"Give my sight to a man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby's face or love in the eyes of a woman"
"Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain"
"Give my blood to the teenager who has been pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live to see his grandchildren play"
"Give my kidneys to one who depends on a machine to exist from week to week"
"Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk"
"Explore every corner of my brain. Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that someday a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat, and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window"
"Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow"
"If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknessess, and all prejudice against my fellow man.
"Give my soul to God"
"If by chance you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever"
We should all make a copy of that and give it to all of our family
members!
As grannyfox mentioned, it is so important to let your family know
how you feel about organ donation. When my mother died, I had just
given the organ transplant team permission to remove the corneas of
her eyes when my sister came into the room and asked them to leave.
posted on March 21, 2001 12:22:22 PM new
The most common objections I have seen are
Denial of death
Repugnance at the body being "cut up"
Religious
My husband and I have talked about this a lot, since we both work with it. My only consent to artificial life support is to keep my body going until harvesting can be done.
posted on March 21, 2001 12:58:24 PM new
I am going to donate my whole body to anyone who wants it -- if I can't donate organs then I want to go to a medical school and gross out the students.
I don't care what happens to me after I am dead, but I DON'T want to be buried. If I could just go in the ground and decompose that would be one thing, but they bury people now in a concrete shell plus the casket and the body just lays there for years, or centuries, who knows -- I don't want that. Whatever is left of me that can't be used by others will be cremated.
My husband, on the other hand, does not want to be a donor. He too believes that folks might be more likely to "pull the plug" on him. I would always respect his decision, and hope that he would respect mine.
posted on March 21, 2001 01:46:01 PM new
I'm all in favor of it. When you're dead, you're dead. How great if someone else can benefit from what you leave behind. I've got my license marked & (having no close relatives left) have left *written* affirmation regarding organ donation with my best friend, who is the one notified in cases of emergency. What can't be donated should be given to a medical school for student use.
Last night on the news they mentioned a woman here in southern California who decided to be a donor *now.* She turned out to be a match with a young man in her town who is alive today because of the kidney she donated.
posted on March 21, 2001 02:31:42 PM new
Thank you Femme for this wonderful worth while topic.
Grannyfox, how I feel for you. I can relate to your feelings on this subject. My own daughter has a life threatening cronic Kidney condition. She is 18 and although she still has a small amount of function in one kidney we know that the day is coming for her to have to have a transplant. This is a condition that she has had all her life and I have cried may tears over this thing. But I can tell you that it has made us a lot stronger in ourselves because we have seen the other side of life. My thoughts go out to you and your family. When the time comes we are hoping that my youngest son will be able to be the donor. So far all the signs point to him being a match. The only thing is that he can not donate until he is 20 and at present he is only 16, so we hope and pray that our daughter stays stable till then.
For anyone who does not agree with organ donation, that is your choice, but I would like you to think about this. What if one day your son, daughter, mother, father, wife , husband or best friend were to need an organ replacement. How would you feel then, would you just stand by and watch them die or would you fight tooth and nail to get that organ for them?
posted on March 21, 2001 03:08:11 PM new
Organ donation is such a practical ides to me. Why let some part of you that is still useful go to waste? When you're dead, you don't need it.
Almost everyone in my family has indicated on our drivers licenses that we are donors and we've all discussed this subject so there should be no problems, in terms of objections, when someone goes. It's a good idea to talk about it NOW before you have to and it spares others the decision.
My brother and I are on the National Bone Marrow registry and last year we were both called because we matched someone that needed a donor. We submitted to further examination to see if they could use either one of us. We were both very excited and hoping that at least one of us could donate. I kept waiting for a call but it never came; we found out later that the intended recipient was not able to go through with the transplant but we weren't told why. It was a letdown for both of us.
One good result was that we learned that we match eacch other so if either of us ever needed a donation, we know where to go.
posted on March 21, 2001 03:11:05 PM new
I have a friend who donated one of her kidneys to her sister. She has Lupus and her kidneys both failed. She is now doing very well, the transplant was about 6 years ago I think.
posted on March 21, 2001 03:31:34 PM new
I kept a sign in my EMT classroom. it read 'Organ donation-the ultimate recycling'. This is something I believe in strongly and have discussed with my students as well as my family. Why keep something you're not using anymore when someone else needs it? That is selfishness in the extreme.
I don't like to think about being cut up, I've seen enough of that working in surgery during my internship. But I like less the idea of someone going without because I'm squeamish about something I won't even be there to see!
posted on March 21, 2001 05:18:49 PM new
The young man that died protecting the girl here in Seattle during the Mardi Gras riots ended up saving 11 lives with his organ donations. Very cool stories and the mom met the recipients etc.
posted on March 21, 2001 06:16:42 PM new
I'm a little paranoid about putting my permission on an organ donor card in my wallet/driver's license. HMO decides it's more cost effective to let me die and use my parts, etc.
However, my family knows my wishes, and yep, they can have anything they want once the old brain has stopped "sparking."
posted on March 22, 2001 05:32:10 PM new
I think a lot of people are paranoid about organ donation and death in general. I don't know how I would have felt on this subject if it had not affected my family on a personal basis. But having seen first hand the suffering of people waiting for organ donation/s it is hard to ignore. I think that everyone should go and see for themselves the pain and suffering the intended patient and there families go through, that in most cases would be enough to make you want to be a donor.
Please everyone always talk to your loved ones and if you are intending to be a donor, make sure your wishes are clear so that it is understood that when your time comes you wish to donate your viable organs.
When we go to see my daughter's specialist I am always so thankful that she is in a remission type stage and we have been able to keep her stable, we see so many people worse off than she is. People waiting for a donor organ, people that we know will not make it, because of the lack of suitable organs available.
posted on March 22, 2001 06:43:03 PM new
I waited for awhile to post my family's experience with organ donation.
My 18 brother was in a motorcycle accident, caused from an elderly driver failing to stop at a stop sign on a very busy road in Vancouver, Canada.
My brother sustained critical head injuries, and was in a coma for eleven days. This was in 1971. Our family was asked if we would consent to organ donation when there ceased to be no more brain activity. It was the hardest thing to do..to sign that paper, yet, knowing my brother it would have been what he wanted. Remember, this was 1971, when organ donation was quite new, and no one thought of making your wishes known ahead of time. Well, my brothers donation made the news - it was the first time that a kidney was flown to another city in Canada.
There were no names given as to donator or recipient - it was all very confidential back then. We did hear though, that his other kidney went to an unamed father of five in Vancouver, who got to go home and spend Christmas with his family. He gave people sight with the gift of his corneas as well.
All of us believe in organ donation and have filled out the forms. A very good friend of ours had a life saving kidney transplant two years ago, and is now leading a normal life.
posted on March 22, 2001 07:12:34 PM newequestrian, thank you.
What your family did was a truly selfless act and even though your family had a huge tragic void to fill, you still made that wonderful decision to help save someone else or many someone elses. I am truly sorry for your loss, but greatful that it was not in vain, as you must have given many families hope and life in some cases.
When my own sister died in a car crash in 1969, my parents were never asked if they would donate any organs, this was because too much time had gone by when they took her body out of the car and as you said it was the early days of organ transplant. I am not sure how we as a family would have reacted back then to such a thing, but I would like to think that my parents would have agreed to helping save someone else's life and making sure that their own 17y.o. had not died for nothing.
