Monday, 05 October 2009
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An organ for an organ?
My previous post on organ donation made the front page. I was reading the comments and one of them really struck me as; for lack of a better word; different.
According to the person, there is an organization committed to convincing people to specify that they only want their organs to go to others that are already listed as organ donors.
Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. People who aren't willing to share the gift of life should go to the back of the waiting list as long as there is a shortage of organs.
Okay, I get the idea behind it, but it just doesn't sit well with me. I asked kidzandk9z her thoughts and I sense that much like me, she got the idea, but was a bit uncomfortable with the premise. Misty has first hand experience with organ donation and I value her opinion. If I misstated her feelings, I beg her to let me know.
My first question is; what if it were a two year needing a heart transplant? We should punish an innocent child because the parent is not an organ donor? What if it is a teenager that is unaware of the importance of organ donation? Would it not be better to educate rather than punish?
It is my understanding that those on the top of the list are the most critical of patients. I also understand that once an organ is harvested time is of the essence. Do we really want to waste valuable time trying to determine if this person is "worthy" of the organs and risk losing the organs completely?
Look, I am not making light of this situation. I understand that there is a huge deficit between those donating organs to those waiting on organs. I think that this is horrible. However, I do not see my organ donation as anything other than the ability to allow another person to go on when my life is over.
I don't think that this "you can have mine only if you designate yours" is going to change things. Education and awareness are what is needed. An understanding that no doctor is going to not save a person simply because they have an organ donor sticker on their license. If you took just a moment and thought about your last hospital visit; did you ever even show your license to anyone other than the woman seeking out insurance information? In an emergency situation where ones identity needs to be determined; I can promise you that the doctor taking care of you is not going to have time to read your license. He or she will be far too busy trying to save your life.
I am an organ donor. I am disgusted by the sheer numbers of viable organs that are not harvested. I am here to let you know, I would love for every person to become an organ donor, but I don't think anyone should be denied the chance to live simply because they aren't.
I am open to hearing differing viewpoints. The more we discuss this, the more people become aware of the issue. If that means that I have to hear a hundred people tell me I am stupid because I disagree with this organization, it is worth it to me. The way I see it; we are discussing organ donation and if one person changes their view because of this discussion; my job is done.
So, let me know your thoughts.
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Comments (18)
I knew this was going to be a blog post, and you explained my thoughts exactly. I knew that I could count on you. I often times wonder if the reason that I have not heard anything from my donor family is that the person whose lungs I have, was not a good person. Perhaps the decision to donate was out of their hands, and perhaps they died an unworthy death. All things to consider. My question is, when given a gift of any sort, are there usually stipulations? I mean, say at a birthday party or at Christmas time, does someone say ....here is an available gift, but you cant have it unless you agree to ______________. You decide, but I agree with Ange!
@kidzandK9z@xanga - Good, I realized that I misspelled your username, so I changed it. LOL
I wonder if they are still just having a difficult time with the death. I know that Whitney had the opportunity to meet the person that received the eyes of a very dear friend of hers. She said it was the most difficult thing she had ever done and she couldn't look at them.
I just think that the way you are going about it, bringing awareness and educating those that might not know, is the best way to do this. I am glad this met with your approval!!
My all-time favorite song goes, "The sun doesn't give light to the moon, assuming the moon's going to owe it one." (Linkin Park, A Place For My Head...I think you'd like it, too...at least the lyrics.)
And that system isn't flawless. It's my understanding that not every organ can be put into every body...there are matches that must be made. I am *NOT* well versed in how easily these matches are to make, but what happens if there's not match on the waiting list that's an organ donor? What if the only watch hasn't signed up yet?
I don't know the reality of it...it may just be email forwards...but wasn't there rumored to be a black market for organs? People willing to pay for them and not ask questions about where they came from?? (I'm going somewhere with this...I promise...LOL...) Point being: Your own mortality can mess with you. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who, even if they don't believe in donation for themselves, would sign up just to get priority and decline to be again after their surgery.
For me, there's no point in the stipulation.
@gwacemom - I like to think that someday I will be able to properly thank this family, that said, I also wonder if maybe there was no family. Maybe there is nobody to give my letter to. What you said about Whitney reminded me of Seven pounds.
My sister miss spells my username all the time
@kidzandK9z@xanga - Depends. Are we asking me or my former in-laws? LOL.
@filtered_sunlight - I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who, even if they don't believe in donation for themselves, would sign up just to get priority and decline to be again after their surgery.
That was my thought process as well.
@filtered_sunlight - LOL, you!
@filtered_sunlight - LOL, or my mother? That woman seems to think a gift is just really a "suggestion" unless you do exactly as she wishes.
@filtered_sunlight - There is a huge amount of detail and political crap that goes on with matching and the rules of who is entitled to what. I feel that is has to do more with dedication and who has more pull. There is a black market for organ donation and in some countries people are killed for it.
Doctors, or most of them, try to stick to what is morally right when it comes to this tricky business, and I say business cuz that is what it boils down to. There isn't a medical way to predict how fast a person will lose function of an organ, there is a lot of guess work involved. I personally went for needing lungs in five years, to needing lungs in two years, to needing lungs in six months, to needing lungs in two weeks....all within a one month period.
@kidzandK9z@xanga - Then, no. I give my gifts freely.
@gwacemom - Mike's mother would give gifts...and then we you didn't do what she wanted you to, you were ungrateful for all she'd done. "But I have you _______ for Christmas!" Mike was batshit and nuts in the end, don't get me wrong, but even he would call bullshit on that one.
@kidzandK9z@xanga - I was living in Dallas when the Micky Mantle transplant took place. There were so many people saying they gave it to him simply because of who he was, but honestly, how does anyone other than his doctor know how badly he needed it? (Okay, he was a drunk and it was a liver, but I like to believe that he was the exception and not the rule)
@gwacemom - Well like I said, political crap and yes he being Mickey Mantle probably had a lot to do with it. I dont know him or his doc, so I cant judge, Im with you!!
@gwacemom - sadly, because he only needed a liver that put him higher on the transplant list. There was a good friend of the family (he had been one of the boy scouts when my Dad first started the troop before either I or my middle sister was born and always stayed in touch with my family) that had cancer as a young child. The doctors, at the time, didnt expect him to live past age 2. He lived well beyond that, and relatively healthy for many years. (I do always remember him breathing what seemed to be heavy, but that was because he was missing part or all of a lung, Im not sure which.) Not long after I graduated high school, he was in the hospital - in the ICU - because he was doing really badly. He needed lungs and I believe a heart. Because he needed more than 1 organ that put him at almost the bottom of the list. One of the things they do look at is your expected survival rate. It was really sad when he died - his daughter was about 2. But I do understand why he wasnt high on the list for an organ transplant.
And to answer your original question, there are many people that are not able to donate organs because of various medical treatments they have had in their lives. I know people who have had maximum lifetime radiation treatments. Their organs would not be harvested, no matter the circumstance. But to deny them organs because they cant donate their own is total BS.
It sounds selfish to me that one would only want to give organs 'if' anything!
@der_lila_Stern@xanga - In all honesty, I am unsure if Emily would be a candidate for organ donation due to her Down syndrome, so under these peoples thinking; she is not worthy an organ.
There are so many variables to organ donation; I had no idea.
@gwacemom - I just cant imagine anyone denying her an organ if she ever needed one. It just baffles me.
@der_lila_Stern@xanga - I read that comment on the blog and it just weirded me out. I get the idea of why they are doing it, but come one; there are some people that simply cannot donate.
I had one woman that went over to see if she could donate marrow and due to a clotting issue she was unable to get on the registry. Why should I deny her marrow if she ever needed it because of her inability to do the same? It simply astounds me.
I did want Misty's opinion because she has been there. Here is a person that has had to be on that waiting list and even she found it extreme.
LifeSharers does not try to convince people to donate ONLY to other organ donors. LifeSharers tries to convince people to donate FIRST to other organ donors, and then to non-donors if no donor is a suitable match.
This creates an incentive for non-donors to donate. More donors = fewer people dying waiting for transplants.
Everyone can offer to donate their organs when they die. Nobody is excluded from joining LifeSharers. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org.