View Full Version : Be a donor, you just might save a life... Much thanks to those that do
I wanted to post this for a family member along with anyone else that needs an organ donation.
My wife's uncle that I have known for nearly 20 years now has been in need of a lung transplant. He has served in the US National Guard for longer than I've known him. He was deployed to Afghanistan and ended up with a lung disease the Dr's say he got while being there.
He had been recently moved up to the top of the waiting list. Tuesday he was quickly brought in when a donor became available, from a 17 year old boy. A lung transplant is a very fragile operation and needs to be done ASAP.
The two families were actually together at the time, parents that just lost a 17 year old son, and a family in need for a loved one to live on.
The boy's family while being in complete shock still wished and prayed the transplant goes well so a part of their son still lives on and can save a life.
To put myself in those shoes... I can't imagine.
He has been in an induced coma and still has another surgery to go through tomorrow. We are all praying for the best.
That little donor and heart symbol on my driver's license means a whole lot more to me now.
My organs aint worth a damn from rough living and are nigh on four decades old but....help yourself
We just had a 16 year-old boy from the area get killed, just being a kid grab-assing around with his friends - he got ran over.
His death was senseless and I'm sure his parents, family and friends, have asked themselves 'why him? at his age, why him?'
They can take some small degree of solace in the fact that many folks will live or have the quality of their lives improved by the organs he told his family he wanted to donate.
From all reports this young man's family finds comfort and meaning in the knowledge he lives on through others.
Firefly - a lot of our parts and pieces can be used regardless of age. Don't jump off a bridge or anything, but if you have donor indicated on your papers, you won't go to waste.
I wanted to post this for a family member along with anyone else that needs an organ donation.
He has been in an induced coma and still has another surgery to go through tomorrow. We are all praying for the best.
That little donor and heart symbol on my driver's license means a whole lot more to me now.
I'll join you and your family in praying for your uncle-in-law. Best wishes.
I'll join you and your family in praying for your uncle-in-law. Best wishes.
Thank you sir that means a lot.
We just had a 16 year-old boy from the area get killed, just being a kid grab-assing around with his friends - he got ran over.
His death was senseless and I'm sure his parents, family and friends, have asked themselves 'why him? at his age, why him?'
They can take some small degree of solace in the fact that many folks will live or have the quality of their lives improved by the organs he told his family he wanted to donate.
From all reports this young man's family finds comfort and meaning in the knowledge he lives on through others.
Firefly - a lot of our parts and pieces can be used regardless of age. Don't jump off a bridge or anything, but if you have donor indicated on your papers, you won't go to waste.
I'm not exactly sure how this boy died, from what I understand most likely from a head injury not torso being a lung donor.
I'm not exactly sure how this boy died, from what I understand most likely from a head injury not torso being a lung donor.
The group he was running with were all lifeguards at a local pool, they were playing what I took as a variation of the old Chinese fire drill on a rural road. Apparently everyone though he had run into a field when in actuality he was either crouched down or laying by the car. They jumped in and one of his friends drove over him. Kids, being kids - imagine what the burden they will carry with them. Ultimately he died of head injuries. The story also mentions his corneas and optic nerve.
http://www.hutchnews.com/news/local_state_news/gift-of-organ-donation-by-lyons-teen-who-died-recently/article_cebcb32b-c034-5409-aefa-fdcc4206ed6c.html
Hope things are progressing well with your 'uncle.'
SilverBullet432
09-19-15, 15:08
Im glad to hear about that but i dont want the hospital to kill me if i have a chance to live to collect my organs..
HighDesert
09-19-15, 15:41
Im glad to hear about that but i dont want the hospital to kill me if i have a chance to live to collect my organs..
First of all - smoke and prayers up from AZ to the OP.
Secondly, I tend to side with the above - if an EMT or doctor is working on me in a seconds/minutes matter life or death situation and sees I'm a donor - I do believe unconsciously there may be a chance they will not work as hard... To me it is not worth the chance no matter how miniscule or ridiculous it may be.
If there are 2 of us dying with the same injuries, one a donor and one not, who are they going to work on? I have had this discussion with friends in the med field and they did not disagree.
Not worth the risk to me.
Of course, this is my own personal opinion.
First of all - smoke and prayers up from AZ to the OP.
Secondly, I tend to side with the above - if an EMT or doctor is working on me in a seconds/minutes matter life or death situation and sees I'm a donor - I do believe unconsciously there may be a chance they will not work as hard... To me it is not worth the chance no matter how miniscule or ridiculous it may be.
If there are 2 of us dying with the same injuries, one a donor and one not, who are they going to work on? I have had this discussion with friends in the med field and they did not disagree.
Not worth the risk to me.
Of course, this is my own personal opinion.
This.
I'm a donor, or atleast way back when I checked that box at the DMV. I will say though that after having witnessed the post accident/ER work up, and subsequent organ harvesting process first hand, it is a bit unsettling to say the least.
This.
So, you guys aren't willing to let go and let God in this respect?
I will say though that after having witnessed the post accident/ER work up, and subsequent organ harvesting process first hand, it is a bit unsettling to say the least.
They move pretty quickly once the body is released. It really causes a mess when someone diligent notices what appears to be a gunshot wound when you've already got corneas and skin off the thighs on the way to their new recipients.
HighDesert
09-20-15, 00:20
So, you guys aren't willing to let go and let God in this respect?
**** no - I have a wife and two young girls at home. My family needs me, I need them, and I would do anything for them.
Dying prematurely due to a third party's personal judgement does not make the list.
It is the same reason I carry a gun every single day - for them. I like to stack the odds in my favor when I can - not being an organ donor is exactly the same principle.
**** no - I have a wife and two young girls at home. My family needs me, I need them, and I would do anything for them.
Dying prematurely due to a third party's personal judgement does not make the list.
It is the same reason I carry a gun every single day - for them. I like to stack the odds in my favor when I can - not being an organ donor is exactly the same principle.
Okay, not going to get into risk assessment.
Here's the deal. I held EMT certification and worked volunteer for a couple decades, didn't recert as of 2001. As an LE officer I accompanied, drove, rode or met ambulances at ER's on more than one occasion. I'm not saying I know everything, but I've been in busy ER's. Trauma Doc's don't triage by donor card. I've heard Doctors tell attending nurses to 'step away from her (not nearly that nice and she was a Catholic Nursing Sister), she's gone, we have a chance here' but I've never seen a doctor make a decision on 'Hey Sister, is this guy a donor?' I haven't heard everything, but I'm thinking you are getting your info from the third shitter down.
And aside from that, even if you are brain dead, the longer they keep you going the more time they have to contact organ banks and get a harvest team put together. It's not like Joe's body shop 'hey does that Mustang have a good right rear quarter?' they don't go 'hey, we need a heart, don't work real hard on that guy' as they pinch off your oxygen.
I just think you are working on faulty assumptions. If there are two of you circling the drain and its a tie as to how bad you are messed up, well, dang, time to let go and let God - in other words trust.
HighDesert
09-20-15, 01:20
Okay, not going to get into risk assessment.
Here's the deal. I held EMT certification and worked volunteer for a couple decades, didn't recert as of 2001. As an LE officer I accompanied, drove, rode or met ambulances at ER's on more than one occasion. I'm not saying I know everything, but I've been in busy ER's. Trauma Doc's don't triage by donor card. I've heard Doctors tell attending nurses to 'step away from her (not nearly that nice and she was a Catholic Nursing Sister), she's gone, we have a chance here' but I've never seen a doctor make a decision on 'Hey Sister, is this guy a donor?' I haven't heard everything, but I'm thinking you are getting your info from the third shitter down.
And aside from that, even if you are brain dead, the longer they keep you going the more time they have to contact organ banks and get a harvest team put together. It's not like Joe's body shop 'hey does that Mustang have a good right rear quarter?' they don't go 'hey, we need a heart, don't work real hard on that guy' as they pinch off your oxygen.
I just think you are working on faulty assumptions. If there are two of you circling the drain and its a tie as to how bad you are messed up, well, dang, time to let go and let God - in other words trust.
God I trust, Men I do not.
I do appreciate your insight and real world experience on the subject.
But when it comes down to it, its an easily and simple avoidable risk, regardless of how ridiculously small it may actually be.
daddyusmaximus
09-20-15, 08:13
My wife, son, and I are all donors. My daughter, (the one that turned out half liberal) is not. Not sure what I did wrong....
We had a close family friend, my sister in law's stepdaughter who was a beautiful 15 year old girl with Cystic Fibrosis. She had a younger sister with CF also.
They obviously had issues their whole lives but the older sister's issues got really bad. Luckily she was able to get on the lung transplant list. She finally got the transplant when she was about 17 and graduated high school.
Her body began to reject the lungs and things went sideways. She got married to her longtime boyfriend just before she passed on.
Even though it was only a little extra time she got, I would like to think it was worth trying the transplant.
I don't have a completely clear decision on whether I'm down with donating. I would like to think that if I'm bad enough off, life wouldn't be much worth living anyway even if by some miracle I made it through a critical injury.
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