Are you an organ donor?

[StaceyinLA]

I'm just curious about the percentage of people who are donors. If you aren't, would you mind sharing why you aren't? I'm wondering about folks who might have religious objection to it, and what those objections are.

[fhjmom]

I am an organ donor. I am also a registered temporal bone donor. The temporal bone registry matches donor tissues (upon death of course) from people who have hearing loss, tinnitus, facial nerve disfunction, or other inner ear anomalies with research facilities around the country. The cause of my and my daughters hearing loss is unknown and "interesting" to doctors. I thought being a donor might help find out more about what caused ours and may just be able to help future generations.

[SKL]

I can't remember what I put last time I renewed. I used to feel that it should be up to whoever buried me to decide what was done with my body. I mean, they are the ones who are going to feel emotional about it. My mom had told me of some things that upset her years ago, that made me think she might be very bothered by certain organ donations.

 

Now my mom is in the middle of getting a cornea transplant, so I don't think she'd be upset if I donated some of my parts once I don't need them any more. So I do want to switch to "organ donor" the next chance I get.

[Melissa in Australia]

No, Because I am just not convinced completely that I will be really dead.

I have told DH that if I am dead, please donate my organs, but I am not going on the registry.

[Amira]

I'm not sure it's possible to be one where I live now, but I am when I live in the US.

[AdventureMoms]

Yes, once I'm done with my body I hope someone has a use for it.

[Pippen]

My mom had told me of some things that upset her years ago, that made me think she might be very bothered by certain organ donations.

 

I went off the registry when I realized that one of my kids was not in a place to be able to handle the thought of organ donation well if I were to die. That probably wouldn't be an issue now the child is a teen but it's not an option anymore as I have a close blood relative that died from Cruetzfeldt Jakob disease.

[TrulySusan]

Checking the "yes" box to be an organ donor is not official. It is meant as an easy way to let others know your wishes. If the family does not sign consent for donation, it will not take place, no matter what it says on your drivers license.

 

Oh, and I am an organ donor.

[LaxMom]

Yes, I'm an organ donor. It's marked on my license, and my husband knows my wishes and supports donation, so even if it wasn't... I'm also on the bone marrow registry.

[Parrothead]

I don't know. In some states I am and others maybe not.

[mommaduck]

I'm just curious about the percentage of people who are donors. If you aren't, would you mind sharing why you aren't? I'm wondering about folks who might have religious objection to it, and what those objections are.

Our family has had an unethical dr try to force our grandmother to sign consent on our still living grandfather (threatened her) to allow him to put our grandfather under and remove his organs because his "quality of life" had "gone down" while he was in the hospital. We finally found another doctor, surgery was done, and he lived another ten years (without support...went home, enjoyed his family, could still feed himself, etc).

[Kathryn]

Our family has had an unethical dr try to force our grandmother to sign consent on our still living grandfather (threatened her) to allow him to put our grandfather under and remove his organs because his "quality of life" had "gone down" while he was in the hospital. We finally found another doctor, surgery was done, and he lived another ten years (without support...went home, enjoyed his family, could still feed himself, etc).

 

No. Reason 1, for situations like that. Reason 2, is that I have a genetic immune disorder that I expect would make organ donation not a good idea.

 

I also have never donated blood as I don't weigh enough.

[magnificent_baby]

No, I am not and do not plan to be in the future.

I would gladly donate bone marrow (was on the list many years ago, assume I still am), kidney, etc. I would also not be opposed to donating my body to science.

[Mimm]

I'm not on any registry... though it is checked yes on my license. I've made it clear to my family that I'm in favor of organ donation if I were to die.

[KirstenH]

Like others, I want to make sure I'm really dead before they harvest my body for parts. I trust my husband to make that call. Doctors, not so much.

[LizzyBee]

I voted other. My drivers license says yes, but now that I have chronic leukemia, my blood and organs are no longer eligible for donation.

[Chris in VA]

My brother is a double-lung transplant recipient. I'm a donor. If I'm not really dead, it won't be a big deal to me, as I know where I'm going after death anyway. If I get there quicker, on one hand it'd be a tragedy of course, but in the end, I don't care. No one would ever know.

[Mrs Mungo]

Yes, once I'm done with my body I hope someone has a use for it.

 

:iagree:

 

Your family has to consent, even when you have checked yes on your license. Checking yes is just a way to indicate your wishes to your loved ones.

[BigMamaBird]

Yes, I'm an organ donor and am on the bone marrow registry.

[mytwomonkeys]

yes. i'm an organ donor & i feel strongly about it. god forbid if my children passed, they would be organ donors too. my husband was not an organ donor until this year. he converted.:)

[Scuff]

Back when you could just sign the back of your license, I did. Now that you have to register, I don't. DH knows to donate my parts when I die. Provided we don't die together, that should be enough. It may not be logical, but I get very weirded out at the thought of my name being on a list saying you can cut me up and give away what's inside. I don't really see how it's an invation of privacy, and I'm sure it makes the process faster and probably better at saving lives. But it feels like one.

[*********]

I'm an organ donor. I'm also a living kidney donor; I donated to my sister 12 years ago.

[ktgrok]

No, Because I am just not convinced completely that I will be really dead.

I have told DH that if I am dead, please donate my organs, but I am not going on the registry.

 

It is my understanding that even if you are a registered donor, it is still up to your DH/next of kin. So you could be registered, but if DH says no than it is no. And if you are not registered, but a good candidate, they will ask him anyway. So the only thing that registering does is let your next of kin know your feelings on the matter.

[ktgrok]

Our family has had an unethical dr try to force our grandmother to sign consent on our still living grandfather (threatened her) to allow him to put our grandfather under and remove his organs because his "quality of life" had "gone down" while he was in the hospital. We finally found another doctor, surgery was done, and he lived another ten years (without support...went home, enjoyed his family, could still feed himself, etc).

 

But, if he was or wasn't registered as a donor, how would that have changed things?

 

I think the question is, when you are actually dead, would you want your organs donated, not, would you want to be killed in order to have your organs used.

[Jenny in Florida]

Absolutely, I'm an organ donor. My beloved mother-in-law received a liver transplant that bought her several years of life, and both she and my father-in-law were very active in raising awareness and advocating for the cause. We continue to donate and support as we can in honor of her/them.

 

I did recently research the question of whether I could opt out of donating certain parts. My daughter has some serious emotional issues with regard to anything happening to a person's eyes, and I knew she'd have nightmares for the rest of her life if anyone tried to take mine, even after I don't need them anymore. If my husband is still here when those decisions have to be made, I know he'll be sensitive to this, but I didn't want my daughter to have to be approached with the question. I don't remember exactly where I found it (a state website, maybe?), but I did find a way to say certain organs should NOT be donated.

[mommaduck]

But, if he was or wasn't registered as a donor, how would that have changed things?

 

I think the question is, when you are actually dead, would you want your organs donated, not, would you want to be killed in order to have your organs used.

The point is, I don't trust the medical community to decide when I'm "dead" (the definition of that term varies depending upon who you speak to).

 

Also, I'm Orthodox. I don't believe in cremation or embalming either.

[mytwomonkeys]

But, if he was or wasn't registered as a donor, how would that have changed things?

 

I think the question is, when you are actually dead, would you want your organs donated, not, would you want to be killed in order to have your organs used.

 

yes, my answer would be quite different if the question was the latter!

[Scuff]

So, assuming we actually communicate with our loved ones, what's the point of the registry?

[mommymilkies]

Yes, I am. But I am not ok with cornea transplant donation. That sounds horrible, especially since I know a little girl who has already had 3 transplants. But when i worked in the hospital & hospice I watched one and I just...can't. Dh knows this.

[magnificent_baby]

The point is, I don't trust the medical community to decide when I'm "dead" (the definition of that term varies depending upon who you speak to).

 

Also, I'm Orthodox. I don't believe in cremation or embalming either.

 

This is what makes me uncomfortable. When I was working, there was no universal concensus on brain death. It was up to each hospital to determine the criteria. Where I worked, the policy was vague; it was basically up to the doctor's discretion, along with minimal testing. I am hoping this has since changed at this facility.

[Mimmy]

No, I am not and do not plan to be in the future. I took care of a young patient who began showing signs of life literally hours before he/she would have become a donor. This patient was dismissed and walked out of the ICU a week or two afterwards. This was after being "declared" brain dead and the organ team was on the way.

 

I would gladly donate bone marrow (was on the list many years ago, assume I still am), kidney, etc. I would also not be opposed to donating my body to science.

 

I am a donor. I'm also an ICU nurse. I once took care of a patient who had been declared, family consented, out of state transplant harvesting team had arrived by plane, they had him in OR and one of the people down there thought the patient had a gag reflex still intact. They sent him back upstairs and did not take his organs which had already been matched to several recipients. The patient died within an hour of being brought back upstairs. In my experience transplant teams are very conscientious.

[Jpoy85]

Ok, what do you mean " If im really dead" and " killed for your organs"??? :confused:

 

and whats gross about the cornea transplant?

 

Sorry, I must be dumb, i thought you were dead. Like no heartbeat/brain function/no air...deader than a doornail and after they sent you to the corener (sp?), theyd send you to the hospital or w/e and send your organs over if they matched....is that not what they do? :bigear:

[mommymilkies]

This is what makes me uncomfortable. When I was working, there was no universal concensus on brain death. It was up to each hospital to determine the criteria. Where I worked, the policy was vague; it was basically up to the doctor's discretion, along with minimal testing. I am hoping this has since changed at this facility.

 

Really? I have worked at two hospitals. They take GREAT care to make sure. They're aren't some unfeeling workers who could care less. We shed tears over our patients who pass, we take care of them like they're our own. Sure sometimes you get a bad apple, but I can't imagine somebody just assuming you're dead and taking your organs! That's like a bad urban legend!

 

Cornea transplant-I don't want to come off and offend someone. I just have a thing about eyes. I won't let anyone near mine. We all have our quirks. You can take my heart, but my eyes...*shiver*. "The eyes are the window to the soul" and all that.

Edited May 4, 2012 by mommymilkies

[mommaduck]

Ok, what do you mean " If im really dead" and " killed for your organs"??? :confused:

 

and whats gross about the cornea transplant?

 

Sorry, I must be dumb, i thought you were dead. Like no heartbeat/brain function/no air...deader than a doornail and after they sent you to the corener (sp?), theyd send you to the hospital or w/e and send your organs over if they matched....is that not what they do? :bigear:

In my grandfather's situation, he was not brain dead, he had had many surgeries, and the assumption was he may or may not make it through another (this man had survived many "he may not make it" situations over a 25yr period). One dr decided he was better as an organ donor than trying to save his life. They can only harvest organs up to a certain point upon death. If my grandfather died over night, at home, and wasn't discovered till morning, his organs may no longer have had value. So they wanted to basically snowball him (put him under) and harvest his organs. Since everything is based upon the individual doctor's opinion, he could declare him how he wanted.

 

So yes, they can and do harvest organs from those that are still breathing, etc...whether on their own or not. And "brain dead" is another term that has debated definitions. Are you going to assume that the person making those decisions has the same definition you do? I'm not.

[magnificent_baby]

But, if he was or wasn't registered as a donor, how would that have changed things?

 

I think the question is, when you are actually dead, would you want your organs donated, not, would you want to be killed in order to have your organs used.

 

 

For the major organs to be donated, the body has to be kept physically alive (at least this was the case when I was working a few years ago). So if someone was declared brain dead and family consented, the ventilator is kept on and the heart is still beating until harvesting actually occurs in surgery. (I am certainly NOT saying anyone is "killed" in this process, just wanted to clarify when physical death occurs in many cases).There are some tissues that can be donated after one dies too, though.

[magnificent_baby]

Really? I have worked at two hospitals. They take GREAT care to make sure. They're aren't some unfeeling workers who could care less. We shed tears over our patients who pass, we take care of them like they're our own. Sure sometimes you get a bad apple, but I can't imagine somebody just assuming you're dead and taking your organs! That's like a bad urban legend!

 

Cornea transplant-I don't want to come off and offend someone. I just have a thing about eyes. I won't let anyone near mine. We all have our quirks. You can take my heart, but my eyes...*shiver*. "The eyes are the window to the soul" and all that.

 

I did not say anyone was "unfeeling workers who could care less"! 

 

 

[FaithManor]

No. Dh and I are not going to be donors. We are donating our bodies to science because there are not enough cadavers available to med schools and research facilities.

 

Dh's mother is also not a donor and is donating her body. She is a retired nursing professor and has lamented how hard it was to get her nursing students anywhere near a cadaver because there are so few and the med students obviously are prioritized for access.

 

Faith

[Ananda]

So you guys are saying that even though I am a registered organ donor, my next of kin can override that decision? :glare:

 

I feel very strongly that people's organs should be donated. If I was master overlord of the universe, people's organs would be automatically donated at death. I understand that most people disagree and think it should be personal choice and I respect that. I don't respect leaving the decision up to next of kin. I would think next of kin would be very upset at the death of a loved one and not in a good position to make long term decisions based on logic rather than their very strong emotions. I wouldn't trust the bereaved to make the right decision (whatever that is for the deceased). Also I think unnecessary decisions of that magnitude are unfair to leave to loved ones. This is why I registered to be an organ donor, so that that the decision would be taken out of the hands of my loved ones. Now I find that isn't the case. :confused:

 

So . . . is there some kind of legal paper work to put in place, so that my last wishes are followed? I want my organs donated. Full Stop. (I understand that may not be possible, because of circumstances surrounding my death.)

[AdventureMoms]

So you guys are saying that even though I am a registered organ donor, my next of kin can override that decision? :glare:

 

I feel very strongly that people's organs should be donated. If I was master overlord of the universe, people's organs would be automatically donated at death. I understand that most people disagree and think it should be personal choice and I respect that. I don't respect leaving the decision up to next of kin. I would think next of kin would be very upset at the death of a loved one and not in a good position to make long term decisions based on logic rather than their very strong emotions. I wouldn't trust the bereaved to make the right decision (whatever that is for the deceased). Also I think unnecessary decisions of that magnitude are unfair to leave to loved ones. This is why I registered to be an organ donor, so that that the decision would be taken out of the hands of my loved ones. Now I find that isn't the case. :confused:

 

So . . . is there some kind of legal paper work to put in place, so that my last wishes are followed? I want my organs donated. Full Stop. (I understand that may not be possible, because of circumstances surrounding my death.)

 

For the most part I agree with you (organs should be donated by default, though a person should be able to opt out if they wish).

 

However in the current situation the final decision is made by next of kin, even if you are a registered donor. I don't think there's any way around that. All my kin know where I stand on the issue (DONATE ME) and they all agree, but it is still a disconcerting notion that they will have to give consent for it after I die. If I die in another state, it could end up being my mom who has to do it (my marriage is not legal in most states). That's ok because my mom and I are close, but what if we weren't? It isn't a sensible way to handle it, IMO.

[elegantlion]

Yes, I am. But I am not ok with cornea transplant donation. That sounds horrible, especially since I know a little girl who has already had 3 transplants. But when i worked in the hospital & hospice I watched one and I just...can't. Dh knows this.

 

 

Cornea transplant-I don't want to come off and offend someone. I just have a thing about eyes. I won't let anyone near mine. We all have our quirks. You can take my heart, but my eyes...*shiver*. "The eyes are the window to the soul" and all that.

 

I totally get the don't touch my eyes factor. However, my dad had two corneal transplants and can see today because of it.

 

Personally I am not an organ donor. I've had cancer, I'm not even sure I'd qualify. My cancer was in my lymphatic system and there is a decent percentage of recurrence even years out. I would hate for the time my cancer returned in one cell to be the time it was transplanted to another person's body.

Edited May 4, 2012 by elegantlion
duh!

[HappyCrazyMama]

Ok, what do you mean " If im really dead" and " killed for your organs"??? :confused:

 

and whats gross about the cornea transplant?

 

Sorry, I must be dumb, i thought you were dead. Like no heartbeat/brain function/no air...deader than a doornail and after they sent you to the corener (sp?), theyd send you to the hospital or w/e and send your organs over if they matched....is that not what they do? :bigear:

 

It is my understanding that the body must still be alive or the organs cannot be used. I am not an organ donor and that was my main reason. I don't want anyone to think that I'm "dead enough" to take my organs. What if I wasn't?

[momto2Cs]

Yes, once I'm done with my body I hope someone has a use for it.

 

:iagree:

[Julie in CA]

I feel very strongly that people's organs should be donated. If I was master overlord of the universe, people's organs would be automatically donated at death. I understand that most people disagree and think it should be personal choice and I respect that. I don't respect leaving the decision up to next of kin. I would think next of kin would be very upset at the death of a loved one and not in a good position to make long term decisions based on logic rather than their very strong emotions. I wouldn't trust the bereaved to make the right decision (whatever that is for the deceased). Also I think unnecessary decisions of that magnitude are unfair to leave to loved ones. This is why I registered to be an organ donor, so that that the decision would be taken out of the hands of my loved ones.

This perspective astonishes me. I'm not willing for someone else (who very possibly does not have my personal best interests at heart) to decide when to pull the plug. If it truly were simply a matter of a dead body in a morgue, sure, take the organs, but someone else making the decision for my dh or dc, that there's someone who needs a ___________, so now's as good a time as any to declare me "dead"? No way, and I hope we never get to a place where those decisions are taken out of the hands of the people who love me, to be given to someone who may have another motive, or even a mercenary one. :001_huh:

[MamaAkins]

I voted other. My drivers license says yes, but now that I have chronic leukemia, my blood and organs are no longer eligible for donation.

 

I voted other also. My driver's license says yes and I would donate if I could, but since I had Hodgkins lymphoma (blood related cancer), my blood and organs are no longer accepted for donation.

[ocelotmom]

My brother is a double-lung transplant recipient. I'm a donor. If I'm not really dead, it won't be a big deal to me, as I know where I'm going after death anyway. If I get there quicker, on one hand it'd be a tragedy of course, but in the end, I don't care. No one would ever know.

This is basically my view, minus the "I know where I'm going" part.

 

What are, realistically, the chances that I'm miraculously going to recover from brain death? What will my quality of life be if I do?

 

Despite not having a belief in any particular version of afterlife, I can't see after-death as anything so horrible that it is worth giving up the potential benefit to others on the off chance that there is maybe a little more to eek out of life.

 

I do imagine it would be a horrible hard decision to make if it were one of my kids, though.

 

(Organ donation after brain death, but while the body is still being kept alive, is preferred, and many more organs can be used in that circumstance. However, some organ donations can still occur after the body has died.)

[magnificent_baby]

I am a donor. I'm also an ICU nurse. I once took care of a patient who had been declared, family consented, out of state transplant harvesting team had arrived by plane, they had him in OR and one of the people down there thought the patient had a gag reflex still intact. They sent him back upstairs and did not take his organs which had already been matched to several recipients. The patient died within an hour of being brought back upstairs. In my experience transplant teams are very conscientious.

 

I am sure they are and that is great!

 

As I stated before, it's the declaring of brain death that makes me uncomfortable. 

I think it's just a very personal decision. Kind of like vaccines. I would never criticize anyone for making that decision, even if I would not donate myself.

[gardenmom5]

I had been signed up - and I've had friends who've had organ donations. BUT, our local agency in charge of organs was caught sellling organs to labs for research and people in need of receiving an organ were passed up. I refused to be part of that.

[elegantlion]

I voted other also. My driver's license says yes and I would donate if I could, but since I had Hodgkins lymphoma (blood related cancer), my blood and organs are no longer accepted for donation.

 

That's what I had, although it was called Hodgkin's Disease in 1994. :grouphug:

[PeacefulChaos]

I'm not.

I don't mind donating, but I've heard all the urban myths about not really being dead but being a donor... Idk.

Probably is unfounded and silly, but it still gives me pause.

[momma aimee]

Yes, once I'm done with my body I hope someone has a use for it.

 

:iagree:

 

and if our children die, God forbid, we will donate their's too