Are you an organ donor?

[Fiver]

Nope, this isn't a poll and that was a rhetorical question. This is just a reminder that you don't need to die to be an organ donor. There are people right now who desperately need that bit of you that your body will regenerate, like bone marrow and blood. It's not painless, but it's far less painful for the donor than the illness that necessitates the donation.

Blood and bone marrow regenerate easily in most healthy people. If you've been declined for some reason as a blood donor, this does not necessarily mean you will be declined as a marrow donor. For more information on who can donate bone marrow, Be The Match is an excellent place to gather information. To learn the specifics of registering in Canada, check out Canadian Blood Services.

And those other parts you don't use once you're dead? Doesn't hurt at all to donate those pounds of flesh, and I promise you won't miss them at all. And you'll forever change the lives of those who will cherish your donation until the end of their days.

I'd add statistics, but I'm lazy, and the truth is that we all know that people die every day while waiting for a donated organ. That guy you pass on your way to work every day? The one who waves to you? He might be dying while waiting for a kidney. The woman who rings up your Cheetos and beer? Her husband might have only a few months to live if he doesn't get a heart/lung transplant. Someone on a message board whose posts you read but you've never met? There's another one who might be in need of a bone marrow transplant, and you wouldn't even have to die to help.

Someone would do it for you -- will you do the same?

 

[arnett]

I just registered on the bone marrow registry. All it took was a few swipes of my cheek with a cotton swab-completely painless. And if I'm ever a match they will be in contact with me.

I also have the sticker on my driver's license that indicates my desire to be an organ donor. Should something ever happen to me, my wishes have been made clear.....those organs will be doing me no good. Maybe I can help a mother out there who has a young child like I do, who could live because of my donation at that time. I hope I never have to find out, but if I do die an accidental death I want to help as many people as possible to live full lives.

 

[white page]

Of course Fiver, I am also a blood donor.

 

[Fiver]

I just registered on the bone marrow registry. All it took was a few swipes of my cheek with a cotton swab-completely painless. And if I'm ever a match they will be in contact with me.

Thanks from the heart to both you and WP for understanding the need, and for helping to spread the word.

What most people don't realize is that you must actively seek to become a bone marrow donor. True, you also have to leave your house to donate blood, but people don't think about donating bone marrow because it's not publicized, and it's not quite as passive as checking a box on your driver's license. You don't usually think about being a bone marrow donor until someone central or peripheral to your life needs a match, and you're asked by a family member or co-worker to join the donor registry.

I also have the sticker on my driver's license that indicates my desire to be an organ donor. Should something ever happen to me, my wishes have been made clear.....

Just be sure that your next of kin is aware and complicit with your desires, because the final word has nothing to do with your wishes, but those of your next of kin.

As you already know, Arnett, donating bone marrow is something you can do while you're alive that is entirely your choice. It is no less life-saving or important than donating a heart or liver upon brain death. And you will still be around to reap the reward of knowing you made an incredible difference to not just one person, but to everyone in that one person's life.

 

[NicNak]

I am a blood donor, I also just recently saw about how to be a bone marrow donor too, I am also going to look into that further too.

I also have my organ donor card in my wallet, I have asked to not have my eggs used for donation purposes though. Seeing the condition I have, I also want to have my brain donated to science, if they want it.



Thanks for posting this Fiver! Great post! :2thumbs:

 

[HBas]

Hey,

Thanks to an awesome young person that became a donor my sister is alive today! She had kidney and Pancreas transplant in the beginning of the year and is doing better every day - looks like a sumo wrestler swollen from all the cortisone but doing better than she has in 10 years. She is only 30 and has a chance to live now. We thank the poor parents of the other young person for being so selfless when they lost their own and saving another in the process. The little donor was only 12 ... Heartbreaking but that young person is a Hero to all of us.

Donating whatever you can has a bigger effect than you can ever realize!

HB

 

[Fiver]

Donating whatever you can has a bigger effect than you can ever realize!

Exactly! Thanks for bringing it home, HB. I wish continued good health for your sister, too.

 

[Banned]

I give blood whenever I can (whenever I don't get rejected because my iron isn't high enough) and am also on the bone marrow and stem cell (or something like that) registry...if ever needed, I will gladly give.

 

[Fiver]

Turtle, in my opinion there is nothing more selfless than a live organ donor. Mind you, I believe that organ donation of any kind of is an extremely generous and unselfish act, but live donation comes with the knowledge that there will be a bit of discomfort. Thank you.

 

[Daniel E.]

BTW:

Odds of being selected are about 1 in 200.

Marrow-stem cell donor matching program does life-saving work - MLive.com

 

[Andy]

I am a blood, organ, and bone marrow donor. I have been a blood donor since I was 16 or 17,they moved the age and I don't know if it was up or down but since I was able. I obviously haven't given up my organs yet and doubt I will ever give marrow but I do know the blood donation (when I am able) always makes me feel good knowing I am helping some one out. The days I donate I actually feel good about myself for a whole day.

Anyway, it's a great choice to become a donor of any kind! :goodjob:

 

[Fiver]

Okay, I'm going to come clean here. It seemed crass for me to pimp my own self-serving reasons for my interest in donor programs in general, and bone marrow in specific.

But I have a very personal and vested interest in getting the word out regarding organ donation. I am not a candidate to ever donate because I have Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. One day I'll need a bone marrow transplant, and my heme-onc is pushing for it now because the University of Michigan protocol believes a patient with my critera (mostly young age) will fare much better and live a less uncomfortable life with a transplant.

In the time that we talked, I learned a lot. I learned about way too many people who are less fortunate that I am, who absolutely will die without a transplant. Me, I'll be okay for quite some time to come because while Gleevek isn't ideal, it's still a great new medication. But so many others are waiting and dying...for that heart, that liver, that bone marrow. I could barely contain my tears reading the stories...and wished I could donate. But I can't. So I can do the next best thing, by reminding others that they can donate. I may or may not find a match from those I enlighten, but there will be a match for them somewhere. And that means someone else gets to live a quality life.

I'm an atheist, but if I weren't, I'd ask God to bless each one of your for offering yourselves to those in need.

 

[white page]

The death of Mary Travers makes this thread even more relevant, if that is possible.

Many people are frightened of becoming a bone marrow donor, because they are under the misconception that the bone marrow is taken from the spinal column, with the risk of damage,
This is not true , the bone marrow is taken from the pelvic bones, which are rich in marrow due to their size. No risks at all. just a little soreness for a couple of days