The most recent posts kind of cancel that theory out, I would guess. If they need a living will or a relative's permission in order to use your organs, they're not going to decide whether or not to save you just from looking at your driver's license.

Actually, if we know a person is an organ donor, we have to work harder to keep them "alive" while harvesting organs-if that person is brain dead, you have to work really hard to keep their body functioning to keep blood flow to all the organs. It's a really intensive process that requires alot of coordination between the MD's, the organ procurement service, and the nurses. The patient becomes a one to one-meaning the nurse taking care of him only has them as their patient, because they get so busy with them-there's a ton of work involved.

I'm a donor. You'd be surprised what can be used from people, even when they've passed away from really severe diseases.

Well, like I said...he was a jackass.... :p

on the subject of organ donation, I was behind a car the other day with a bumper sticker that said "Don't take your organs to heaven with you... Heaven knows we need them here!"

One of the things I have written consent to donate is my eyes. There is a congenital eye disease in my family, and the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore needs the eyes of those in families such as mine, in order to do research. So, I'm still not a true donor (in death), but if examining my eyes will save someone from disease, that's wonderful!

So... that's a new wrinkle: would it bother you to be a donor, and have your organs used not to keep someone else alive, but for research?


ETA: My eyes are only to be harvested by someone from the Wilmer, or who knows what they need.

I give blood every 8 weeks and am trying to get on the bone marrow registry but there isn't a place close by me where I can register (don't even get me started on this topic).

In California they changed our Donor cards recently so that they conform with the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. We now have the following choices.

A __ Donate any of organs, tissue or parts
B __ Donate a pacemaker (date implanted ___)
C __ Donate parts, tissues, or organs listed ____
D __ Donate my entire body
E __ Transplantation __ Medical Research __ Both
F __ Not donate any organs, parts, tissues or pacemaker

Then you have to sign & date and have it witnessed. You also have to check a box saying you've discussed it with affected parties.

My friends and family are all aware of my choice. My stepmother was my witness. I chose to donate my entire body for either transplantation or medical research. I figure anything I can do to help others after death by donating my body will be more than I can do in the ground.

That's really good that they make it so easy! My family has a series of Living Wills that would tie up a courtroom for months (since all but two are different!).

Thanks CUGreekgirl and everyone else for prayers. What ticks me off is that not only did Allan die waiting for an organ, but because he had no health insurance, it meant him never being put on the waiting list to start.

You see, Allan had Cystic Fibrosis and this lung transplant would have "cured" him - giving him a 60% survival rate. Alan had no health insurance, so he was dependant upon Medicaid, which denied payment to cover the procedure, calling a 60% chance of survival a "poor outcome considering the cost of the surgery, which was $400,000.

Oh, Honeykiss, that's just obscene!!! I know people who are on Medicaid who were artificially inseminated (as if that's a top priority!) - Allan should have had priority over people like that!!

The concept of governmental medicine scares the spit out of me!!

I think normal licenses are in the $15-20 range and with organ donation I think I paid $8.

Let me echo those words earlier mentioned....TELL YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS if you want your organs donated! I have seen cases where a patient's license listed them as an organ donor, but the decision was overruled by their parents/significant other/etc. So, let those close to you know that you would like to donate your organs.

As a paramedic, I can say that I never looked at someone's license to see if they were an organ donor or not. It was my job to treat the patient, not to make a decision on should I/shouldn't I based on their license.


I am an organ donor. After one of my close friends from high school died in a car accident, and his parents donated his organs....I signed my organ donor card.

Go to http://www.lifenet.org/ for more info about organ donation!

I would hate to be in a "persistant vegitative state" and then be harvested . . . just before I may have come out of it.

There are cases where people that everyone thought were gone did come back . . but that would be difficult once they cut you apart.

this is very difficult for me to decide. i know that once you die, you wont need your organs anymore. but just the thought of it creeps me out. i am currently not a donor.

I agree. This makes me so friggin' angry--some people can get aid to pay for unnecessary $hit like that while others can't afford to have medical procedures to save their own lives?!?! It's sickening, it really is. That's one thing that I really wish would change--everyone in this country deserves health care, not just the rich ones or ones who can somehow beat the system.

When my boyfriend had a heart transplant as a kid, his parents had health insurance for him through his dad's company but the insurance people tried to drop them--and only them--because they were costing too much. :mad: Luckily his dad was in a high enough position to get it worked out, but I think it's really horrible that we have come to such a point that an insurance company would want to drop a 13-year-old kid's health insurance because he was unlucky enough to have to have an operation like that.