Have you ever considered...
 

becoming an organ donor or donating your organs after you have passed on to someone who may with the use of one of your organs?

I've seen reports and I know personally, that many AA are in a serious plight when it comes to waiting for compatible donors.

Just curious of what you all feel.

I think that many of us have been scared off by the misperceptions surrounding blood banks to really considering giving blood. I think that a public relations effort should be considered for the Black community to try to counter this. The buzz years ago in this regard really hadn't changed very much. A full scale PR campaign underwritten by some major corporations and sponsored by large and traditional African-American organizations.

[This message has been edited by nikki25 (edited June 05, 2001).]

I wasn't really talking about blood, I meant like kidneys, heart, lung, etc.

WHOA! I DON'T GIVE BLOOD MY DAYUM SELF! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/eek.gif

Can I say Reading is Fundamental? http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif I see donate and think blood. I think the same suggestion regarding myths and ways to countering them would also apply in the organ donating situation.

I've always heard that if you sign the back of your driver's license, that the doctor's will speed up your dying process. It may sound ignorant, but I've heard it over and over. Its yet another one of those myths. I think that folk tend to be somewhat suspicious of the medical/scientific establishment given their historical use of Blacks for experimentation...but that's just my take.



[This message has been edited by nikki25 (edited June 05, 2001).]

Interesting topic.

I have made my family aware that I want my organs donated if at all possible. If they don't respect my wishes, I will come back and haunt their behinds.

*What's wrong with donating blood?*

Nothing wrong with it at all! A sista just doesn't like needles! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/eek.gif To eliminate the starting of WWIII, keep me AWAY from needles!

[This message has been edited by AKA2D '91 (edited June 05, 2001).]

I'm not sure how I feel about this. It sounds nice to say I would do it, but I'm not quite positive. My father died three years ago, and he had mentioned to me in the past that he wanted his body donated to science. However, he never mentioned it again. I was 16 when he died, and all I could think is that I didn't want any med students somewhere doing God knows what to his body! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/eek.gif Now I sometimes wonder if I should have brought it up to the rest of my siblings - who knows what kind of a help it might have been? I know this is kind of different from donating organs, but I'm curious to know how y'all feel about this.

I hate to sound real bad or anything...but why not? as long as they leave something for the funeral I really don't mind. I fuigure that if I'm dead anyway why not help to give someone else a shot?

I have to agree. My license has the lil' heart on it and I strongly believe in donating organs to help others live. I mean, if I'm dead, why would I need my liver or heart? It's only my body. My soul will be in heaven.

At this time, I would.

Ezquizit is right in point!! If I don't need my organs any more, why not let some one in need have them? I am an organ donor(or should I say will be one . . . you know what I mean!), and I give blood on a regular basis. For those of you who are "scurred" of needles, let me tell you, giving blood is about as painless as it gets, and for every pint of blood donated, up to 3 lives can be saved. I hate to sound like a walking ad for the Red Cross or organ donation people, but I just don't see why people are so hesistant to do these things.

*LOL* Basically.

I would.

HE HE! NICK-e, I don't care what you say, yeah, I's scurred of dem needles.

PAIN to you may not be PAIN TO ME and VICE VERSA!


I ain't giving no blood! COUNT ME OUT! SORRY!

Donating organs, now that's something different. I can consider doing that, cause either I will be asleep or gone on to Glory! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

Amen and amen... Can't go there with the blood donations; however, I am a registered organ donor.

I'm an organ donor, and my sister knows it. My body is just a shell to hold my soul temporarily. When I'm done, they can do what they want with my insides. Just make sure I'm pretty for the funeral! LOL! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

What I don't understand is how the organs still function after I'm dead. You would think that they die, too. Like, do they jump start them when they put them in someone else or what? How exactly does that work? http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/confused.gif I mean, I know that our brains tell them what to do, but then will the organs listen to someone else's brain? That's just wild. I'm trippin'. LOL, I know yall think to yallselves sometimes, Ideal08 got issues! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

[This message has been edited by Ideal08 (edited June 06, 2001).]

You've got a point there.....how does this whole "jump starting" work? Do they remove your organs before you die, or immediately after? I hope some of our science-knowledgeable GreekChatters will give some insight! http://cwm.ragesofsanity.com/cwm/3dlil/retard.gif

Hello to the ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Sistafriends, and everyone.

I have posted a few times in the past but have been away for quite sometime. I am trying to catch up.

Anyway, getting to the issue at hand, there was an episode of THE MONTEL WILLIAMS SHOW, where these families didn't know that organs were being removed from their loved ones (upon death) until it was time to prepare the body for burial.
It was horrific to hear these stories....many very gruesome, and I won't go in to detail about other stories but my point is, WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY does with our organs when we die anyway.

I'm sorry to say that it is not a myth. This happened to my cousin. He was shot in the head and in a coma. The doctors asked his wife if he had a donor card. When she said yes they told her there was no hope, that he would not be the same, he would never wake up yada, yada. After she signed some form they were ready to wheel him away or something he WOKE UP and asked for his wife. He lived a week or so after that but she thanks God that she was able to have him for those few days. She always says that she almost killed her husband. I tell her God wasn't ready for him yet and let him stay a little while longer.

I also saw a show (Dateline, 20/20 one of those) that had people sharing similar experiences. Not all doctors and hospitals are like this but it's scary to know that some are out there.

Oh, I forgot to answer the question. Yes I would donate my organs...just make sure I'm DEAD. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif

Thanks for sharing that story. Okay, now I'm certainly convinced of the speedy death of those holding organ donor cards. The mere fact that the doctor told her there wasn't hope after hearing of his release sounds really fishy. http://cwm.ragesofsanity.com/otn/other/jpshakehead.gif

I'm happy that, through the grace of God, that he was able to say goodbye and quell what could have been a torrentous storm raging in your cousin's wife.

[/QUOTE]
Nothing wrong with it at all! A sista just doesn't like needles! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/eek.gif To eliminate the starting of WWIII, keep me AWAY from needles!

[This message has been edited by AKA2D '91 (edited June 05, 2001).][/B][/QUOTE]

Soror, I am with you!!! I HATE NEEDLES!When I had my son my mom and friend had to hold me down to get IV in my arm that took longer to da than my whole labor!

[/QUOTE]
Nothing wrong with it at all! A sista just doesn't like needles! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/eek.gif To eliminate the starting of WWIII, keep me AWAY from needles!

[This message has been edited by AKA2D '91 (edited June 05, 2001).][/QUOTE]

Soror, I am with you!!! I HATE NEEDLES!When I had my son, my mom and friend had to hold me down to get the IV in my arm. That took longer to do than my entire labor![/B][/QUOTE]



[This message has been edited by AKA4MJ (edited June 06, 2001).]

Yes, I would be an organ donor. I would hope I was dealing with ethical medical experts, but I think unethical treatment comes not only with regard to organ donation, so...

And let's not forget bone marrow (Judy Davis bone marrow drive)donations for people of color...and you don't even have to be dead to donate http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

------------------
Finer Womanhood: the "Cat's Meow" Since 1920

CHICAGO (AFP) - Two women will go under the surgeon's knife to donate their kidneys to each other's husbands.


The couples met through an organization that arranges paired living donor exchanges after both wives were told they had the wrong blood type to donate their kidneys to their own husbands, the Chicago Tribune reported.

To date, 80 donor-recipient pairs have registered with the Paired Donation Consortium and 12 kidney swaps have been completed.

The operations will mean a new life for both families. The typical wait for a donated kidney in the Chicago area is about five years.

"Let's talk about what's happening here," Carl Chandler, a minister, told the Tribune. "A black woman is donating to a Hispanic man, and a Hispanic woman is donating to a black man, and there's no fear or cause for concern.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060223...e_060223184045

Please forgive me for crashing, but I'm also leary about organ transplant, even though I'm a regular blood donor. Just a couple thoughts, though:

-In a partial liver transplant (when a live donor gives part of his/her liver to someone who needs it), the morality rate for the donor is much, much higher than the one who benefited. My brother will need one eventually, and I praise the Lord that we're not tissue compatible! And,

-If anyone in your family has macular degeneration, you may want to contact Johns Hopkins' Wilmer Eye Institute. They're looking for family based experiments. I'm fairly certain that both the person who has MacDeg and the family members have to donate for this experiment, but you MUST contact the Wilmer first, so they will send their doctor to retrieve the eyes of the dead - you CANNOT have just any doctor remove them. I do know that it's already been proven that, once in the family, there's a tendency towards it. So, if you have MacDeg in the family, you may want to start taking Preservision now, and save as much of your eyesight as possible!

I am an organ donor. I just asked that they not take my eyes. I know it sounds weird but I want to keep 'em,lol.

Honeychile: how is the mortality rate higher for the donor if the liver regenerates itself? I dont get that.

I'm donating what can be donated. I won't need it.

I've donated blood several times and it hurts a lot less than a shot :p

I wish I could give you a medical answer. When we first found out that my brother's liver was damaged, everyone started looking at me, and I read a lot of information on the process. I wish I had retained it. It's not from the liver itself, it's the surgical procedure, that much I can remember. The weird thing is, I've never heard that about other living donor operations, such as kidney or lung.

Been an organ donor ever since I had my license...don't have an issue with that.

I had to do an autologious(sp) blood donation once and it was not pretty so sorry the red stuff stays inside for as long as possible. I so did not enjoy the procedure and that was for me!

As a medical student, I have been taught that donor of liver tissue during a transplant has only about a 1% chance of mortality and that within a couple of weeks, the portion of your liver that was removed regenerates to its original size and you will have normal function.

Also, for kidney transplants, those of us blessed with two functional kidneys because you actually have "more kidney" than you really need. After donating a kidney to someone, you only lose 25% of renal function (as opposed to 50% like one would think). The kidney really is an amazing organ!! (sorry for being such a geek ;))

I personally plan to donate my organs after my death. There are such enormous lists for people waiting for a chance to live, I would love to give them an opportunity. But one thing I will never, EVER do is donate my body to a medical school for their anatomy course. Please believe me, you couldnt imagine some of the stuff we do just to get a "better look." We cut so many pieces up and off, we had a bit box so that families could receive ALL of their dead family member's body back once we were done:eek: I think eventually, anatomy will be reduced to schools only having some bodies for students to physically visualize, but alot of dissection will be learned online, so the number of bodies needed for science will actually reduce... some schools already teach anatomy that way.

I was very happy to see this topic. Im an educator for organ donation.
1st I am registered and have no doubt that it is a great thing to do. If I am gone, I am gone and to be able to possibly give life to someone in my death is a nice thought.

2nd This topic generally doesnt become important to you until you meet someone who either has had or needs a transplant. It will change your view to see someone who is alive simply because someone thought enough to share. It will also depress the heck out of you to see someone who will probably die because others choose not to think about this topic because its uncomfortable.

3rd When minorities choose not to register we screw our own community. Organs can cross racial lines but for the most part they are matched better within the same ethnic group.

If you are really creeped out about having something visual like a donor card or a license insignia just ask about your states official registry. That way noone will know that you are a donor until you are a gonner anyway.

I can answer these questions more formally but I figured it was a message board and Id keep it light.

Honeychile: All surgical procedures carry some risk, as you know. I didnt think the risk to the DONOR from a transplant surgery was THAT high, though.

I'm not a medical student, but I am interested in surgeries and what not (weird medical fixation I have, I guess). Is your brother doing ok now?

Thank you for asking, but I'm afraid not. The good news is, the last appointment he had gave him another 10 years.


DPiece7 - thanks for the information! I was obviously reading outdated information (although I'm still glad we're not a match...!).

I am a donor, but this story now has me a little nervous. I can't give blood (I don't like needles either); I'm anemic.

I would donate, and I've made sure my friends and family know that and it's on my driver's license. I've seen family and friends benefit from receiving organs. It's a beautiful thing.

Thank God for organ donors... a gentleman i know who used to live in my neighborhood received a lung and a kidney from a car accident vicitm... saved his life... he died a couple years later but before he died he was able to donate blood that someday might save a life. I have nothing but respect for those who do it. I myself am an organ donor.

i'm both an organ donor and donate my blood. i believe it's a blessing to be able to do so. i can help save someone's life just by being alive and in health enough to help someone else. i can get over my dislike of needles for a few moments to donate--i just don't look lol. i do plenty of breathing and looking in the other direction :D

Being O+, it's about time for me to donate again. it's been about 8 months. i'd like to donate yearly at the minimum.

re: my organs--i'll be getting a glorified body, so they can keep anything that they can use.

Ethnicity doesn't affect donation of organs, tissue and blood. However, in many cases, bone marrow is best matched within ethnicities. Is that what you were thinking about?

^^
 

Nope
I work with several doctors at major transplant centers that will tell you that organs from within the same ethnic group have a smaller percentage of rejection rates.

"Successful transplantation often is enhanced by the matching of organs between members of the same ethnic and racial group. For example, any patient is less likely to reject a kidney if it is donated by an individual who is genetically similar. Generally, people are genetically more similar to people of their own ethnicity or race than to people of other races. Therefore, a shortage of organs donated by minorities can contribute to death and longer waiting periods for transplants for minorities."

^^This quote is from the United Network for Organ Sharing (the unified network established by the U.S Congress).