Articles from prior issues of The Advocate

January/February 2000

Organ Donation - A Chance For Life Transplant Recipient Outlines Donor Information
by Maureen Halsey-Wright, Organ Donor/Transplant Chair

JAN MUNOZ, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE Donor Awareness Council of the Rockies, gave a most informative presentation at the 1999 NADE National Conference in Denver, Co. Jan, a kidney transplant recipient herself since 1990, first gave us some general information about donation and said that there are over 69,000 people waiting for organs in the US. We all need to sign a donor card, sign the donor section on our driver's license and tell our families of our wishes. Many states also have an educational fund that you can donate $1 to at the time you renew your driver's license that goes toward donor awareness training in the state. Be sure to give your $1 when you renew! There is no real age limit for some donations. As Jan said, even an older kidney is better than dialysis! Those up to 75 - 80 years old can even donate tissues and/or corneas. Even folks with some chronic diseases, such as diabetes, MS, etc., can be donors. AIDS is the only absolute contraindication to donation. Nine out of ten people say they support organ donation however, only 33 percent actually follow through. This is often because families are not certain how their loved one felt about this. That is why it is so very important to tell you family what you want so the proper decision can be made when you can no longer speak for yourself. In order to be an organ donor, brain death must occur. This would have to take place in a hospital where they can keep blood supply going to the organs. Tissue donors can die in or out of a hospital. Pulmonary death takes place rather than brain death. One out of 100 can be organ donors but, 99 out of 100 can be tissue donors. One donor can help over 100 people. Eight organs can be donated: two lungs, two kidneys, a heart, liver, pancreas, and a small intestine. Corneas may also be donated. Eighty percent of donors are Caucasian. This shows the need for minority education as many minorities need transplants too. Some minorities are even more likely to need a transplant but less likely to be a donor. Same race transplants seem to be more successful in the long run. All major religions, with the exception of Jehovah's Witness, support organ donation and transplantation. One weekend in November is National Donor Sabbath Weekend. At this time, churches all across the country make organ donations a part of their sermon in order to inform and educate their congregations. Please keep in mind that your death is NOT expedited if you are to be a donor. You will still have every opportunity to survive if at all possible. Living donors are also great in number these days. Thirty-three percent of kidney transplants are from living donors, so they are not on the waiting lists at all. Sixty percent of your liver can be donated and lobes of your lungs can, also. These type donations are usually among family members. Only five percent of us a blood donors, this is a tissue most all of us can donate! Bone marrow is also a living donor tissue. Every day 12 - 14 people die while awaiting a life saving transplant. Every 16 minutes one more name is added to the National waiting list. One out of four of us will be touched by a transplant or the need for one in our small circle of friends and family. You cannot predict when the need will be yours, your child's, your spouse's ,etc. Share your life , Share your organs. Sign your cards and have a family discussion. Pass on the most precious of gifts, LIFE!