It also reminded me I have been remiss in thanking the donor family (see previous post here for refresher) of my husband's new liver. I spent most of this morning composing the letter and found that this was a much more emotional and difficult letter to write than I expected it to be.
It has made me aware, once again, of the importance of becoming an organ donor. As I mentioned before, even blood veins, skin, blood itself, just about everything, if viable, can help someone else to live.
The Legacy Organ and Tissue Registry, a division of the Alabama Organ Center has very good information on it, even if you are not an Alabama resident. I have learned that even if you have designated on your driver's license that you wish to be an organ donor, this registry is still a vital, important thing to do.
Please remember to make your wishes known to your family. If you have children, hard as this may be, please decide what you want to do in the terrible event that something happens to them. This is a hard thing to think about, but the reason I say this is:
One thing I saw, that will stick with me forever, was as a child was dying, the mother and father got into a horrible, loud, fight over whether to donate the child's organs or not. This was such a terrible thing to have happen and one of the parents was actually arrested. I do not know what the ultimate decision was about the transplant. I do suspect that, on top of losing their child, this couple also lost their marriage. A catastrophe all the way around, which possibly could have been prevented by a difficult talk years earlier.
There are several good sites out here for information on organ donation, not just liver transplants.
One of the is Organ and Tissue Donation Initative.
The University of AL - Birmingham Liver Center has recently stood up a website that I believe will get better over time.
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