Thoughts on Organ Donation

The website for the Legacy Organ and Tissue Registry, a division of the Alabama Organ Center is: http://www.legacyalabama.org/home.php.
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.

My husband was the recipient of a liver in December 2007. Even with the letter of thanks (anonymous of course, but you can read about that on the website if you desire) sent to the donor family, I'm not sure they will ever really know how their unselfishness has touched so many lives. Before my husband became a candidate for a transplant, I had only given this a passing thought - signing my driver's license and thinking, if I have anything worth taking they can have it. Now it is a sincere hope that, if it is my time to die, that there is some organ or tissue that will help someone live.

The entire process for an organ recipient is very stressful in itself. At the same time you are praying so hard for the organ you need, you know that this requires someone else to die. That, in itself, puts people in a quandry of emotions. One lady summed it up so well: I don't wish for a soul to die; however, if it is my time to go, I truly pray that I can help someone else to live or have a better quality of life. On top of that feeling, you have to stay by a telephone 24/7; have your clothes packed and ready to go; have all of your business taken care of; etc. When you receive the call you have just a few hours to get to the transplant center. After you're there, it is a blur of tests, xrays, and paperwork - and it is possible, all the way up to the actual incision is made, that something can occur that will stop the transplant. In that eventuality, you check out, go home, and start all over. In our particular case, we made 3 trips to the center before the transplant occurred. The third time, until they let me know from the OR that the surgery was underway, I refused to think that we wouldn't be going home in just a few minutes.

The surgery has been successful. My husband looks and feels better than he has in a couple of years. Right now life is centered around dealing with insurance (another story all in itself) healing, avoiding infection, avoiding rejection, and having weekly lab tests done. Things like avoiding crowds, tactfully not shaking hands or hugging friends, remembering that doorknobs are nasty and you need to religiously utilize hand sanitizer. . .
All of this wouldn't have been possible without the unselfishness of the donor family.

I can't imagine the feelings the donor family have gone through; however, I know that our family is eternally grateful to them.

If you haven't considered being an organ donor, please consider doing so. The weeks we spent at the transplant center were truly awe inspiring.