Are you a donor???????????

[Bit]

Yes, here. My family has known for a long time, but people do forget so this is a timely reminder to have that talk with them again. Thanks!

[aishah]

by the way - most states now i think allow advanced medical directives so you can make legally binding decisions about end-of-life (as well as psychiatric crises) instead of having to depend on others to make those decisions when the time comes. not that you can't trust people, but...in situations like that, i've seen people do complete 180s. so it's something i'd recommend looking into.

[princessbelle]

Good points. Get your wishes in paper out there. Copies to your doc, family etc.

Here's the thing to remember...

Say you are in a car wreck and it is decided that you are legally dead, breathing or not. In the hospital, it is Law in the state of Tennessee and i'm assuming it is close to the same all over the country, for the RN or Doc to notify the Donor Registry and tell them of the death or impending death. It is then by phone that the Donor Registry will contact the family and ask over the phone what they want to do. They don't know histories or who is suppose to be the one making the decision. All of that should be done way ahead of the need so everyone knows who to go to for the answer. Again, this is initiated over the phone. Make sure EVERYONE knows your wishes that may even be somewhat involved.

So, unless it is a long drawn out death, so to speak, where there is plenty of time to contact this one and that one and fight who has the legal rights, get all the paper work in order, etc, all of the decision comes down to who is next of kin to make the sometimes very fast decision.

Make sure everyone will know who is in charge in that situation because it is rare there is time to get through the legal mumbo jumbo.

[Ginger]

Yep, my NY driver's license identifies me as an organ donor.


Great thread, Belle! Something that's easy not to think about, till someone brings it to our attention.

[skeeter_01]

organ donor and bone marrow donor here!!

skeet

[DapperButch]

Yes, but until I am 5 years cancer free they can only use my corneas!

[Gráinne]

Yes, it's on my license, and in my will papers. My executor knows where they are. Use what they can, the rest I'm thinking can get donated to the Body Farm in Princessbelle's back yard .

BTW, this is also a plug for drawing up a will. You do NOT want to pass on intestate.

[tapu]

Nice thread, Belle.

I am registered as an organ donor (actually, I'm a whole-body donor for any purpose). I've also been a monthly platelet donor for close to 20 years. I have AB+ blood so my type stocks life flights and nicu's; the American Red Cross keeps in close personal touch. Seriously. If you're proud of being an organ donor but it seems like an awful long time to wait, get into blood donation. You don't have to do apheresis, whole blood is quick and there has to be more time between donations.

Well, kiss a nurse!

[princessbelle]

Originally Posted by guihong

Yes, it's on my license, and in my will papers. My executor knows where they are. Use what they can, the rest I'm thinking can get donated to the Body Farm in Princessbelle's back yard .

BTW, this is also a plug for drawing up a will. You do NOT want to pass on intestate.

My body farm? Now the secret is out!!!! Hahhahhaha.

Actually, do you know that book? When i took my training for OB at the University of Tennessee, that is where they made us low life undergraduates park: right by the body farm. Oh my on those hot Aug afternoons the smell of decaying bodies sifting through the magnolia blossoms was just ....lovely.

Yes Tapu!!! We can donate body pieces/parts while still alive. We all bleed and we all have at least once in our life where we, or someone we know, needs plasma!!! Good point!!!

[LeftWriteFemme]

Many years ago some friends and I got to see Sekou Sundiata at the Painted Bride in the gayborhood in Philly, he preforming Blessing the Boats, I have no words for how great it was!



blessing the boats is a powerful solo performance that relates Sekou Sundiata's experience with the life-threatening illness of kidney failure and recovery through organ transplant. Diagnosed with kidney disease in 1995, Sekou lived a story familiar to thousands of people and their families. On the national list for a kidney transplant, he received dialysis for a year and half until, in January 1999, he received a kidney donated by his manager and close friend. After nearly a year in and out of the hospital, the transplant finally stabilized in December 1999.

Told with honesty and humor, blessing the boats blends the forms of theatrical monologue, literary reading, stand-up comedy, spoken word performance and griot storytelling. A mix of sound, lighting and video underscores this evocative and unsentimental look into a time of profound change when Sundiata was "an exile from the self I had come to know" and the resulting state of unexpected, precious grace.

With Sekou Sundiata's poetic voice, which is, in turn, heartfelt, funny, poignant, reflective and irreverent, blessing the boats uses the power of language to encourage and facilitate discussions and thought about health, history, mortality, friendship and love. As a stirring work of theater, blessing the boats has the potential to deeply affect not only people like Sekou, who have faced or are facing a life and death issue each day, but all of us.

blessing the boats was directed by Rhodessa Jones, and the artistic team included Roberta Uno (dramaturg), Bill Toles (sound design), Michael Mazzola (lighting design) and Sage Marie Carter (projections design).

From 2003-2007, Sekou performed blessing the boats in more than thirty cities across the United States, at university-based theaters, art centers, community centers and health care organizations. Responding to the performance, Catherine Paykin, Transplant Programs Director at the National Kidney Foundation, said: "I was awestruck. This is a fascinating glimpse into the life of a talented actor, poet and musician who happens to be kidney patient. It is a 'must-see' for all who work helping kidney patients and transplant recipients." Sekou Sundiata is committed to using this show to raise public awareness about kidney disease and treatment as well as organ donation and transplantation. In addition to the stage performances, presenters are asked to arrange public symposia and other community activities to expand upon the discourse. MAPP also facilitates partnerships between presenters and organ procurement organizations, transplant centers, and other medical organizations such as the National Kidney Foundation, Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP), and Coalition on Donation to increase audience attendance and funding possibilities.

blessing the boats was a production of Dance & Be Still Arts and MultiArts Projects & Productions (MAPP) and was commissioned by Miami Dade Community College in partnership with the Flynn Center for the Arts and the National Performance Network Creation Fund; the University Musical Society, Ann Arbor, MI; Duke University Institute of the Arts, Durham, NC; and Aaron Davis Hall in partnership with New Heritage Theater Group, New York City. The development of blessing the boats was made possible, in part, by New Works for a New WORLD play development laboratory at New WORLD Theater, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. blessing the boats was also made possible by a grant from The Greenwald Foundation.

[Dude]

I wish many of my passed on people had talked about it.
I think it would have given my mother great peace to know
that her body was used to study cancer , Or to think
of her eyes being out there seeing for someone.
She survived breast cancer twice but brain cancer was too fn much
She had just buried her mom months earlier from alzheimer's.
Both could have been talked into it , with a bit more time.

[durrrrrrrr]

ayup, I am a donor. My sister knows of what I wish for. We usually talk about this at least once a year to make sure nothin has changed

[always2late]

I am a donor.
As a nurse, all I can say is please, please, PLEASE put your wishes into writing!! I have seen, too many times, family members override the wishes of patients who could not make the decisions for themselves at the moment. If you don't want life support, make SURE you specify that you do NOT want a feeding tube!! I don't know the laws in all the states, however, I do know that in NJ a feeding tube is not considered a "heroic measure" (as in, I do not wish any heroic measures be undertaken to sustain my life). Family members, though well-meaning I am sure, can make the wrong decisions based on emotion or grief...so please, make sure you are specific in your wishes and that they are written and legally documented! Also, if you have a partner that you want making medical decisions for you...make sure you have that legally documented as well!

[JustJo]

Yes, registered organ donor....although what they can use may be limited by my diabetes as well.

When my mother died in April, she had decided to make a whole body donation to research on Crohn's disease and the colon cancer that resulted (and which ultimately killed her). I thought that was that.

However, Belle is right. Only hours after the call from the hospital telling me she had died, I got a call from the Organ & Tissue Bank asking for a donation of her eyes. We had never talked about that, and I had a moment of total blankness before I decided to say yes, of course.

It's a good thing to talk about, document, and spread the information around. The person who gets that phone call may not be the one you expect to.

For me, donate whatever is usable. Cremate the rest. NO burial....and no funeral. I love roses, and roses love ashes. Act accordingly.

[durrrrrrrr]

Originally Posted by durrrrrrrr

ayup, I am a donor. My sister knows of what I wish for. We usually talk about this at least once a year to make sure nothin has changed

I just read Just_jo's post, and for me. I also said, no burial, no funeral. take what money there is and have the whole family go on a trip. I want ppl to be laughin when they think of me. Remember the good times. Remember my smiles, not the tears.

[FemmeBibliophile]

Like many others... Donate anything you can. Use what you can for anything else. Do not bury me. Period.

[Hollylane]

I am an organ donor, and I am also registered for bone marrow donation...

Belle, I love that you have a sticker on your car, I must find one!