Entry bubble National Donor Day

By: Joanne | February 10, 2009 | Category: Health

organ donor card

February 14 isn’t just Valentine’s Day, it’s also National Donor Day.

The fact is that there are over 100,000 people waiting for donor organs right now, and sadly, about 19 people die each day waiting for transplants that can't take place because there isn’t a donor organ available for them.  Most of us are potential donors – there is no age restriction and very few people are excluded because of pre-existing conditions.

I registered to be an organ donor while renewing my driver’s license years ago. All I had to do was to check a box while I was filling out a form and it was done. I know it’s a hard decision for some people, but for me it was a no-brainer. If I’m not using my organs any more and someone else can use them, then I’m happy to share.

So on the day of love, give the gift of life. What can you do?

| View Comments [7] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: blood   donation   donor   joanne   organ   tissue  

 

Entry bubble Stolen Kidneys? Desperate for an Organ Transplant

By: Nancy | January 31, 2008 | Category: Health

donate life logoIt's a story I've heard around the internet for years: unsuspecting people are abducted and anesthetized. When they come to, they find that one of their kidneys has been surgically removed. Til now, it was dismissed as an urban legend. 

But this week, the story proved true as law enforcement near New Delhi broke up a ring that reportedly tricked more than 500 poor Indian workers over the last decade into going to a particular address in search of a job. When they got there, they were knocked out and awakened later to find that they had stitches in their side and were missing a kidney. The surgeon who is thought to have performed all those operations is now on the run. And at a guest house owned by the doctor, police found five wealthy foreigners awaiting transplants, including two Americans.

Reports like this are really horrifying. And they sure highlight the lengths that people will go to, to get a new chance at life with an organ transplant. 

This morning, more than 98,000 people in the US were on waiting lists, hoping to receive a donated organ.  Seventy-five percent were waiting for a kidney.

It's hard to think about becoming an organ donor because most often, organ donation happens following death. But hearing stories about lives being restored through transplants made the decision to register as a donor a little easier for me.

If you're healthy and meet certain other criteria, you can donate a kidney, part of your liver or parts of other organs right now, and continue to live a normal, healthy life. Donating tissue like bone marrow is just an outpatient procedure. And it could mean the difference in someone's survival.

OrganDonor.gov and DonateLife.net have lots of information to answer your questions about organ donation from practical and moral perspectives. And OrganDonor.gov has links to information on how you can register in your state to donate. Many states make it really easy; they have a place you can check on your driver's license application to register as a donor.

What are your thoughts about organ donation? Are you a registered donor? Do you know anyone who's received a transplant?

| View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: kidney   nancy   organ   transplant