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Organ Donor?


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My husband has always resisted having it on his drivers license. I had never considered this aspect of organ donation.

 

You'll have to read through the whole thing.

 

What You Lose When You Sign That Donor Card

Giving away your organs sounds noble, but have doctors blurred the line between life and death?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204603004577269910906351598.html

 

I always thought there were standard tests that involve SOLID evidence that you were really brain dead. They squirt water in your ears? Poke your eyes? Check for gag reflex? See if you can breathe alone? Each one except the last could very well have "missed" signals if the doctor sees your body as that $2 million-per-body the hospital system gets.

 

What if there is sound evidence that you are alive after being declared brain dead? In a 1999 article in the peer-reviewed journal Anesthesiology, Gail A. Van Norman, a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Washington, reported a case in which a 30-year-old patient with severe head trauma began breathing spontaneously after being declared brain dead. The physicians said that, because there was no chance of recovery, he could still be considered dead. The harvest proceeded over the objections of the anesthesiologist, who saw the donor move, and then react to the scalpel with hypertension.

 

If you don't sign the card, your family can decide to donate your organs, but they can request an EEG instead of relying on the doctor's word from his tests. The FAMILY has the right to decide, not the medical personnel.

 

 

:(

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  • 2 weeks later...

:banghead:

 

 

DH was 'brain dead'...and he truly was...but then he woke up. It would NEVER occur to me that they might have started [gulp] HARVESTING in that case.

 

Aiiiieeeee.....

 

MtRider [...ruined another good thing? ]

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They cannot harvest organs from a cadaver. Only a few things like tendons and IIRC corneas, bones, etc can be harvested from a cadaver. ALL the major organs, like the heart, kidneys, liver, etc MUST be taken BEFORE death occurs or they are not useable. That is why the vultures want the patient declared "brain dead", and will not unhook the machines till they have sliced and diced the person for parts.

 

If a doctor insists that your loved one is "brain dead" tell them to unhook the machines and they can have the "parts" after the person is completely dead and see how the docs react. They won't want to do that.

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I see a different side of this. My dad had a heart transplant that extended his life for 13 years. I was told by the nurses that the donor had helped 7 people not counting my dad. I can see where it would be a difficult decision for some to sign that donor card but I didn't have to think twice and didn't hesitate a minute. I know what it meant to me and my family when someone else chose to sign it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

After reading this article in the WSJ, when I renewed my drivers license last month I undid my organ donor. I told DH he could still make me an organ donor but to be sure that it was done where I was well sedated.

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