Life After Living

Tis the season for giving. According to my husband... though I could not find statistical data to back this, more people are willing to participate in organ donation this time of year. Here are some statistics from the United Network for Organ Sharing: Every 10 minutes someone is added to the national transplant waiting list, on average 22 people die each day while waiting for a transplant, and one organ donor can save up to eight lives! Organ donation is one of the most selfless and precious gifts one person can give to another. Having worked in ICU for two years I am not a stranger to organ donation. Though I have never taken care of a recipient, I have been present and participated during the crucial conversations of organ donation. It is a time sensitive subject, one that you wish didn't have to be presented to the family so close to them learning their loved one will not be returning to them in this life. However, it must be done before the window of opportunity closes. My husband has gone on numerous organ procurements over the years during his general surgery residency, his cardiothoracic surgery residency and now his pediatric congenital cardiac surgery fellowship.  Though it is always a tough situation you feel grateful to people who are willing to help another person, a person whom they know nothing about, whose life is hanging in the balance while they desperately wait for a match just for them. The decision to donate organs of a loved one is never easy. It is a very emotionally charged decision for family members to make. However if you consider the statistics presented earlier and the fact that your family member will no longer require these organs but that someone else somewhere can live to see another day, another week, another year or even more, it is the most gracious thing you could do. Whenever my husband has gotten the call that an organ has come available I pause to think about both families and the intensely emotional state they are now experiencing. Nothing though has hit me as hard as his first infant heart transplant this past summer. When he got the call there was an organ available I was so elated for this family to receive a heart for their infant child, then our daughter started to cry. As I looked at her sleeping, at her tender age of 7 months, my heart began to ache for the family who made the decision to donate their child's organs. Most of these children have experienced tragic accidents and for their families to have to deal with that situation and make the choice to donate is simply amazing. I cannot imagine what either of the families go through when donating/receiving organs for their children but I will tell you this, I hug my children a little tighter. There are so many sad stories that come out of children's hospital but there are also equally as many happy and triumphant stories. I wanted to bring to light the subject of organ donation and give you something to think about this holiday season. Ultimately living and dying resides solely in the will of God but certainly there exists within us an opportunity to help others at a time when all of humanity is struggling.

If you'd like more information on organ donation there are plenty of websites available and here are a few note worthy ones:

United Network for Organ Sharing: UNOS.org
Donate Life America: donatelife.net
Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network: optn.transplant.hrsa.gov