Organ Donation Week 2018
If you followed me last year, you might recognise the blatant pinching of this post which I wrote back then:

Life as a dying teenager
When I was aged 17, I was told that I likely had less than 2 years to live. My lungs were functioning between 22–28% of what they should have been. Treatments had run out. I was dying and I was in desperate need of a transplant. I spent most of my time tethered to an oxygen tube, an IV drip stand and/or a feeding tube. My friends were all at school or college (uni) and the highlight of my day was when the clock hit 5.30pm when Neighbours would come on TV, followed by Home and Away at 6.30pm (Mondays were a peak day as that was when The OC and Lost were on). I spent a lot of time in hospital. Some weeks I was really unwell and then I would have some days where I would stabilise to relative good better health. It was a mundane existence. There was no guaranteed light at the end of the tunnel; the goal was always to have a good day so that if I got called for my transplant, I would be well enough to go to surgery. With the support of my family and friends around me, I worked hard to keep going and remain positive. That last bit was an especially important focus when I watched time run out for friends of mine in similar situations to my own.
It’s weird to think back on that time in my life because it feels like a different life altogether. I do things now that just never crossed my mind as possible back then (“Hey, do you fancy going away for the weekend?” “Yes, ok.” “Oh no the lift is broken, shall we take the stairs?” “Yes, ok.” “Oh no, can someone run back to the desks and grab an adaptor for this laptop?” “Yes, ok” “I don’t have a plan for where we should have lunch, shall we wander to Pret?” “Yes, ok”)*
*Make no mistake, these scenarios are of course physically possible for me now but for many of them I make an audible sigh between the words ‘yes’ and ‘ok’ because I suffer from chronic laziness.
The facts about Organ Donation
Yesterday saw the launch of Organ Donation Awareness week here in the UK. Making the decision to become an organ donor when you die is a personal one but whatever your feelings on the subject are, please let your loved ones know; last year 177 families declined to donate because they didn’t know what their relative would have wanted.
NHS Organ Donation on Twitter (@NHSOrganDonation) tweeted the following:
5 reasons people don’t have the chat:
- Never came up
- Don’t want to talk about death
- Too busy
- Private topic
- Didn’t think I had to
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The myths about Organ Donation
Below I’ve put a list of myths and facts about this topic. I’ve taken all this information from a variety of sources, details of which I’ve stuck at the bottom of this blog. If you’re interested in reading further, please check those out.
1. Doctors might not do their best to save my life if they know I am on the NHS Organ Donor Register
When you are sick or injured and get brought to a hospital, it is always the priority of the treating medical team to save you (the patient). (This is actually the number one myth I hear and read about and if I could make this text flash in red I would!)
It is only when the treating medical team in the hospital and the family have accepted that no further treatment can help, and it is not in the patient’s best interest, that ‘end of life’ care choices are considered. Organ donation as an ‘end of life’ care choice will then be discussed with a family.
2. People could still be alive when their organs are removed
Organs can be donated as a living donor but this is not the type of organ donation I’m talking about here. Organ donation from a person who has died is called deceased organ donation. There are strict criteria in place in the United Kingdom for the diagnosis of death. Organs are never removed until the patient’s death has been confirmed in line with these criteria.
In the United Kingdom death is determined in two ways — either confirmation of brain stem death or circulatory death.
Brain stem death is confirmed and diagnosed by a series of clinical tests performed twice by two senior doctors.
3. I can’t donate as I have a medical condition
Very few medical conditions automatically disqualify you from donating.
Medical professionals will assess if your organs and/or tissue could be transplanted based on clinical and medical criteria. Certain organs and/or tissue may not be suitable for transplantation, but others may save or transform lives.
4. I’m too old to be an organ donor
Patients who die in circumstances where they may be able to donate their organs, irrespective of age are considered individually. To date, the oldest organ donor in the United States was 93. Whether or not someone’s organs can be safely used to help others is assessed at the time through a number of assessments.
5. There are enough organ donors so you don’t need me
Around three people die every day across the United Kingdom in need of a life-saving organ transplant.
Only 1 in 100 people across the UK die in circumstances where their organs can be considered for transplantation. This means every potential donor is of vital importance.
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Thanks for taking the time to get this far. I’ll write about my own story in more detail tomorrow.
Sources: https://organdonor.gov/about/facts-terms/donation-myths-facts.html (American), https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/supporting-my-decision/myth-busting/ (British), https://twitter.com/NHSOrganDonor
