The Gift of Life
Transplants save lives
I know this to be a fact. Not only did my daughter receive a liver transplant 32 years ago, I was a nurse who worked taking care of transplant patients in several different departments. From post-op care in the ICU, to team lead on the solid organ transplant team in the operating room, to finally a position as a kidney transplant coordinator — I knew firsthand how transplant surgery changes lives.
In my experience, and the case of deceased donation, it often brings the survivors great comfort to ponder that a piece of their loved one is still here. That they are personally responsible for sparing another family the same loss and grief they are experiencing. Those two reasons — for me — are why my driver’s license and my family know that I would want to donate my organs after I die if I am in a position to do so.
Very few of us die under circumstances that are conducive to organ donation, however. And that is one of the reasons living donors are so vital to the transplant community. As a kidney transplant coordinator, my job was to advocate, evaluate, and follow up with each potential living donor who came forward to donate their kidney.
There are no hard and fast rules about donation.
The health of your organs is more important than the age on your birth certificate.
