Are you an organ donor?

April is National Donate Life Month. There are about 115,000 people nation wide waiting for an organ donation. Every day approximately 22 people die while waiting for an organ donation. In our region, MN, No Dak and So Dak there are about 3500 people waiting for a donation. One person can touch as many as 65 people with their donation. A partial list of what can be donated are heart, lungs, liver, kidney, pancreas, cornea and skin. Please consider becoming a donor

Unique to MN, is that you can “Check the box” when purchasing your hunting or fishing license. In 2017, the first year this was available, 32,350 of you signed up. Thank you for that. You can also sign up when renewing you drivers license or sign up right now go to https://www.registerme.org/.

I am passionate about this because in July of 2016 a special person had checked the box and gave me the gift of life. Each day is a gift and I am back doing most things I was pre-transplant. Thank you for considering being a donor.

I’m really happy for you, Tim.it really is one of the easiest ways to make a difference in many lives, but even just one makes it worth it. Rock on and don’t be afraid to check that box, everybody! I don’t think you’ll care too much what happens after you’re gone!

Have been for a long time
Will be as long as I’m around to check that box

For about 30 years… “why not” is the question ?

Yes.

Yes I am and the wife was too! My wife pass away back Dec 2015 and after it was all said and done. I got a very nice letter from the organiztion that she help several people. It’s a very good thing to do.

Gary,
Sorry for your loss. God bless you and your wife for being a donor. Glad to hear she was able to help people out so her legacy lives on. We have been fortunate to exchange some letter with the donor’s sister. We have not had an opportunity to meet the family yet. I know recipients who have met the donor family and they say it as an amazing thing.

Yeup!

yea i also am. i also donate blood as much as possible. with my O-neg they call all the time. i also do the power red they call it now.

Been a donor since 2006, it’s a great cause. I recently lost a friend at age 28, her organs were donated and she has helped multiple people. It hurts to lose someone, but the feeling of that person helping so many others after they’re gone softens the blow.

Yup, I won’t need them.

I’ve been in for 30 or 40 years…but I’m keeping them all for safe keeping at this point.

At 86 years, they didn’t want any of my Mom’s parts except her eyes. More than likely they were to be used for training.

Great Post Tim!

For ever. They can have it if it’s still good!

What a cool thread.

When by grandma passed away a few years ago she had her body donated to the Mayo Clinic. I figured it wasn’t a horrible idea but never gave it a lot of thought.

Well they do a program every year where they invite the families of loved ones who’ve donated their bodies to a very nice program they do with a reception afterward. During the program they have a few students who’ve benefited from these donations get up and speak about the benefit and help it was to be able to study and practice on real human bodies, and that they would never be where they’re at if it weren’t for people who were willing to donate their bodies. The students also stand in something like a receiving line when you get there, give every family flowers, and tell the families how much they appreciate the gift given to their school.

I don’t know if I’ll do it or not but after seeing that program and how much future doctors, therapists, etc. benefit from it I’m considering it.

Absolutely am and have been since I got my drivers license, I just hope there is something useful left when I am done.

Yep. Many days my parts don’t seem to be in working order but one never knows. If even one part could help another it would be great.

Any chance an admin can pin this post for the month of April? It is a great reminder.

sticker wrote:

Absolutely am and have been since I got my drivers license, I just hope there is something useful left when I am done.

Me too, did so without a second thought. Easy decision because dying is not what you thought about that day.

Learning about muskie-tim’s gift from someone like the rest of us that agreed as perhaps an after-thought to donate, reminds us and many others that this is much more than checking the box on your tax return to donate a $1 to the presidential election.

Dan wrote:

What a cool thread.

When by grandma passed away a few years ago she had her body donated to the Mayo Clinic.

I don’t know if I’ll do it or not but after seeing that program and how much future doctors, therapists, etc. benefit from it I’m considering it.

My mother did this too. My wife and I also decided to do it. It’s another option to organ donation. I’m not sure any of our parts would be worth it to anybody. There’s more to that comment and not meant to be a joke.
Anyhow, it’s another option to help somebody else and does us no good when we’re pushing up daisies.

I can’t do it but I donate blood. Something about having to be dismantled like some junk car just doesn’t work for me.

haleysgold wrote:

My mother did this too. My wife and I also decided to do it. It’s another option to organ donation. I’m not sure any of our parts would be worth it to anybody. There’s more to that comment and not meant to be a joke.
Anyhow, it’s another option to help somebody else and does us no good when we’re pushing up daisies.

Haleysgold,
Yes that is a great option also. The donation is used to train future Doctors Nurses etc. Who knows when we may need one of those providers to help us out.

Sure am. Someone else will need them a helluva lot more than I will after I’m gone.

I have been on the donor list for a long time. Now due a heart cath and reaction to the dye used it looks like I will be on the receiving list in a short while. So remember if you are a donor you could also be on the other side of the list

Great thread Tim… I’m a donor also. When I was 14 and my brother was 16 he died in a motorcycle accident and my mom donated his organs. I’ve always wanted to meet people that got the organs but really not sure how to go about it.

Great Post and great comments. Been on the donor list for a long time. Saw first hand with my dad’s passing, just how far this can go. Even if it is not your main organs, Eyes, long bones, skin grafting. My mom has been on the list for a new liver and kidney for almost two years now. Unfortunately, someone will need to die for her to live, but that is why the donor program is in place. Glad to see the number of people that are saying yes.

I was told 2 weeks ago that the length of time for an organ varies from state to state. I don’t know why because they have a list and you are given a number to be placed on that list after a health screening. There is a lot more to it and I don’t want to put something out here that I am not 100% sure of

The length of time for receiving organs after being listed varies because the US is divided into regions. For example MN, NODak and SODak are in one region. Wisconsin is it’s own region.

When a person is placed on the transplant list by the transplant center they are assigned a score based on various factors depending on the organ needed.

In my case it was lungs and the score was based on health at the time and various other tests results that determine need. The score range is from 0 to 100. Other factors with lungs include blood type and size of the person. So as someone who is 5′ 11″ I would not get lungs from a person who was 5’4″ because the lungs are not big enough. The good news is that they can be from either gender. Other organs have different criteria which I am not familiar with.

With a lower score you are less likely to get “the call”. As your health deteriorates your score gets updated by the transplant team. Organs are only viable for so long after being removed from the donor, so transporting them after removal becomes an issue also. How long that is varies depending on the organ. Another thing that affects when you would get transplanted is the region population. So being in the MN, NoDak, SoDak with a lower population density can make it take longer to get a suitable donor. You may hear stories of people in other regions getting transplanted within days or a couple weeks of getting listed. In my case it took over 18 months. I know of patients in our region that waited 1 day and others that took longer than me. Lots of factors involved.