Giving, it is said, is not about making a donation. It is about making a difference. Each one of us was born to make a difference to someone’s life. In fact, each one of us can make a difference to and save many lives, even after we cross over.
Modern surgical techniques have made it possible to replace damaged organs or tissues of someone with healthy ones from a departed donor. And yet many people on the waiting list for organ donation die each year without receiving organs. As medical advances continue, the need for transplants keeps growing. But there are not as many organs available to be transplanted, as there are people who need them. In fact, an acute shortage of donated organs is a real problem all across the world.
Because each additional donor can mean several saved lives, it is crucial to make more and more people aware of its need, to bust myths surrounding organ donation, to change people’s attitude towards it, and highlight the extremely important role that the family plays in the process of organ donation.
Unfortunately, very few people ever discuss their wish to donate their organs with their family or their doctor. It’s important that you talk to your family about it because it is the family members that will make the final decision regarding organ donation after you. If you and your family members have discussed organ donation before entering the hospital, the process of donation becomes much easier.
To understand the issue better let’s look at certain facts of organ donation:
What are the organs that can be donated?
Major organs that can be donated include the heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver, and tissues include bone, corneas, skin, and heart valves.
What kinds of donations are possible?
Living Donation: It is only possible if the donor can still live a healthy life without that organ or tissue. Many types of living donation are of regenerative tissue. This type of tissue grows back naturally after some of it is removed. Bone marrow is a commonly donated tissue of this type. Non-regenerative tissue does not grow back again once it is removed. Kidney donation is the most common form of this donation. Out of the two kidneys, if one is donated, the remaining one can carry out the normal functions of both kidneys.
Most living organ donors are relatives of the person receiving the transplant. Advances in medicine have also made it possible for people who are not blood relatives to the person who needs a transplant to make a donation. Living donation by a relative or friend is called directed donation. Living donation can also be non-directed. Donations of bone marrow by volunteers are a common form of this type of donation.
Deceased Donation: Most transplanted organs and tissues come from people who have died. The process of donation begins with your consent to be a donor. Registering usually takes place many years before donation becomes possible. If the deceased is registered as a donor and the family has given a legal consent for donation, a medical evaluation takes place, including obtaining the deceased’s complete medical and social history from the family. First, organs are recovered, and then additional authorised tissues such as bone, cornea, and skin follow. All incisions are surgically closed.
Who can be a donor?
Most people can be donors. In deceased donation your age does not matter; what matters is the your physical condition. Specialist doctors decide in each case which organs and tissue are suitable. Organs and tissue from people in their 70s and 80s have been known to be transplanted successfully.
To be a living donor, you must be in good physical and mental health and also need to be free from diseases that may affect the health of the person who receives the transplant. Living donors are usually aged between 18 and 60 years old. The donor and recipient usually have matching blood groups and tissue types. A test using the donor’s blood can also show whether the recipient’s immune system is likely to accept or reject the transplant.
Can I donate despite an existing medical condition?
Having a medical condition does not necessarily prevent you from becoming an organ or tissue donor after your death. The doctors, taking into account your medical history, can decide whether some or all organs or tissue are suitable for transplant.
Is the decision irreversible?
You always have the option to change your mind and can let your family know of it.
Donor concerns & facts
Organ donation is not as common as it should be because of the various misgivings surrounding it. The ‘Journal of National Medical Association’ (Vol. 90, No.1), published in the USA, lists out some of the apprehensions that the donors and their families have:
I worry that my body would not look good if I donated organs. I think that organ donation involves mutilation of the body.
Fact: The donor is brought to the operating room. Multiple organ recovery is performed with organs being preserved through special solutions. Organs are always removed by a team of specialised doctors with great care and respect for the donor under sterile conditions. The surgical incision is closed and covered by a dressing. The body does not look disfigured or mutilated.
I believe that organ donation interferes with the laws of nature or God.
Fact: Every faith believes in helping others and acts of charity and kindness. There are very few acts of life that are more noble than donating a part of your body when you no longer need it. You are helping humanity.
Doctors would not try as hard to save me if they knew I was an organ donor
Fact: Absolutely untrue. The medical team does everything possible to save the patient’s life. At this point, whether or not the person is a registered donor is not considered at all. Doctors will always do the best they can.
Time is crucial when it comes to recovery of the donated organs. It must be done quickly after death to ensure that the organs remain suitable for transplantation. The family has a say in the entire protocol of organ donation referral, consent, and eventual procurement.
Collective effort
Organ donation as a process needs the collective effort of family physicians, health-care specialists, nonprofit organisations, academia, government and media. Expanding donation opportunities, enhancing professional education about organ donation, increasing public awareness, improving media coverage to increase public awareness and reducing misconceptions will go a very long way. However, more than anyone else, it is the family of the donor that can make a difference by encouraging discussions on the issue and honouring the donor’s wish after they depart.
Organ donation gives you and your family the opportunity to understand that when you donate organs, you are gifting someone another birthday, another anniversary, another laugh, another chance in life, another night under the stars, and another day of hope. This deed is about finding beautiful light of life in the midst of darkness of loss. Like someone has rightly said, “Don’t think of organ donation as giving up a part of yourself to keep a total stranger alive. It’s really a total stranger giving the whole of themselves to keep a part of you alive!”
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