Giving Life After Death

Have you ever been to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and asked if you would like to be an organ donor? How has that question made you feel? Did it cause you to think about your answer; or were you quick with a no/yes? Before you made your decision, did you take into consideration that by choosing “yes,” you could potentially save up to eight lives? Or did you make the false assumption that your medical treatment wouldn’t be as thorough if you become a donor? Maybe the medical professionals just wouldn’t try quite as hard to save you? Organ donation not only benefits recipients by extending their lives, but also the donor’s own grieving family by letting their loved one live on through others.

By checking “yes” and becoming an organ donor, a living person can donate a kidney or part of the liver, a lung, an intestine, blood or bone marrow (Transplant). A person can also donate the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, small intestine, corneas, skin, veins, heart valves, tendons, ligaments, and bones (Transplant). Many people are waiting for these life-saving transplants, but sadly, most will not live long enough to receive a transplant due to so few donors (Transplant). In fact, 18 waiting recipients will die each day due to lack of organ donations (Organ, WomensHealth). A lot of people refuse to become organ donors because of miseducation.

The most widely known misconception associated with organ donation is that a donor will not receive the same medical treatment as a non-donor. Many people are lead to believe that doctors won’t put in much of an effort to save the life of a patient if that patient is an organ donor; yet this is completely false. In actuality, organ donors receive the same treatment as any other ...

... middle of paper ...

...d how well oxygen is transferred into the blood, and AlloMap molecular expression testing to monitor the recipient’s white blood cells and determine the risk of acute cellular rejection (Transplant). Along with all of these tests, there are additional tests that recipients will most likely have to perform at home, such as checking their temperature, blood pressure, weight, and pulse. These will all vary with each kind of transplant.

When the DMV provides the opportunity to check a little white box next to “Organ Donor,” they know it is not something to be taken lightly. Whether or not to become an organ donor is an extremely personal decision. Although the effects on others may come into play in making that decision, the final say is with that of the individual. It is quite obvious that organ donation can save lives. But saving lives isn’t just black and white.