What can you tell me about organ donation?

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  • Glockster69

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    I have an acquaintance / coworker in need of a kidney. He spent a few years trying to have kids with his wife and they had twins about 2 years ago. His health is deteriorating and I'm considering donation.

    I'm not interested in what I can find at NKF or similar sites which have been 'scrubbed' for details, but rather personal experiences.
    The good, the bad, or the ugly.

    PM or email would be great if your story is particularly personal. Your privacy will be respected and kept confidential.

    Curtis
    Hurley's Gold
     

    Younggun

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    All I can say is if it weren't for organ donors my dad wouldn't be with me anymore. Course it was a slightly different situation than what your looking at.


    I know you would have to be a match to his blood type, and there are a lot of rules. Mostly to prevent selling organs but some of the laws can actually make it difficult to donate in your situation IIRC.

    Good luck with your decision.
     

    Glockster69

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    I know you would have to be a match to his blood type ....

    Good luck with your decision.
    Thanks. I'm in the soul searching / commitment decision phase right now to be sure. I'm not even sure I'm a donor candidate yet. I don't want to make an offer until I'm comfortable and committed to the process.

    From the small amount of technical research I've done, we don't necessarily have to be a match. If not, my donation in his name, goes into a "pool" and he would receive the appropriate organ while someone else would receive mine. At this early stage, I don't see where who actually receives my donation matters to me.
     

    TXDARKHORSE361

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    Curtis I mean this with all sincerity it is good to see this side of you, while I have nothin of merit to add I just wanted to pop in and say that you and your friend are in my thoughts.
     

    benenglish

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    Here's my personal experience, though it's not quite relevant to your situation.

    Some 30+ years ago when my dad died, organ donation wasn't something most people thought about. The hospital didn't even mention it to us; we asked them. He had suffered from multiple organ failures and almost nothing could be harvested from his body but we offered. The only thing they took was his corneas.

    Many months later, my mom got a letter from the Lions Eye Bank thanking her for the donation and informing her that two previously blind people could now see. She cherished that letter until the day she died.

    My family knows that if I have something they need and I can do without it they can have it. My family also knows that when I die, anything that can be harvested will be harvested.
     

    RetArmySgt

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    You should still have my number, give me a call I know a ton about this. My father got his transplant (liver) in 1997 and then passed in 2009 when the Liver center refused to put him on the list again after his body started to reject the donated liver due to lack of income.
     

    Younggun

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    My parents had to have $20,000 in the bank just to get my dad on the list. They ever had that much in the bank there whole lives.
     

    TheCytochromeC

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    A family member of mine does cross matching for various transplants. Kidney rejection time periods have increased over the years of development. If you want to try to keep that person alive longer, try. Your contemplation on this topic already warrants action, in my opinion.
     

    M. Sage

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    I have an acquaintance / coworker in need of a kidney. He spent a few years trying to have kids with his wife and they had twins about 2 years ago. His health is deteriorating and I'm considering donation.

    I'm not interested in what I can find at NKF or similar sites which have been 'scrubbed' for details, but rather personal experiences.
    The good, the bad, or the ugly.

    PM or email would be great if your story is particularly personal. Your privacy will be respected and kept confidential.

    Curtis

    Are you a compatible donor? That's the first question. Before you even spend time on the rest of the implications, you might want to get screened and see if he can even use one of your kidneys.
     

    Glockster69

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    A family member of mine does cross matching for various transplants. Kidney rejection time periods have increased over the years of development. If you want to try to keep that person alive longer, try. Your contemplation on this topic already warrants action, in my opinion.
    I'm not familiar with your posts and have no sense if that is encouragement or disdain.

    The potential recipient is completely unaware of this discussion. I will use it to help in my decision.
     

    Glockster69

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    TDH, Cam, Angelia: Thanks but, I have not yet offered.

    Did you decide yet Curtis?
    Sat with him during today's company Thanksgiving dinner and several other times this week (it's rare we are around each other).
    Trust me, it was difficult NOT to say something.

    BTW: his first kidney transplant was @ 9 years ago.
     

    txbikerman

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    that is a hell of a gift to give someone. Even considering it tells us a lot about you as a person.
    Dont have any personal experiences with transplants. My ex wife worked in the transplant dept at baylor here in dallas . She a lot of lives changed
     
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    Kennydale

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    Just a side note In my prime I drove an Eighteen Wheeler. Did it for over thirty years. I would purposely not check off the box on DL for Organ Donor. Call it a personal conspiracy theory, If found in a wreck, I didn't want to give any the first responders any incentive not to rescue me. now it's a different story.
     

    JColumbus

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    God bless you for just considering it. Most people don't care enough to opt in, although they can give a damn what happens to their organs when they die. Thank you for caring.

    When my bad health started at 12, the Docs couldn't figure out what was wrong with me and therefore had no treatment options. They informed my mother that funeral preparations would be a good idea. Then, and I didn't understand at the time, a staff came into my room and explained to me what an organ was, what organ donation meant, and after I agreed, made my mother and I sign a bunch of papers.

    I may need a liver some day and blood donors have saved my life more times than I can recall, so I have an extra appreciation for people who are aware and willing to help. I believe it should be an opt out matter.

    I hope your friend gets what he needs and has a long happy life. As far as him getting an organ from you, I hope he gets a good kidney from a donor before it gets to the point where you have to give yours cause there's no other option. Whatever happens, God bless you both and I'll be praying.
     
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