coming full circle
Written on 3:26 PM by gracefully discovering:
It's funny how things in life happen and you never really know why or what the impact could have on your life in the future. In 2002 when the movie John Q came out, I was so moved and inspired by the story that I became an organ donor. While watching this movie, my heart went out to this family and I went that same weekend to change my drivers license to organ donor status. I figured that if my organs could save someone else's life, then I would like to help in any way possible. After all, I would be dead and have no use for them. It's funny because whenever this movie is on TV and I'm around people...the first thing I say is "man, this movie changed my life, I became an organ donor after watching it."
I never would have thought in a million years that 7 years later I could possibly be in the exact same position of this family- fighting for my childs heart and praying for someone to donate a healthy matching heart for my little girl.
If you aren't an organ donor, you should really consider it because you never know who's life you may be able to save. People would always tell me that I shouldn't be an organ donor because the Doctors wouldn't try and save me if I were in the hospital fighting for my life...well I see it like this...if it's your time to go, then you're gonna go. They would also say that you never know if they will even use your organs to save someone's life, that they could do other things with them. And if they did, then hopefully they could use them to make medical improvements or help Doctors become better Doctors. It doesn't matter because I'm dead anyway!!
Anyway, it's just really funny how life happens...and how things connect one way or another. Just thought i'd share that.
Peace out
ship. kristal and i got into an almost heated debate about this about a year or so ago... no, i am not a donor. i'm seriously reconsidering though... putting a face with the need is really convicting.
Over half of the 100,000 Americans on the national transplant waiting list will die before they get a transplant. Most of these deaths are needless. Americans bury or cremate about 20,000 transplantable organs every year. Over 6,000 of our neighbors suffer and die needlessly every year as a result.
There is a simple way to put a big dent in the organ shortage -- give organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die.
Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. People who aren't willing to share the gift of life should go to the back of the waiting list as long as there is a shortage of organs.
Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition.
DyMisha, if it makes you feel any better, my mom was an organ donor and her doctors fought like crazy to save her life - even after I had told them to stop, they tried to persist. Their treatment of her was not at all affected by her donor status. Also, it was blood transfusions that gave her just a couple more days so I could say goodbye to her properly instead of losing her on an operating table. That's why I became a quarterly blood donor. You've done a wonderful thing!