Organ Donations

[golfhobo]

I am a firm believer in this. My license says "take what you need." If I am dead... or on life support with extensive brain damage and no chance of recovery...

I want ANY part of my anatomy that could save (or better) a life to be USED for that purpose. [I don't expect they will want my little buddy.]

I smoke and drink alot... but, my lungs seem clear on recent x-rays, and my liver passes the test. My heart seems to be strong even tho I have an elevated blood pressure.

I never THOUGHT about donating a kidney while still alive, but... as I get older, I don't see that I need both of them.

Check out this story. It will make you proud to be a human.... and an American.

Atlanta Nurse Donates Kidney to Hospital Patient - ABC News

Do me a favor. If you've never thought about organ donation.... THINK about it!

Make whatever choice you are comfortable with. I am not trying to tell you what to do. But, if you "opt out" simply because you haven't made a decision... you may cost someone their life. [Make a choice.]

To BE a contributor... you have to "opt in."

If you decide only to be a "passive" donor... by having it marked on your license, don't WAIT until your renewal date. I'm pretty sure the DMV will give you a duplicate license showing your "donor" status for free. If not? What's a few bucks?

If you want to be an "active" donor... visit your local hospital and have yourself tested. [I am going to do so.]

We work in a dangerous industry. Death can come in a tenth of a mile. I hope it never happens to anyone I know here on CAD... but, if it does... it will be too late to make a decision that you didn't already make.

The Bible [simply a book of moral instruction,] says that "no greater love is this, but that a man lay down his life for another." I suspect that if it were written today, it would include an admonition to be an organ donor. [but, that is just MY opinion.]

Our troops are willing to lay down their lives for OUR way of life. Who knows when one of THEM (a surviving VET) might need what you no longer need? Who knows when a recipient will go on to find a cure for cancer or something?

I will NEVER question any of your decisions in this matter. I am only trying to shed light on a situation close to my heart. [figuratively and literally.]

This was a "no-brainer" for me from the time it was first introduced [meaning the licensed donor program.]

If you need more time to think about it, fine. Talk it over with your family. But... make a decision. Probably something like 80% of all Americans die without donating a life-saving organ. Probably, 90% of them just never made the decision.

There are relatively few decisions we will ever make in life that are actually "life and death" decisions. THIS is absolutely ONE of them.

Thank you for listening to me. Thank you for considering the issue (if you will or do.)

Hobo

[CleeIB]

The way I see it is when I kick the bucket, I won't need the organs anymore. So if they can be of use to someone else, why not?

[freebirdrfd]

I have been an organ donor for many years now. I'll have no use for them when I am dead.

[GMAN]

I may need mine in the after life.

[ironeagle_2006]

I already have been a Bone Marrow donator twice plus I am sitting at 3 gallons at the Red Cross in Blood Donatins. My wife has been told tell them to take everything they can from me. The Bone Marrow Donations hurt like hell the DAY After but the rewards are worth it.

[kanodogg]

slippery slope though

[Useless]

I am a firm believer in this. My license says "take what you need." If I am dead... or on life support with extensive brain damage and no chance of recovery...
Hobo

I was asked to be an organ donor when I got my CDL. I had to tell them "no".
I don't have an organ, but I do have an old upright piano they can have if they want it!!

[Roadhog]

I was asked to be an organ donor when I got my CDL. I had to tell them "no".
I don't have an organ, but I do have an old upright piano they can have if they want it!!

... you sure it's upright, and not just leaning against the wall?

[Orangetxguy]

I am a firm believer in this. My license says "take what you need." If I am dead... or on life support with extensive brain damage and no chance of recovery...

Thank you for listening to me. Thank you for considering the issue (if you will or do.)

Hobo

Face it H.....we drive truck for a living......They already consider us "brain damaged with no hope for survival"!!

[ironeagle_2006]

Or in my case as Multiple Neurologists have all told me HOW IN THE HELL ARE YOU WALKING. The one thing people want from my body after I am dead is MY BRAIN why so they can slice the SOB open and wonder how in the hell I am alive still. Or as my Doc put it to me at last Appt I know that the Students and Professors at the UofI medical School are going to have fun going WTF how did he do what he did on your brain. He showed me my MRI and MRA films the 20% I lost 11 Years ago should have killed me it wiped out the Autotomic Nervous center of the Brain you know the center that causes you the BREATHE and your Heart to Beat. Either I have a Backup section to that or I refused to die for a reason and I can not think what it is at that time as I hated my ex as I do now I wanted to live so she could NOT get my Life insurance that I had at teh time.

[4roses]

This subject is very dear to my heart .... I've been a donor for years and as I get older and have enjoyed many areas of life ... I'd be honored to help someone else enjoy all aspects of Their life ~ once I know longer need my body parts to live .. I offered to give one of my kidneys to my girlfriend a couple of years ago when we found out she had discovered that she now has cancer on her 1 and only kidney - because she lost a kidney 7yrs ago due to cancer. But God decided to heal her, so I still have both of mine .... It just so happens that today I was reading a quote I saved years ago and I know my children will respect my decisions.... here's just a tiny bit of this quote ..

At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped. Don't call this 'my death bed'. Call it my 'bed of life' and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives.
Give my sight to a man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby's face or love in the eyes of a woman.
Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain.
Give my blood to the teenager who has been pulled from a car wreak, so that he might live to see his grandchildren play.
Give my kidneys to one who depends on a machine to exist from week to week.
Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body, and find a way to make a crippled child walk.
Explore every corner of my brain. Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that someday a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her windows.
If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses, and all my prejudice against my fellow man.
If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.

And after all these things have been used ... donate the rest of the body to the Body Farm in Knoxville, Tenn. so that it may help to solve the death of a loved one that was taken from this life to early.

Being a Donor is a personal thing and I respect Anyone's decision either way they decide .... This is just my 2cents ...

[Fredog]

since I'm married, I have an organ I'm not using

[golfhobo]

I was asked to be an organ donor when I got my CDL. I had to tell them "no".
I don't have an organ, but I do have an old upright piano they can have if they want it!!

Are you SURE? Cuz that's not what I heard.

I heard that when you applied for your CDL, you ASKED for an "organ" donation... and they told you no.

Your wife says you've GOT an organ, but it's more like a SONY than a Wurlitzer... and it hasn't been "upright" in years!

Hee Hee.... this is fun.

[golfhobo]

since I'm married, I have an organ I'm not using

I hope you're not blaming ME for that. You were "warned."

[golfhobo]

Face it H.....we drive truck for a living......They already consider us "brain damaged with no hope for survival"!!

You have an hilarious POINT there! Thanks for the badly needed "laugh!"

In light of this... I suggest we ALL try to keep it 'tween the ditches... and avoid hospitals on our way HOME every night (or whenever.)

BTW... I just saw "Soylent Green" in its entirety for the first time in YEARS.

[mitchno1]

in New Zealand we also have the option on our drivers license ,mine says yes

[golfhobo]

ironeagle said:

Or in my case as Multiple Neurologists have all told me HOW IN THE HELL ARE YOU WALKING.

I've had a few cops ask me the same thing!

The one thing people want from my body after I am dead is MY BRAIN why so they can slice the SOB open and wonder how in the hell I am alive still. Or as my Doc put it to me at last Appt I know that the Students and Professors at the UofI medical School are going to have fun going WTF how did he do what he did on your brain.

Why make them wait? Offer to let them slice it up now, with electrodes on each slice, while your heart is still pumping American RED CRUDE! You could advance medical science by DECADES... and avoid so much suffering. [By ALL of us! J/K]

He showed me my MRI and MRA films the 20% I lost 11 Years ago should have killed me it wiped out the Autotomic Nervous center of the Brain you know the center that causes you [to] BREATHE and your Heart to Beat... Either I have a Backup section to that or...

Actually, most of us DO. The brain is a magnificent specimen of adaptability and compromise. We use about 10%. The rest IS "backup."

I refused to die for a reason and I can not think what it is at that time as I hated my ex as I do now I wanted to live so she could NOT get my Life insurance that I had at the time.

So... you were just too damned stubborn... or pizzed off... to die! That's good enough for me. I can't understand that one needs "a reason" to refuse to die!

All joking aside... IF you think science could benefit from studying how YOUR brain overcame such a deficit... I HOPE you've made that offer clear. It really COULD make a difference to many people someday.

[golfhobo]

in New Zealand we also have the option on our drivers license ,mine says yes

Good on ya, mate. Supplies of "fresh organs" are even LOWER in such isolated places as where you live. I'm not sure an "American organ" would be fresh enough by the time it got to your country... and someone who needed it.

You are literally "on your own" in this case. But... you've always been there for each other.

Well.... you had the Aussies.

[golfhobo]

Thanks for chiming in 4Roses. That was an awesome quote.

And thanks for being willing to make a living donation. It still counts... and it may still be needed.

I don't know about that heart, tho. Most humans probably couldn't survive "owning" it.

Anyways... thanks.

[golfhobo]

I may need mine in the after life.

The only Bible I've ever known says you won't. I don't personally KNOW.... so, you're rationale will not be challenged further. The Egyptians had some ideas on this.