Seven Pounds...without the deathwish?

Having seen this movie more than a few times, I find myself inspired, something that doesn't happen much anymore.

I'm curious if anyone has any know-how or experience with donating a kidney, or a portion of a liver, etc?

For some reason, I have the feeling this might be something I would be willing to do.

Any and all feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks...

 

I don't know anything about organ donation (other than checking yes on your driver's licence), but something to explore might be getting on the marrow donation registry. I found out about it when learning about donating my kids' cord blood. But you can also just be an adult marrow donor. It's fairly painless and, if it requires surgery at all, you're out of there in one day.

My aunt's life was extended because she received 2 marrow transplants ... and she lived long enough to see her only son (my cousin) get engaged to a wonderful girl. She died knowing he would be well taken care of. She wouldn't have lived to see that without the transplants.

www.marrow.org is a great resource. Good for you!

 

Donating an irreplaceable organ is pretty major....what if one of your kids or family members needs a donation someday? It can also be pretty expensive, you're out of work for a while during recovery.

On the other hand, what a selfless and wonderful thing to do. Maybe this has some info for you:

http://www.livingdonorsonline.org/

 

A guy I used to work with, who now is a big-shot writer at Yahoo!, donated a kidney to his sister.
He said when he spoke to the surgeon about post-op alcohol use, the doctor said, "When you wake up from the procedure, I'll be standing right there holding a pint of Guinness for you."

 

that's terrific

 

My dad was a kidney transplant recipient (a cadaver kidney). It really changed his life. He didn't have to be on dialysis anymore, which meant my parents could travel without having to worry about finding a nearby dialysis center, and he felt much better. The quality of his life improved exponentially. We were extremely grateful to the man whose kidney my dad got.

It is so selfless of you to even consider this. As far as I know, they make you go through a lot of testing, medical and psychological before they let you donate a kidney (don't know about other types of organs). They also make sure you're not being compensated by the recipient (selling organs is illegal), especially if you're donating to someone you don't know. I've also heard that the surgery and the recovery are more difficult for the donor than the recipient, but I think they can do the surgery laproscopically, which cuts down on recovery time. You can live just fine on one kidney, so that's not an issue at all.

 

My best friend's mom is dying of kidney failure as we speak. She's pretty high on the transplant list. My best friend tried to be a living donor for her, but in the last stage of testing they found out that not only did she have the same disease that was killing her mom, but she is far more advance than her mom was at her age.

The bone marrow bank is a fantastic idea, and of course, make sure you're checked off as a donor on your driver's license (god forbid).

 

I think you'd just be doing this to get publicity for yourself.

 

As a former transplant patient, I can say this: Don't stop at the driver's license. If it's your intention to donate your organs upon your death, tell your family. Make sure they know.

 

I'm on the bone marrow registry, and I got a call as a preliminary match to a little girl about... oh, a little over a month ago now. Signing up was really easy (something like $50 and a swab of the inside of my cheek), and I'd honestly forgotten I signed up until they called me in late March.

If and when you match, there's a ton of "hurry up and wait" involved. I had to answer very, very detailed questions (Have you ever had a brain covering transplant? Have you ever slept with someone who was in Africa after 1977?) then get some blood drawn, and now they're doing testing to determine who the best donor is and to make sure none of us have fun things like AIDS or Hep B. I'm supposed to hear by the end of this month or so.

I'd highly, highly recommend it if this is something you're really interested in.

 

Wow !!!!!!!!!!!!! My prayers for all involved. Good for you, sir.

 

Thanks for all the links and words. After reading so many of the heart-wrenching stories of some of the 85,000 who are in desperate need of organ donation, I have decided to call my doctor on Monday to see what the first step to take for me is.

Again, thank you, everyone.