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As a chaplain intern at one of Portland’s large hospitals, I see numbers of patients every week who are awaiting organ transplants, or dying from not getting one in time. It’s such a waste of human life, especially because the answer is so simple. The difficult fact is that there is a critical shortage of organs. Ten people die every day waiting for available organs. In the United States, of the approximately 14,000 believed to be viable organ donors, only 5,000 actually are. Five lives can be saved per donor, so these figures reveal that 45,000 lives a year are needlessly lost! The perception is that once one is on a waiting list for an organ donation, donated organs are easily accessible, but in the United States today more than 80,000 men, women, and children are awaiting transplants, and 1,800 of them live in the Pacific Northwest. Added to that are thousands more who await tissue transplant. According to the Oregon Donor Program statistics, in Oregon and southwest Washington at any one time: 120-140 people await a kidney transplant. 125-140 people await a liver transplant. 40-50 people await a cornea transplant. 20-30 people await a heart transplant. 2-10 people await a pancreas transplant. 2-5 people await a heart/lung transplant. Among the people waiting for pancreas and kidney transplant is my niece Bobbi. Bobbi is only 32. She’s endured the effects of diabetes for years, even losing toes and most of her sight to the disease. Without new organs, she won’t live long. Her mother has a compatible kidney that she’s willing to donate, but Bobbi wants to be free of her diabetes, and that means she also needs a pancreas. These organs must come from the same donor. The wait has been a long one, and we only hope that Bobbi’s donor will show up before it’s too late. Spiritually, we define ourselves by the way we respond to situations and events in our lives. Response is key here. What is good? What is right? What is fitting? How we respond to our brothers and sisters who suffer gives us our definition as responsible people. Even in our dying, we can do the right and ethical thing. We can offer the precious gift of life. H. Richard Niebuhr, in his book The Responsible Self, says this about responsibility: "It has often been remarked that the great decisions which give a society its specific character are functions of emergency situations in which a community has had to meet a challenge." We witnessed this truth in the generosity, courage, and compassion that followed the events of September 11. Likewise, we might say that the great decisions that give individuals their specific character are functions of emergency situations in their lives — and deaths — where they met the challenge. Death is uncomfortable to talk about, but ignoring the eventuality doesn’t make accepting it any easier. Like making out a will, this decision needs to be made prior to a person’s demise. Since none of us knows the hour or the day of our departure, I think it’s best to be prepared in advance by making these decisions, and keeping ourselves "prayed up." One concern surrounding organ donation is that a person’s loved one won’t be able to have an open-casket funeral. This is a myth. The bodies are restored to their full structure, so there should be no concern about disfigurement. Even people who die of cancer and other diseases are able to donate skin and corneas. Almost anyone can donate corneas, as the eyes do not depend upon a blood supply. The Oregon Donor Program gives us some universal facts: • There is no added cost for organ and tissue donation. • There is no age limit for eye donation or whole-body donation for medical education. • 75 is the upper age limit for bone, skin, and internal organ donation. • Organ and tissue donation usually will not interfere with the timing of funeral services, and will not prevent an open casket. • Organ and tissue donation is supported by all major religions. • Tissues that can be donated at the time of death are eyes, skin, bone, tendon, cartilage, heart valves, fascia, and veins. Organs that can be donated are kidneys, heart, lung, liver, pancreas, and intestines. Here are some basics for those who wish to become donors: • Sign a donor card in the presence of your family. You can get a donor card from your state’s donor program, or you can make one yourself. These are not legal documents, but are helpful reminders to your family of your wishes at the time of your death. • Have your family sign as witnesses and pledge to honor your wishes. Again, this is not a legally binding document, but a contract between your loved ones and you. • Carry your donor card with you at all times. • Make sure everyone in your family carries a card listing the wishes of each person upon his or her death. Family cards, as they are called, can also be obtained from your state’s donor program, or it’s perfectly okay to make your own; these, too, are not legally binding. • Code your driver’s license. Donor symbols vary from state to state; in Washington, the symbol is a heart; in Oregon, it’s a "D." Once more, this is a reminder of your wishes but not a guarantee that they will be honored. • In Oregon, you must complete and return the confirmation card to the Donor Program in addition to carrying the uniform donor card in your wallet. • Remember: you must tell your family so they can respond to your wishes. Remembering the community of all our brothers and sisters, I believe that we have a moral responsibility to help alleviate human suffering when we are able to do so. What better way than to offer what’s left of life in us to our human family? Please give some thought today to becoming an organ donor. Give the gift of life: recycle yourself. If you would like to learn more about organ donation, please write to the National Transplant Society, 853 Sanders Road, Suite 314, Northbrook, IL 60062; log on to <http://organdonor.org/>; e-mail <NTS@organdonor.org>; phone (847) 283-9333; or fax (847) 792-4108. Oregon residents can write the Oregon Donor Program, P.O. Box 532, Portland, OR 97207; phone (503) 494-7888; visit <http://www.ordonorprogram.org/>; or e-mail <odpinfo@imagina.com>. Washington residents can call (360) 902-3900; write to the Department of Licensing, Driver Responsibility, P.O. Box 9030, Olympia, WA 98507-9030; or log on to <http://www.wa.gov/dol/drivers/orgndonr.htm>. Each Canadian province and territory has a unique organ and tissue donation system. Canadians can check out <http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/organandtissue/how_to/index.html> or <http://www.givelife.ca/National_site_provincial_programs.htm> for more information. Linda Ross Swanson, a chaplain intern at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center Hospital in Portland, Oregon, is working on her Master’s of Arts in Applied Theology at Marylhurst University. She worked as a hospice respite care worker for five years with Legacy Visiting Nurses Association and Providence/St. Vincent’s Hospitals. |
My friend Rick wouldn’t
have celebrated his sixtieth anniversary this year if it hadn’t
been for a generous donor’s family who followed the instructions
of their twenty-year-old son. He’d signed up to be an organ
donor and shared that wish with his family. With his new heart,
my friend is now staring life in the face instead of facing an
untimely death.