organ donation

[hightara]

would love to hear your views on this........my son has to do a three minute debate without being biased, he has chosen organ donation.

i am on the organ donor register and so are my eldest..... god forbid if anything happens to my younger ones.. i would also donate.

questions.  if you don't want to donate.......would you accept an organ for you or your children etc?

                 if you are not on the register...should you take precedence over those that are?

[duck_a_lorange]

Like Guardpig, I find don't really trust medics. (This distrust is of long standing, and predates organ transplants.)

However good organ transplants are, they lead to a lifetime on immunosuppressive drugs, they can fail. 

They are brilliant as a stop-gap, but THIS is what we should all be pushing for, and throwing money at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22123386

And gene therapy for cystic fibrosis:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9706000/9706384.stm

[wizilizi]

Artificial blood is being actively researched too - that would be a great breakthrough

[hightara]

thank you so much for your views.... its such a personal and tragic subject..but i wanted to give my son diverse opinions 

[chickengrandma-2008]

I think I'd rather have the real thing, even though it is second hand than have a fake one.:O

[mandymoosie]

((((( Stan ))))) I didn't know about your beloved Grandson 😞 :-x

hmmmm....this is a bit of a tricky one............I'll have a good think about it and come back later as I'm not sure what I feel about it at the moment ?:|

[cookiecookuk]

my oh and me are carry donor cards.and i also think that everyone should be on the waiting list even if they do not carry a card.

my only criticism with the system is that i can be on any register and carry a 100 cards and if i should die  they go and ask the next of kin for permission and he says no then that's it.despite my wishes.they should listen to me its my body.fair enough talk to next of kin but tell them that they are going to take organs.hope this makes sense.:-)

[duck_a_lorange]

I think I'd rather have the real thing, even though it is second hand than have a fake one.:O

It would be the real thing - from your own cells.  Lots of things can regenerate - the liver, for instance, can grow back large chunks of itself after surgery, and even regenerate diseased bits. And little children grow fingerprints back if they lose their fingertips.  It all just needs encouragement and a push in the right direction.

Like in that Star Trek film, where they go back in time to save the whales... The doctor keeps muttering about how barbaric dialysis is, and later in the film you see a little old lady waving her walking stick and screeching "he gave me a pill and I grew a new kidney!"

We're getting there. 🙂

[chickengrandma-2008]

Oh, ok duck, I didn't read it.  Stem cells are ok, I thought it was made in a lab with no 'human' ingredients at all.:-D

[captainbovine]

this thread sure makes you think. I had thought opting out was better but now I'm not so sure.

so sorry to hear of your loss of your grandson Stan.

I do have a donor card but I wonder if my bits are worth owt now, as I'm diabetic. However, I have always said my heart doesn't go anywhere, it's mine and I want to keep it.

[hightara]

although im on the register...... i have told my kids to donate my organs, we had a long discussion about it.

thank you again to every one that has voiced their opinion......will now give them to my son:-x

[brynteg11]

I have opted in and I feel it should be an opt out system as those that feel strongly about opting out have the choice whilst those haven't really thought about it or haven't got around to signing up will be on the list anyway.

[hightara]

i had to tell my kids as i believe they can over-ride your decision.

[wskneil]

i had to tell my kids as i believe they can over-ride your decision.

I'm on the donor register as is everyone in my family. Probably because my little sister has recently had her second liver transplant at the ripe old age of 50 ( she would kill me for that!).

I really wish that me making the decision that i want my organs used was enough. I do not know why once I am dead my body seems to belong to my next of kin

[purplepennyb]

I think it should be opt in, but with more information out there. I do not trust some medics, and I feel that lonely, vulnerable people may be at risk if were an opt in system, sorry to say that but I feel it.

I think that some groups who would be against donating an organ for religious beliefs would be against receiving them too.

I think some people will always be 'takers' in life, and would never consider to donate their organs or blood, but would be appy to receive them. This happens in all walks of life I am afraid.

Having said that I remember when my dad died being spared the decision as non of his organs were fit to take (blind, T1 diabetic with lung disease) so I have not had to deal with an approach.

[hightara]

thank you so much again ...... son gave his debate yesterday....... i sent him the link on here.......

he got a fantastic response:-x

[katzwhiskerz]

I've held a donor card ever since I first became aware of Kidney Donor Cards back in the 1970's. I believe the system is different now, so will have to check I've registered.

My personal belief is that any part of me that could assist another human being will be donated as an 'organ' (including skin, if that's of use to burns victims) on my demise and the rest can be used for medical research. It's a shell that holds 'me' whilst I live and is of no use whatsoever to me once I'm gone.

I'm totally in favour of an opt out system with strong publicity before a given date for its introduction so that those who do object, for whatever reason, can then register their wish to opt out.

I also believe strongly that no relative should be able to override for any reason whatsoever the stated wishes of a person now and even more so once opt-out is established. They cannot override the stated wishes of the same person in their last will and testament without good grounds (that have to be proven in law), so why this? Hell, I'm well over 18 and came to this decision by my own free will and have not veered from that in over 30 years.  

But, I believe opting out of donation should also opt you out of receiving a donation.

There should be very limited exceptions to this: those who cannot for medical reasons donate an organ only. (There are, I believe, some conditions that render all or some organs unusable for transplant). However, such exceptions, should be free to dontae any organ that is still deemed OK as e.g. skin may still be useable for burns victims, even as a temporary 'fix' (I've heard that actual skin tends to generate better long-term healing that some artificial solutions, hence my comments re skin donation).

The other exception I believe there should be from the opt-out system is under 18s on the grounds that they may not be able to make an informed choice. But again, I would suggest that the opt-in wishes of an under-18 should not be possible to be overridden by a relative unless very special circumstances can be proven to have good grounds for believing the under-18 was coerced in some way.  

And re sale to overseas patients - go check your facts. It's very limited and only after the UK the EU registered donor-recipients have been tissue-matched and none found. Personally, if I had agreed to donate say, a kidney on death and no UK or EU registered recipient could be matched to, I'd rather my kidney was sold on (to provide funds that can be used for further research etc) to some poor sod in a non UK/EU area who needed that kidney than it ending up in a pile of organs to be burnt.