Organ donation: follow-up

[redbird]

In the elevator today, we met a neighbor I basically like (she used to play cello for cats [1] and now teaches elementary school), and I asked her to witness me signing my donor card, along with cattitude.

I've also made sure that both cattitude and my mother (who would be my next of kin after him) know, and agree with my choice. (My other partners also know and agree—I know at least one of them is also signed up—but they're not legally recognized as kin for this purpose. Still, if the idea bothered either of them, I'd have discussed it further before going ahead.)

It's a small thing. No. That's not it. When it has any effect, it's a large one, but a lot more people sign organ donor cards than become donors after they die. For me, it's an easy thing to have done: it didn't take much time, and it costs me and my family/heirs nothing at all. [I say "for me" because I know there are people with religious concerns connected to this, but none of those who might be affected by my decision found it problematic.]

I'm doing this for strangers, but I'm doing it in memory of Mike (John M. Ford), and to pay forward the anonymous stranger who left him a kidney.

[1] Actually, she played cello for Cats: she was in the orchestra for the musical, but even long-running musicals close eventually.

Comments

[carandol.livejournal.com]

I heard a programme on the BBC World Service the other day about doner recipients getting together. It started with a guy who needed lung and heart transplants. But it turned out that his heart was OK, so that was given to someone else. And, quite by chance, hea happened to meet the new recipient of his old heart in a doctor's waiting room. They've been best friends ever since and have begun an organisation in the UK which gets organ recipients together. There's apparently a woman from Scotland who died and donated organs that saved the lives of 23 people, who now get together and celebrate her life.

I'm starting to think it's time I started carrying a donor card. Yes, I'm diabetic, but there must be some bits of me worth having!

[redbird]

I don't know which bits of me might be usable, but I decided that I'd let the experts decide that, at the time, because I won't be using them anymore.