Donating Organs




Posted by NEMI

Since my comrade Wings made a thread about giving blood and there were positive reactions and good opinions, I was wondering: what do y'all think about donating organs?...
I would donate mine since they're not gonna be of any use to me if I were to die...my heart would be pounding in some one else's chest.
I know it sounds strange and kind of creppy but..... I'm just curious.




Posted by Last Fog

I don't know why anyone wouldn't donate their organs if it means saving someones life.




Posted by Sapphire Rose

Yeah, I'm a donor. Makes me feel all fuzzy inside. :)




Posted by NEMI


Quoting Last Fog: I don't know why anyone wouldn't donate their organs if it means saving someones life.


Yeah,that's the sad true.



Quoting Sapphire Rose: Yeah, I'm a donor.


Glad to hear that ;)!!!



Posted by Raptor

I can't say I am. I prefer to be cremated immediately after death, and if something is going to tear out my organs, it had better be a hungry scavenger or a beautiful monster.




Posted by Fate

After seeing my mother looking so fake in her coffin, I considered cremation, too. But, after a little more thought on the events of her death, I would've wanted to help her with my blood or organs in any way I could. I want to help anyone. I am an organ donor.




Posted by XeroPercent

I am also an organ donar, got the little heart on my driver's licence to prove it.




Posted by Klarth

I want a part of me to live on after my death.











That part would preferably be my entire body.




Posted by Echo

I'm an organ donor. I don't care if I'm 100% intact after death, and I know I'd be eternally grateful if me or a loved one got a much needed organ from another.




Posted by XeroPercent

I think if you're not registered as an organ donor, and you get sick or injured and need an organ...

...too bad, so sad.

:wacko:




Posted by Crazy K

I would donate my organs and such to someone who needed it, but when I die I also would like to be cremated and my ashes be thrown in some really beautiful place.




Posted by Arwon

We need opt-out organ donation... people should have to specifically object to their organs being took.

Uh, I'm pretty sure I've consented to be harvested on my drivers' license. I've definitely told my family to harvest away.




Posted by lameboyadvance

I'm not so sure about donating while I'm still alive, but if it meant life or death for a family member then I guess I'd have to consider it.


I've ticked the box on my driver's license that lets them take whatever they want. It's not like I'd care anyway... ;)


...Besides, AFAIK the rest of my family has been cremated anyway.



...Although I wish someone would hurry up and invent the brain-in-a-jar... :p:




Posted by NES Queen

I'm already registered with the [URL="http://www.organdonor.org/"]National Transplant Society[/URL] and I suggest anyone else interested in donating do the same. It's much easier for them to do a quick search on your name & social security number than it is to hunt down your drivers license and determine whether it was really signed or not (mine never stays checked/signed, the signatuers always eventually wear away). Plus, even if your license is signed saying you want to donate, your family members could argue against it if they wanted to "keep you intact" whereas the national registry is a bit more difficult to discredit.

I know some people prefer or feel they need to keep their body whole after death mainly for religious reasons, but I just view our bodies as shells. The real us is the spirit inside, which never dies and doesn't need a kidney, liver, cataract, or skin to survive. Plus you can specify which organs you either want or DO NOT want them to remove if certain ones hold special meaning to you. There's more that can be tranplanted than just the main organs. You can literally help to either save the life or greatly improve the quality of life for over 50 different people with your tissues and organs. Taking them into the grave or crematorium with you doesn't do anyone any good.




Posted by lameboyadvance

Thanks for that. Didn't realise we had an [url=http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/yourhealth/our_services/aaodr.htm]official registry[/url] over here. (It was only activated last year.)


I'll sign up. Hope my parents/relatives don't freak in the case of my unfortunate demise.
(Haven't exactly told them yet, but I think they'd understand.) :)


EDIT: Just tried to sign up, but it said something about the registration being a possible duplicate. Must have the one from my license already in the database.




Posted by Colonel

When I die all my organs get donated. I'll be one hallow corpse.




Posted by sabre

Yeah, I've signed up to get everything donated, only with a little clause that they all have to go to the same person. That way it's not so much an organ donation as it is a hostile takeover.




Posted by Vampiro V. Empire

Nah, my organs are staying mine. Either in the ground or burnt to ash.




Posted by Axis

I'm not an organ donor. I'll keep them inside me.




Posted by NEMI

Wow I'm impressed >=P
Everybody is so positive about this, I really believe that this is a good cause.




Posted by WackoHater2

If someone in my family, or someone I really cared about needed something, and I could give it to them without harming myself, I'd do it. But when I die, I wanna be cremated. I'm not sure where I want the ashes to be scattered though. I dont wanna be sitting in jar on my family's mantle though.




Posted by NEMI

I'm still not sure if I want to be cremated, I think that I'll be much better in a coffin and not in a house where I'll be mourned day and night.




Posted by Vampiro V. Empire


Quoted post: I'm still not sure if I want to be cremated, I think that I'll be much better in a coffin and not in a house where I'll be mourned day and night.


You aren't mourned every day and night. It's a reminder, nothing more.

As for me, I'm totally having my ashes sent into space.



Posted by Xenos

I would like my brain preserved.




Posted by Sean the Wicked

I'd give up something I didn't need to someone I cared about...or if they were willing to pay lots of money.

I actually really want to sell my body to science (for after I die), get like a down payment on it now and crap, 'cause I want some monies.




Posted by Vampiro V. Empire


Quoted post: I would like my brain preserved.


I can envision a Frankenstein-like creature lumbering around eating rice while being fairly unobtrusive.



Posted by NeXidala

When I die (which I hope, won't be for a looong time) I plan on getting my organs donated. Then, after they are donated to people, I want to get cremated, and thrown in the sea. I know it sounds cheesy, but the sea is comforting to me, and even though I won't know it, I want my body to be there after I'm gone.




Posted by WILLETH FOR MONTHS

After I'm dead, why the hell do I need my organs? I'm on the Organ Donor register - and that includes my eyes, and everything.




Posted by Draxamus

I'd rather let them freaks die.




Posted by NES Queen


Quoting Vampiro: Because you're dead. Who cares?


Yeah, you're dead. You don't need them so who cares if you have them all inside you when you get cremated or burried? Instead they could go and help someone else who is still alive, since you yourself don't need them.

I would only do a living transplant for a relative or close friend, but once I'm gone everything is up for grabs.



Posted by Vampiro V. Empire


Quoted post: Yeah, you're dead. You don't need them so who cares if you have them all inside you when you get cremated or burried? Instead they could go and help someone else who is still alive, since you yourself don't need them.


Of course, but the argument could go either way. Who cares if you're helping somone, because you're dead.



Posted by WILLETH FOR MONTHS

My mum is against the eyeballs for some reason. She doesn't like the idea of a corpse in a coffin without the eyeballs. It would also mean it would have to be closed casket. But I'm getting cremated, so meh.




Posted by lameboyadvance

Its a wonder someone hasn't made a crack about wanting to be stuffed and put on the couch as a constant reminder. :p: ;)




Posted by Vampiro V. Empire


Quoted post: t would also mean it would have to be closed casket.


Just make sure they put on a stylish pair of glasses. Not only does it solve the problem, it makes you look stupid cool.



Posted by XeroPercent


Quoting lameboyadvance: Its a wonder someone hasn't made a crack about wanting to be stuffed and put on the couch as a constant reminder. :p: ;)


Heh... good call, I want to be stuffed and then used as a deparment store mannequin.



Posted by NeXidala


Quoting XeroPercent: Heh... good call, I want to be stuffed and then used as a deparment store mannequin.

Hah, I could just imagine a group of stupid tourists touching the mannequin saying things like "WOW! It feels so real!" lmao......



Posted by NES Queen


Quoting Wings: My mum is against the eyeballs for some reason. She doesn't like the idea of a corpse in a coffin without the eyeballs. It would also mean it would have to be closed casket. But I'm getting cremated, so meh.


don't know how they do things in you neck of the woods, but over here an "open casket" does not mean "open eyes". How ****ing creepy would it be to have the dead body staring right up at you when you peek in on it to say your farewells? They usually just make it appear as if the person is sleeping.



Posted by Killer Jordo

I would donate an organ. Even if I was living. And it was one of the organs I don't depend on. But someone else does.




Posted by Slade

I want to donate organs, then be cremated and have my ashes spread somewhere. No clue where right now, but eventually I'll find a place and just think, "Yeah... right there." I was with my dad when he spread his brother's ashes in a river near here, and it was... neat how meaningful it was. A lot better than being surrounded by a bunch of people in some building for the last time you're "with them."

As for open casket.. eh, I'm not a big fan.
Although I've never been to an open casket funeral of someone I actually cared about.




Posted by Apathetic

Not even if they put me in a room full of panthers and tigers.


No Im not that reluctant but I am a little, just a little.




Posted by Cruxis

Thanks! but no Thanks! ....I think, I'll Keep my organs for the Day I am Reborn again. When My life of Hard Drinking Nights Turns me into a *** Fearing Creature of the Night.




Posted by Sean Fury

I'd sell my organs to science if they'd give me money now for my organs when I die.




Posted by ExoXile

They can pretty much do whatever they want.

I'd prefer getting tossed out in the woods and let nature have it's way.
But apparently that's illegal. :(




Posted by Cruxis

[quote=ExoXile]They can pretty much do whatever they want.

I'd prefer getting tossed out in the woods and let nature have it's way.
But apparently that's illegal. :(

Actually, there's a place in Tennesse that does that for free! They Toss bodies out in nature and watch them decay for up to 7 years. They then obserb what happens to them in nature. This information help law inforcement and CSI people determin the cause of death of victims, who they find Dead in remote locations.




Posted by Sean Fury


Quoting Cruxis: Actually, there's a place in Tennesse that does that for free! They Toss bodies out in nature and watch them decay for up to 7 years. They then obserb what happens to them in nature. This information help law inforcement and CSI people determin the cause of death of victims, who they find Dead in remote locations.


I think I saw that on Discovery or something. Wasn't it for a school or something?



Posted by NES Queen

yeah, it was on Discovery I believe. they leave bodies in various places you would normally find a murder victem dumped (a car, a shallow grave, wrapped in a bag or blanket...) to see the effect of different conditions to the rate of decay. as Cruxis said, it helps with the autopsy to determine a more accurate time of death. also based on the different larva stages of the insects found on the body they can help determine how long it was sitting there for.




Posted by Fate

One of the problems I see with that is the body has to be at the exact heat a normal person would have to be at death for an accurate report of rate of decay to be taken. Obviously if the body is frozen or kept around for too long, and since body heat helps in telling rates, it'd be kind of difficult. They'd have to take the body immediately after death for it to be totally accurate!

I don't see scientists keeping the entire body warm (unless there's some weird body toaster that does it), or at least warm enough to seem natural. Same goes for insects: heat, location, weather, etc. Some insects grow faster in heat, so a having a cold body lying about probably wouldn't work as well. Some insects find their way into dead bodies as soon as the victim dies.




Posted by NEMI


Quoting Cruxis: Thanks! but no Thanks! ....I think, I'll Keep my organs for the Day I am Reborn again. When My life of Hard Drinking Nights Turns me into a *** Fearing Creature of the Night.


[COLOR=PINK]Awww.... that's pretty bad! But even so, you're still my friend ;)! xoxo 4 u![/color]



Posted by Speedfreak

[quote=Fate][COLOR=skyblue]One of the problems I see with that is the body has to be at the exact heat a normal person would have to be at death for an accurate report of rate of decay to be taken. Obviously if the body is frozen or kept around for too long, and since body heat helps in telling rates, it'd be kind of difficult. They'd have to take the body immediately after death for it to be totally accurate!

I don't see scientists keeping the entire body warm (unless there's some weird body toaster that does it), or at least warm enough to seem natural. Same goes for insects: heat, location, weather, etc. Some insects grow faster in heat, so a having a cold body lying about probably wouldn't work as well. Some insects find their way into dead bodies as soon as the victim dies.[/COLOR]

When you die you cool down pretty fast because you're not generating any heat. The difference would be in hours, really.




Posted by Sean Fury

But if a body isn't found right away at a murder scene...than it really wouldn't matter...and etc...O_o

You're argument is moot. I'm pretty sure when people get murdered they aren't found in a couple hours, unless it was out in public view, so it really wouldn't matter would it?




Posted by Fate

It only matters when it comes to rate of decay and entomology-- two very big factors in forensics, although some would try to discredit both.

If the body is frozen, everything is cold from the inside and out. If you put an ice cube in a plastic bag, the ice cube will eventually melt over time. When you find the plastic bag, it's nothing but water. You'd have no idea it was an ice cube before. When you put a frozen body in the middle of a desert and watch the decay, the decay is only immediately present when the outside is "melted", but the inside is still frozen. When it comes to entomology, the insects won't touch a freezing cold body, or at least lay eggs there. They'd lay eggs inside the body when the conditions are more suitable. That means time. Time in which the body will decay from the outside in. And if you're in a desert, the body will be fried on the outside faster than the body can be completely "melted".

I can see the scientific importance of these tests, but the accuracy of it all is still up for debate.

Don't call my argument moot, son. I studied a lot this law/forensics stuff before and entomology and rate of decay are pretty **** important. The defense have a field day with this.




Posted by Xenos

Giving someone my organs will probably worsen their health.




Posted by NES Queen


Quoting Fate: One of the problems I see with that is the body has to be at the exact heat a normal person would have to be at death for an accurate report of rate of decay to be taken. Obviously if the body is frozen or kept around for too long, and since body heat helps in telling rates, it'd be kind of difficult. They'd have to take the body immediately after death for it to be totally accurate!


I'm confused, or I think you're confused about what Sean and I are talking about. The purpose of the study was to intentionally subject human bodies to varying conditions (hot, cold, wet, dry, humid, no air, out in the open....) to see how much of an effect these different conditions have on the decay of the body. They know exactly when the person died and how long their body was sitting in the trunk of a car out in the hot summer sun. By checking on it and recording the changes over the next several hours/days/weeks/months, when a new body comes along and no one knows how long its been there, they compare its condition to their notes for similar environmental conditions to more accurately make a guess as to how long. No one said anything about freezing the body. Contrary to what you may see on tv, dead people are never frozen (cept for Walt Disney :O). They're kept refrigerated until they can either be embalmed, cremated or sent off to science to help slow down the decay process, but never frozen.

As Speedy said, once you die your body temp cools off. It's one of the first things the medical examiner checks to help determine time of death. If you're still warm, your fresh.



Posted by Sean Fury

All I was trying to say is that most of the time bodies aren't found immediatly after death...when these kinds of intense forensics are required that is.




Posted by Fate

I know the bodies aren't frozen or they wouldn't be able to do open-casket funerals or other things. Maybe "frozen" wasn't the right word to use. Refridgerated?




Posted by WILLETH FOR MONTHS

But Sean, by knowing exactly how the body decays from point of death using the test subjects, by studying how decayed the found corpse is you can work out the time of death much more accurately.




Posted by Fate

But I guess comparing notes works out okay.




Posted by Trigger

I think I'll keep my junk like a selfish little bastard. kthxbai




Posted by mis0

I have no idea what you fags are actually talking about (thread two pages long = derailed long ago), but here's my opinion on the original topic:

I'm an organ donor. But probably not for long. How can I be assured that the medical teams working on me will actually try and save my life if they know a few other patients could be saved with my organs? I'm sure that someone with the mentality of that "angel of death" guy might view me with contempt for being reckless with my body, and decide someone else deserves my parts.

Thankfully, there aren't many of his lot, but it's still troubling. I want to ensure I get the best treatment should I ever need it, and the organ donor programme doesn't leave me with that peace of mind.




Posted by WILLETH FOR MONTHS

That's quite a point, but I feel greater faith for the NHS where organs technically have no value - they are not bought or sold. I suppose the moral reasoning you described may still exist, but for some reason I seem to view the British medical staff as more scrupulous than those in America. I am not sure why this is, but it's probably unfounded patriotism and propaganda that's done it.




Posted by Speedfreak

[quote=Misoxeny;520097]I have no idea what you fags are actually talking about (thread two pages long = derailed long ago), but here's my opinion on the original topic:

I'm an organ donor. But probably not for long. How can I be assured that the medical teams working on me will actually try and save my life if they know a few other patients could be saved with my organs? I'm sure that someone with the mentality of that "angel of death" guy might view me with contempt for being reckless with my body, and decide someone else deserves my parts.

Thankfully, there aren't many of his lot, but it's still troubling. I want to ensure I get the best treatment should I ever need it, and the organ donor programme doesn't leave me with that peace of mind.

I don't think they even find out if your organs can be harvested until after you're dead.




Posted by veritas

I know the good intention is good, but id rather keep all my organs.




Posted by Speedfreak

[quote=2fast4u;520354]I know the good intention is good, but id rather keep all my organs.

Why? What are you gonna use them for?




Posted by ExoXile


Quoting Speedfreak: Why? What are you gonna use them for?


Die in peace.



Posted by WILLETH FOR MONTHS

And not in pieces! :D




Posted by ExoXile

Precisely.




Posted by Speedfreak

[quote=ExoXile;520447]Die in peace.

You would die in peace. They don't take them out until after you're dead!




Posted by NES Queen


Quoting Misoxeny: I'm an organ donor. But probably not for long. How can I be assured that the medical teams working on me will actually try and save my life if they know a few other patients could be saved with my organs?


Regardless of whether you're a registered donor or not, doctors will always do what they can to save someone's life. The only time they won't intervene and do everything possible is if you have a notorized DNR order stapled to your forehead (because even if your family members claim you have one, until they pull it out and show it the doctors have to assume its not official and legal). Given the choice, 99% of doctors would rather provide treatment when they shouldn't rather than not provide it when they should. And not to try and persuade you about the moral consciousness of the doctors in NM, but organ donors are of little to no use when they're dead (as in cold, no heart beat, no lumgs pumping oxygen to keep your cells and organs viable). So knowing you're a willing donor will likely work in your favor to help preserve your life. "Life" meaning a braindead body kept "alive" by machine and equipment until they're ready for the transplant.

[quote=Speedy]I don't think they even find out if your organs can be harvested until after you're dead.
Not really true. Once a person stops breathing or their heart stops, cells begin to die. Without oxygen, your organs will fail and essentially "break", which makes them no good for someone else. The preferable way to perform transplants is for the donor to be kept alive artificially until the necessary HLA typing is completed, a recipient match found and prepared, and then a surgical procedure is performed on the donor to remove the needed organs. So the organs are kept inside the donor and remain "alive" by artificially keeping the donor alive for as long as possible. Then after they're removed they're kept on wet ice to delay the deterioration of the organ(s) until they reach the recipient.

Depending on the organ, it needs to be transplanted within 6 - 72hrs for it to stand any chance of working in the new body. (Bone, cartilage, ligaments, heart valves, skin, tendons, corneas... things like that can last much longer.) So if you waited until someone actually died to start making arrangements, or waited for the medical examiner to find a body on the street, it wouldn't necessarily be much value.



Posted by Trigger


Quoting Speedfreak: I don't think they even find out if your organs can be harvested until after you're dead.

Unless you have a system such as we do where organ donor is mentioned on your drivers licence, which is usually the primary form of identification. Considering that hospitals need to identify you, your licence gives it away when they read the little 'Y' or 'N' under "Organ Donor." Even more so in situations when you are taken to hospital without your knowledge (eg, severe accident such as a car crash) and you lack the ability to speak, because you're unconscious or something.



Posted by NES Queen

Here in the states there's a little box you can check off on the back of your license to indicate your desire to donate, but it needs to be signed by 2 witnesses and its impossible to write on the darn thing. They go more by the [URL="http://www.donatelife.net/"]donor registry list[/URL], which is more formal and official. But in either case, your family members must be consulted first and agree to it. So if you're interested in doing so (or don't want to be a donor) you need to make sure the people who will ultimately decide to pull the plug on you know your wishes - be it yeah or neigh.




Posted by mis0


Quoting NES Queen: Here in the states there's a little box you can check off on the back of your license to indicate your desire to donate, but it needs to be signed by 2 witnesses and its impossible to write on the darn thing. They go more by the [URL="http://www.donatelife.net/"]donor registry list[/URL], which is more formal and official. But in either case, your family members must be consulted first and agree to it. So if you're interested in doing so (or don't want to be a donor) you need to make sure the people who will ultimately decide to pull the plug on you know your wishes - be it yeah or neigh.

Oh, see, I wasn't aware of that. I figured they'd just look it up, and go from there. Now, I'm not trying to say anything against doctors at all - I worked for one for three years. I was impressed with how ethically he handled his business, and those same ethics have inspired me. My original opinion was formed because I wasn't sure what procedure they would go through to decide if an person was a donor, and because they need authorization from my next of kin, I'm not really worried. I was aware that I wouldn't truely be dead - braindead, yes, but not physically. I thought a combination of "just verify she's a donor" + the unlikely potential of "angel of death" doctor = fukked. But because the procedures aren't like that, I'm not really worried about it anymore. I'll stay a donor, because like I originally wished, if I get killed in a wreck or something, maybe some poor kid can get a second shot at life.

Recycling is good.



Posted by NES Queen


Quoting Misoxeny: I'll stay a donor, because like I originally wished, if I get killed in a wreck or something, maybe some poor kid can get a second shot at life.

Recycling is good.

good to hear. now if you happen to be blood type B+, be sure to put me down as your preferred recipient just in case I need some spare parts when the time comes.