Should brain dead patients be kept alive for organ donation?

My concern is that if organ donation is used widely it could inhibit the research on stem cells which ultimately should be able to grow new organs from a person's stem cells. It is a very emotional subject as I have known people desperately waiting for an organ so that their lives can continue longer. I'm all for being on an organ donor list but hesitate about keeping people alive for that purpose.

I had that problem too, and I had to keep clenching and unclenching my fist to pump the blood. Talk about getting blood out of a stone!

I started out giving blood when all they asked about was jaundice and malaria but sometime in the 80s when the HIV problem started they added allergies to the list. I am allergic to penicillin and as soon as I told them this I was offered a cup of tea and ushered to the door without donating. It seems they do not worry about food allergies but do worry drug allergies incase the person receiving the blood is asol receiving the drug to which the donor is allergic.

DD tried to become a blood donor recently but after one donation was then told not to come back because her veins are so deeply embedded in her arm that they are very difficult to find and she ends up with an arm like a pincushion. DH has the same problem so it is obviously an inherited characteristic. During a recent stay in hospital they put extra shunts in her arm because of the difficulties finding her veins for regular blood tests

Thanks jeni

Wrong way round. O neg universal doner

greenmossgiel A brilliant achievement well done! O positive is the most common blood group and can be given to most other groups but O positives can only have transfusions from their own blood type. So I believe. I hope some one will correct me if I'm wrong.

I've been lucky enough never to have needed a blood transfusion - and my blood is dead common (O positive). Maybe more would need it because of that reason, though.

Thank you green on behalf of those of us who have needed blood transfusions. My dad had a rare blood group (AB negative) and gave blood for most of his adult life. I can't give blood as had rather a lot myself and apart from having scaredy cat veins that disappear at the sight of a needle, I am ineligible.

Hey green Respect! You are a hero of blood donation.

Having had blood transfusions on a number of occasions, both before and since 1980, I appear to be ineligible as a donor. When I did try, many years ago and before there were so many restrictions, my haemoglobin count was too low for donating blood to be healthy for me. I tried lots of times – strong sense of payback – but the count is naturally low and does not change with iron pills. My late father, also thinking of payback for the saving of my life, did donate blood but it made him very woozy so he couldn't do it often.

I've given blood since 1976 and have clocked up about 60 donations, but unfortunately, now that I have to come back on public transport afterwards, it's not so easy. I've found that I've started to feel a bit groggy afterwards! If donations could be given here in the village, it would be no problem.

There was a lot of anxiety about HIV and also mad cow at one stage. I remember going to give blood once and reading the list and thinking OMG. Bale out time! It was things like ever been to bed with someone who ever been to Africa or had any partners that had ever had a moment of doubt about their sexuality...
Later I had breast cancer so they did not want my blood. ALthough this is not on the hugely long list - see link. So maybe after all this time I could...
My DH was told more recently though, that having had a malignant mole removed he will never be acceptable as a donor. He was miffed. It was his opportunity to be a hero.
www.blood.co.uk/can-i-give-blood/who-cant-give-blood/

I used to be a regular blood donor until I was told that as I had had transfusions after each DD's birth (C section) before 1982, I was no longer a suitable donor. I assume this is to do with HIV testing or maybe Hep C?
Shame really as I was quite happy to toddle along to the mobile unit every time it came and sort of think that as we as a family have benefited form organ and blood donation, well, what goes around comes around.
There have been some moving stories on this thread and I have found them a source of comfort as sometimes you feel you are the only person to be in this situation. What I do know, but prefer to "park" at the back of my mind, is that DH with his heath issues will not be a suitable candidate for a second transplant when his illness reaches that point, as it will. But as none of us knows when that time will be, we will just cross bridges when we come to them.

I started to give blood regularly when the service came to the college where I was training. I asked one man friend why he did not donate and he said he 'didn't like anything like that' - his wife had received several pints after a miscarriage.

Thank you JessM. A couple of years ago a young man from a neighbouring village needed a bone marrow transplant. There was huge local press coverage and the local pub hosted an event during which people were invited to register for bone marrow donation. The young man eventually got his transplant from an anonymous donor and has gone on to lead a healthy normal life.

Prior to my husbands transplant a young local girl with cystic fibrosis had a lung transplant she was literally weeks away from death. She is now home and after a few hitches recovering well. Again there was huge local press coverage which is fantastic but sadly the story is soon forgotten. Something really does need to be done about raising public awareness about organ donation etc and keeping it high profile.

I have donated blood several times and not thought much about it. However when my husband was given his blood transfusion I found myself thinking about the anonymous donor who had given up an hour of their time probably during a very busy day to possibly save someones life. I felt very grateful.

You have to be under 50 and be a blood donor. Lots of us are excluded from giving blood - which makes it all the more important that those who can, do.
www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/bonemarrow/

Jess - I would love to be a living donor but I cannot even give blood in France. Is there an age limit for being a bone marrow donor? I know that it is possible for even very old people to have some organs can that be useful after death. We are all going to die, but I would take some comfort from knowing that somebody could benefit from my death.

Sook and supernan if anyone had any doubts about organ donation they should read your stories.
I am going to say a few words about "bone marrow donation".
I'm sure you all know this is the last ditch treatment for those with blood cancers that have failed to respond to other treatments. These include children and people of all other ages.
It is the stem cells in red bone marrow, the ones that produce all the other blood cells, that are transplanted. It used to be the case than doctors had to stick needles into the hip bones to extract the cells. These days they call it a stem cell transplant. Donors take a drug that stimulates their stem cells to increase (this needs a few injections) and some of them float into the blood. The donor then gets hooked up to a fancy machine (a bit like dialysis) for a few hours, to collect the precious cells. They look like a cupful of berry smoothie. Job done.These are then infused into the patient, who has had high dose chemo to kill off their own diseased cells. Within a few days the stem cells start to give them healthy blood.
Because there are so many genes that determine tissue type finding an exact match is almost impossible. But a close match can give someone their life back.
My friend had leukaemia in middle age. A transplant has allowed her to become a doting grandmother to three little girls.

Bound to!

Thank you for your personal stories; they must surely clear any doubts anyone has about organ donation. The joy and relief of the partners and relatives is palpable. I think we should definitely have an opt out system.

And I also feel more comfortable about keeping the body going (a while) to keep the organs intact.

But I bet the tabloids hype this up!

Such courageous stories and there could be so many more if only people would ensure they donated their organs. Opting out instead of in will certainly help. Anyone who worries about donating a kidney should understand that we only need one. I have lived with one kidney for six years now and have no problems. The dodgy one I had removed was making me dangerously ill. I have a friend who was born with one kidney, has four children and forgets that she only has one till something like an x-ray when she gets asked where it's gone. I have friends with donated kidneys living normal lives, and I remember one dear friend who died 45 years ago for want of a kidney.

It's the same with bone marrow donation - not a difficult thing to do, get tested and be available to make that gift of life if a match is found. So many children and teenagers are living in limbo until they can have that marrow donation and get on with their lives.

Supernan I send your grandson my very best wishes. I'll bet the family who made that courageous decision all those years ago would be very proud to know what he has done with his life so far.

When my husband first suffered renal failure in 1977 we were told he was a difficult match and that he would be dead within 6 months if he didn't have a kidney transplant. Fortunately his Dad was a good match and the kidney lasted for almost 28 years when he once again had to rely on haemo dialysis to keep him alive.

Until this recent transplant (2 weeks ago) he was on and off the UK transplant list due to various illnesses caused by the cocktail of drugs he has had to take for most of his adult life. He lived for the phone call to tell him that a kidney was available for him. It never came. Because of antibodies that had built up over the years he was told he had only a 14% chance of recieving a kidney from a deceased donor. Our youngest son offered to be a donor and extensive tests revealed that he was healthy and that the kidney as a good match a 1/1 so I believe. My husband was discharged from hospital just 6 days after the transplant took place, far too early in my opinion because within 48 hours he was admitted to our local A&E with post operative complications. He has since had a blood transfusion and has been transferred back to the hospital where the op took place.

There is much to be done about educating people about organ failure and it needs to be publicised more. With the current epidemic of diabetes which can lead to kidney failure there are going to be an awful lot of people needing dialysis and kidney transplants. I was often asked the question " How long will your husband need dialysis"? The answer was always the same " Until he dies unless a suitable kidney comes along". There were many shocked faces believe me, because they hadn't realised that dialysis is not a cure. The number of deaths amongst the dialysis patients where my husband was treated far outnumbered the transplants.

I think that we should have a system in place were we opt out only if we do not wish to donate our organs after death and our wishes should be legal and binding as if in a will.

Having an organ transplant is a huge decision to make It's success is not guarranteed and there is heartbreak for some along the way. But it is truly a Gift of Life made possible mostly by some anonymous donors unselfishness.

Thank you

supernan
I appreciate your post. The family of my husbands donated kidney had to make this decision, and I can't thank them enough. Peter has been dead now for almost 9 years, but I still really appreciate the extra 14 years or so we had together,
We both took early retirement at 50, which meant we had 9wonderful years with each other. We both worked part time and spent the rest of the time sailing round the channel islands , Brittany and Normandy. They were years I would not have missed for the world!
Thank you to whoever you are who had the courage to give your relatives kidney!

My grandson is alive today because he received a donated kidney when he was 4 years old, having been on dialysis 6 nights a week for some months. He is now coming up for his 22nd birthday. He is at university & doing as well as any of his peers. He is alive because of the courageous & generous decision made by a family that I don't know. All I know is the city they live in. I think of them a lot, and once a year we remember them as a family.
To read all your support for organ donation is very heartening. My grandson's kidney cannot go on much longer. All I would ask of you all is to talk to your families about organ donation. If you make your wishes clear to everyone it makes it so much easier for a grieving family when these decisions have to be made.

Me too.
But it seems that they actually do keep patients going sometimes to facilitate successful transplants.
But we are of course only talking about a minority of dying patients. if they are dying of a disease, then they are unlikely to be useful organ donors. Their organs do have to be in a healthy state.