Have you signed an organ donor card?

I received and signed an organ donation card after I donated blood. I like donating blood to return a favor, I was once the one needing help for my love ones.

 

There are a few things a lot of people don't realize about organ donation...

1) Only around 1-2% of people who die are actually in a condition to donate their organs. The only way you can donate is if you were legally brain dead (they have tests to determine this) but your heart is still beating, AND you were in reasonably good health otherwise. Once your heart stops beating all of your organs become damaged and unusable. The #1 and #2 killers in the US are heart failure and cancer, both of which would exclude you from donating. They also won't take organs from the morbidly obese, smokers, the elderly, etc. So that cuts out a lot of people. Another major factor is that in most states, even if you have signed a donor card, your family still has the last say. They could be made aware of the fact that you were a donor, but if they still say no then it's a no-go. 50% of organs that are actually donatable aren't donated, primarily because of the family's discomfort.

2) They do not "rip out" your organs, as some people put it. It is a surgical procedure performed in an OR using sterile technique. After they are done, your body is stitched back up, just as they would do for a live person. They do not disfigure your body in any way, and an open-casket funeral is entirely possible.

As for those who are "creeped out" by it, well, I don't know what to tell you. I was horribly creeped out too when I first came to in the ICU, and had a lot of survivors guilt. BUT, you come around, and sooner or later you realize that life is creepy sometimes. Life is messy, unpredictable, and terrifying. Life really doesn't give a shit about your comfort level. Death is a part of life, I myself am not afraid of dying, never have been, but I'll still do what I can to survive as long as I feel I have a reason to be here.

 

I have. I asked them if I was too old and they said no. I won't be using my squishy stuff after I die ,so somebody else can have it.

 

I'm not a organ donor and don't want to be

 

I just checked and my health card says "Z9 donor"

I probably said yes to whatever they asked...ill be dead anyway so I really dont care if they take anything..if it helps someone else live that would be awesome...im not a fan of being a research body though

 

I hope everyone signs their card. Its so important and there is not a more loving thing you can do in the world than give the gift of your body in need.

 

i have o- , because i love everybody and even my blood knows it haha
i guess i can can understand that some people don't want donate their organs.....
but i still basically feel that not donating your organs makes you a huge fucking ****. oh well

yeah, it is nuts that they still know SO little about migraines. FUCKING migraines!

have you guys been to the Bodies exhibits??
they are super amazing, you get to see real human bodies that have been preserved - like blood vessels and muscles and everything. it is really cool.
i know a lot of people who can't bear to see it, it is too much for them to handle. i feel like that is probably a good thing, to be so intrinsically emotionally deeply connected to people in that way, that it affects you so deeply to see cadavers... i like a lot to talk to people who are so powerfully effected like that..
but i think for me anatomy is super fascinating...

 

Yes I have indeed! My friend told me not to because she said if you get into an accident and they see that you've signed an organ donor card that they're less likely to try to save you but I didn't believe her nonsense

 

I just got my health card renewal and there is an organ donor section we have to fill out every time

I always choose that ok for organs if they want any...but i dont like the idea of donating for schools or research

 

I just dont like the idea of being dissected by university students

 

checking the papaer now and it gives us the choices of

1 transplant only
2 transplant and organ and tissue research


the second set of choices allows us to exclude

a kidneys
b heart
c eyes
d bone
e liver
f lungs
g skin
h pancreas

 

I have. Here in NJ everyone has to answer yes or no to the question of being an organ donor when you obtain or renew your driver's license.

 

I'm donating everything, I don't give a shit what happens to my body when I die, and if I can help someone else, why not?

 

I am signed up as a donor. In Ohio it is also asked as part of the drivers license registration.

Once I am gone I would hope parts of me would be still usable for others. I would also be open to be used for medical research if I died from something that is still waiting for a cure (such as Alzheimer's etc.)

Once I am dead I don't need the body any more. If it can help others I am all for it.