Organ Donation In Children

If you've been following the news at all lately (which I rarely do because it's usually depressing), you may have noticed a story about a ten year old girl, Sarah, with cystic fibrosis who's in need of a double lung transplant. Thankfully, yesterday Sarah received her double lung transplant and it has been reported that the surgery was very successful!

This story has raised a lot of awareness for CF and organ donation, especially organ donation in children, which is what I want to touch on today. But first, here's a little bit about Sarah's story. Because Sarah is only ten years old, she is only eligible for donor lungs from a child, which really decreased her chances of getting lungs -- children need to be at least 12 years old to receive adult organs. Just last week Sarah had to be placed in a medically induced coma because of her failing health. Her parents fought in court for a temporary restraining order to be lifted so that Sarah could also be eligible for adult lungs. Thankfully, last week that restraining order was granted! And here a week later, Sarah received adult lungs! I read that they did have to modify the lungs to fit her chest, but otherwise the operation is said to be successful. Sarah has a long road to recovery ahead of her and is not cured from her CF, but this is an extension of her life and what a wonderful gift for her and her family!

After reading this quick story this morning, the last line really caught my attention and got me thinking, "They said pediatric lungs are rarely donated." I'll admit, this is not something I think about, and I could be that many of you don't either. When I think about organ donation, I've always thought about it with adults and never children, but the reality is that there are children out there, like Sarah, who are in desperate need of donor organs, too. It's difficult for people to think about organ donation sometimes because it unfortunately means that someone must lose their life to be able to give someone else the gift of life. It's even more difficult when those someones are children.

Obviously I'm not a parent, but one day I hope to be. I hope and pray that my child will never need a life-saving transplant, but nothing's certain. I also hope and pray that I never have to think about losing my child and whether or not I would donate their organs. But just as certain as I am about donating mine, I would definitely want to donate my child's organs, especially if it could save another child's life.

If you are a parent and you are reading this, what do you think? Have you ever considered what you would do if your child lost their life? Would you donate their organs? Has something like that ever even crossed your mind? How do you even notify someone about that? Is there a registry for children under 16?

The last line in that article just really stuck out to me and really made me think about my future, about my non-existent-hope-to-be children, and tough situations you hope you never have to be in, but things you should probably have a plan for....

CFer Dies Of Cancer

Above my blog posts is a little box that shares any type of article or story in the news about Cystic Fibrosis and today, this one caught my eye: "Cystic Fibrosis sufferer given smoker's lungs in transplant dies of cancer...".
Unfortunately, transplant patients are at a higher risk of developing cancer after a transplant (like my friend, Joe), so that wasn't really what grabbed me about this. The part that I was startled by was the "given smoker's lungs in transplant". I just don't know what to think about this. I don't think I would want a smoker's lungs if I had to get a transplant. If I'm going to get a transplant, I don't want another set of damaged, crappy lungs - I'd want the best ones possible. But at the same time, the article makes a good point in saying that about 40% of organ donors are smokers. So if smokers weren't allowed to be organ donors, that would decrease the available donated organs by ~40%, which makes things difficult when there are so many people on the transplant list.

I don't really know where I'm going with this post because I don't really know how I feel about it. The article states that patients are more likely to live longer by getting smoker's lungs than rejecting them and waiting for another non-smoker's set to come along. I guess this just surprised me - I assumed that they wouldn't give a transplant patient smoker's lungs, but I haven't looked into the topic too much. I guess there's such a great need, that they'll take any lungs that are better than the ones the patient currently has...

They don't say for sure, in the article, if this woman developed lung cancer because of the smoker's lungs or not, but I can understand why her family, and new husband, would be so upset by her too soon death after transplant. Unfortunately the woman was not aware that she was receiving smoker's lungs going into the transplant, and her husband said that if she would have known, he thinks she would have not accepted them.

This just makes me think: How picky should you be when you're desperate for new lungs? I don't know if 'picky' is the right word... Would you reject smoker's lungs in hopes that a new, healthier set would come along? But then how much longer would you be waiting? Would you be able to live long enough for a second match? Or do you accept the smoker's lungs because they're probably better than the ones you've got right now? Should/Do hospitals have to disclose information about the donor (smoker vs nonsmoker) to the recipient?
Again, I don't know a ton about the transplant process, so I'm sorry if I seem uninformed - because I really am. This just got me thinking...

Donate Life

*Note: This post only expresses the views of the author - you may have a different opinion and the author is no way trying to tell you you're wrong - everyone is entitled to their own opinion.*

This is not a topic that I thought I'd be writing about on here, at least not yet, but I was on CysticLife this morning and someone posted how they recently registered to be an organ donor. It made me stop and think about if I checked that little box when I renewed my drivers license? I don't think I did.

http://www.donatelifeillinois.org/

Personally, I think organ donation is a wonderful gift - it's the gift of life! I mean, what are you going to do with your organs and tissues after you die, really?! Why don't you give them to someone who can use them??

In high school, I met someone named Joe who had Cystic Fibrosis. He wasn't always the healthiest, but he was one of the funniest, most positive people I have ever met. When I told my mom about him, she kind of looked at me funny, asked me what his last name was, and when I told her, she knew who he was! Apparently our parents had met when we were both little kids at some CF conference thing, but they didn't keep in touch. When I was in 8th grade my family moved to a new town, and Joe and I ended up going to the same high school. Crazy! Anyway, we became friends, even though we knew we weren't really supposed to be within three feet of each other (CF rule so that we don't spread each others germs/bacteria), we ignored it. He was in and out of the hospital a lot throughout high school and when we graduated, he didn't go off to college because of his health.

Summer 2005 - we were 17 here

We kept in touch when I went to college and in September of 2007, Joe had a double lung transplant. By the time he got his new lungs, one of his lungs was 75% unusable, the other was 50%, and he was on 8 liters of oxygen a day. This double lung transplant came at the perfect time in his life and gave him the chance to live again! Once he recovered, he was like a new person and he was able to walk his dog, Sophie, again (he loved that dog!)! The next fall, Joe went to college in Chicago for video game design. Unfortunately, him and I didn't keep in contact as much as I would have liked. In May of 2010, Joe developed some sort of cancer from his transplant, his body rejected his new lungs, and Joe passed away.

It came as a huge shock to me because I thought he had been doing so well and I didn't talk to him as much as we used to because we were both so busy. He was the first person I personally knew with CF (besides my distant cousins who I hardly ever saw) and it hit me really hard when he was gone. I couldn't believe that someone I went to high school with wasn't alive anymore, he was just too young. But because of his double lung transplant, he was able to get another two and a half years with his family and friends, and be able to go to college and live a wonderful life. If he wasn't given that second chance, he could have died right after graduating high school.

I'll admit, I didn't sign up to be an organ donor right then, because honestly I thought my organs couldn't be used because of my CF, but it's made me much more aware of organ donation. Obviously, they're not going to use my lungs, but that's not all people need. They use 'liver, heart, lungs, kidneys, pancreas, small intestines, corneas, bones, saphenous and femoral veins, heart valves and skin'. (http://www.donatelifeillinois.org/donatelife/faq.htm).

I know that this is a personal choice/opinion, but really, what are you going to do with you intestines or heart valves when you die?? You could give someone else the chance to live for another two and a half years, or many more years with their families, kids, spouses, friends, etc. by checking that little box when you renew your license, or registering through your state. Who knows, one day I could be in Joe's shoes where my lungs are barely functioning and I'm just waiting for the right set of lungs to come around to extend my life. I understand that it takes a person to die to donate their organs, and that's not always pleasant to think about, but I feel like it's such an amazing last gift to give someone so that they can live. I am proud to say that I am now officially an organ donor and that I really hope I can impact someone's life when that days comes when my life is over.


Are you an organ donor??

"Congratulations on your decision to help save lives!" - from the Donate Life website after I registered today! :-)