[ back ]

04.11.03

April is organ donor awareness month
 

Courtney Holland received a lobe of her mother’s liver

ourtney Holland is a happy 2-year-old who likes Barnie, Elmo and Barbie videos. She is well known to many hospital staff, and few can resist her big smile or her soft-spoken voice asking to go for a ride in a toy taxi. She’s as talkative as any toddler, but as a patient who’s needed a new liver since she was an infant, Courtney also knows the words “IV” and “ouchie.”

Courtney has type-4 glycogen storage disease, which caused her liver to fail and necessitated a life-saving liver transplant. Fortunately, Courtney’s mother was able to donate a lobe of her own liver to Courtney at a time when she was getting sicker by the day. In Courtney’s case, receiving a portion of her mother’s liver was successful, but many other children in need of transplants wait for hearts, livers, lungs and other organs and many don’t survive that wait.

The need for organs and tissues for transplant far exceeds the availability, and that gap is growing. In the United States, 17 patients die waiting every day.

To address this need, April is designated as National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month. Because hospital staff are often the first to identify and refer potential organ donors to the Organ Procurement Organization, they play an integral role in the quest to ease the donor shortage. Staff can also provide a valuable service by ensuring that the families of all potential donors are given the opportunity to donate organs and tissues.

Anyone can become a potential organ and tissue donor simply by making the commitment and sharing their decision with loved ones. Informing next-of-kin is crucial to becoming a donor even for people who carry signed donor cards.

For more information on organ and tissue donation call the New England Organ Bank at (800) 446-6362 or visit www.neob.org.

There are many myths about organ donation. Get the facts:
Myth: I don’t need to tell my family about my wish to donate because I’ve signed a donor card and put a sticker on my license.
Fact: Your family and next-of-kin will be consulted before any organs or tissues are recovered, and their wishes will be honored. Tell your family now if you wish to donate.

Myth: If I donate, I won’t be able to have an open-casket funeral.
Fact: Donated organs are removed surgically. Careful attention is made so that an open casket and funeral is still an option.

Myth: I’m much too old to donate. The issue doesn’t apply to me.
Fact: Strict age limits for organ and tissue donation no longer exist. Medical professionals would be called upon to decide which of your organs and/or tissues would be suitable for transplantation.