Yesterday, our post was about living donation and the National Kidney Registry, who helps promote and facilitate transplants for so many people awaiting kidney transplant. We shared the amazing story of Liane and her mother, who were part of a 21 paired cross-country kidney transplant exchange. The National Kidney Registry has changed the way people wait and endure years of dialysis while waiting for a donor. It is truly ground breaking and really built on love and the desire to help a loved one waiting. Please read yesterdays post if you missed it...we were truly inspired while writing it!
Today, we wanted to quickly follow up with the most common type of transplants performed in the United States and the ones we see in our jobs as RNs, and that is donation after death. On Monday, on our Facebook page, we posted a poll regarding organ donation. We were surprised that the majority of those who participated, want to be organ and tissue donors and are actually registered on the DonateLife.net website!
The Organization Donate Life America is a non-for-profit national organization committed to increasing organ, eye, and tissue donation. By going directly to their website, they will direct you to your individual states donation sign up page. The website is full of wonderful facts about donation and very inspiring stories... {get you kleenex}... We thought we would post this short video about John and his gift of sight.
video from DonateLife.net
As nurses, we see first hand how a failing organ can effect a person's life. All too often, I am working in the ICU trying to keep someone alive who has a liver that is rapidly failing. The only thing that will ultimately save this individual, is a liver transplant. Many times a liver will become available because of the great gift of another person who made their wishes known to their family, but sometimes that liver never comes and my patient will die in our ICU waiting.
We encourage you to please visit Donate Life's website and educate yourself about organ donation. You can limit your gift of any organ or tissue you do not want to donate and can exclude use for research. Take the decision and stress away from your family, and make your wishes be known. To give you an idea of how many people are waiting to receive an organ, please see the statistics from the Donate Life's website below.28,663 people were given a second chance at life last year!
PLEASE REGISTER YOUR WISHES TODAY & help us spread the word by posting on your Facebook page and/or Twitter page. If we encourage just one person to sign up, it could save the lives of many! If could be your loved one in need of an organ, eye, or tissue transplant someday.
{ WEBSITE - WWW.DONATELIFE.NET }
You can leave a lasting legacy of life and give the ultimate gift...
The gift of LIFE!
Just signed up as a donor in my state - thanks for the great posts, and for helping to share such life-changing programs with others!
ReplyDeleteWonderful article and love those hospital gowns! What angels you both are for your donations!
ReplyDeleteAs April was National Donate Life month, I did several blogs on the topic or becoming a registered organ donor, which you might enjoy: http://ladypn.blogspot.com
What a beautiful, important, blog full of LIFE you have here! May you be abundantly blessed for the blessings you are giving others here!
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