MEDICAL SURFARI: TISSUE, ORGAN DONATION MAKES VITAL CONNECTIONS

The most precious gift that you can give someone is the gift of life itself. That is exactly what you do by becoming an organ and tissue donor.

April is National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month and is designed to raise public awareness of organ and tissue donation and transplantation. For thousands of people in the United States suffering from organ failure, transplantation is their only hope for survival. Thousands of people die each year unnecessarily because of the current shortage of transplantable organs and tissues.

In southeast Missouri and St. Louis the local waiting list is approximately 1,500 people. Of that list, 700 people are waiting for a kidney, 200 for a heart, 300 for lungs, 300 for liver, and 15 for an intestine transplant. Nationally, more than 55,000 people are on a waiting list for an organ transplant -- and many of them are children.

Transplantation is one of the most remarkable success stories in the history of medicine and it is truly life giving. As a neurosurgeon, I am often asked to assess patients who have had devastating brain injuries. In the circumstances where a patient has been pronounced brain dead, I am obligated by law to present the option of organ and tissue donation to the patient's family. Through this experience, I have learned that there is no right or wrong decision when it comes to this issue. This is a personal choice of the highest order.

I have also learned that the single most important way to have your wishes carried out, whether that is to be or not to be an organ and tissue donor, is to register your wishes with your family so they will know your decision if they are ever faced with this issue. Sharing your decision is as important as making the decision itself.

At the time of your death, by Missouri state law, your family will be asked about donation. By sharing your decision with your family, you will help them carry out your decision when that time comes. If your wishes on this issue are well-known by your family, it will relieve them of having to make this decision and it will give them the peace of knowing that your wishes were carried out. I have also witnessed that some families find great consolation in carrying out a family member's wish to save other lives through organ and tissue donation.

More than 20,000 people per year benefit from transplants, but an average of 7 patients per day die while waiting for an available organ. The nation's transplant waiting list continues to grow at an alarming rate. But, unfortunately, the number of people who choose to become donors, or elect to donate the organs of a family member who has died, rises by only a small fraction per year. By making a decision to donate, and sharing that decision with your family, you can make a positive difference.

You may get more information locally by contacting Gary Anderson, RN, Mid-America Transplant Services at 243-0560 or (800) 87-DONOR, or by e-mail at

Ganderson@MTS-STL.ORG

World Wide Web Resources

Children's Organ Transplant Association, Inc.

http://www.cota.org/hh.htm

COTA is a federally recognized national charity dedicated to helping families and communities, with transplant-needy individuals, raise the necessary funds for transplant expenses and to educate the public on the need for organ donors and organ transplants.

TransWeb - All About Transplantation and Donation

http://www.transweb.org/index.html

This site will give you answers to FAQs on organ and tissue donation, how to get a donor card, and dispel the myths and misconceptions about organ donation. Take the Donation Quiz and test your knowledge of organ donation.

United Network for Organ Sharing

http://www.unos.org/main_default.htm

This site provides current journal articles on transplantation, gives you the latest transplant related news through their Newsroom, and discusses the most pressing issues in transplantation.

Coalition on Donation

http://www.shareyourlife.org/

In partnership with the Advertising Council, the Coalition on Donation communicates their national campaign theme "Organ and Tissue Donation: Share Your Life. Share Your Decision." This campaign summons the public to action and sets out to increase the overall number of organ and tissue donors.

Dr. Scott Gibbs is a neurosurgeon and editor-in-chief of Mosby's Medical Surfari. You may e-mail questions to him at drgibbs@semissourian.com or write in care of the Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box. 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63701.