Life Goes On: Organ Donation Thread

[White trash bitchy blonde]

Whoa, the head tranplant freaks me out! I was thinking like they take a brain from a donor and put it into someone else but one part of the article mentions head transplants where the head is removed and used on the recipient. That means, like a new face and everything, that is wild!!
I can't see people being very comfortable with the idea of that, especially not ending up looking the same?

Im in awe over that article!

Im not sure how i would feel about a relative being in the body museum, I think that would bother me really bad, the emotional part of it.

When you did your reserach on the cadavers, did you ever have thoughts pop into your head that like 'oh, this was someone's mom, etc'? Was that hard for you or anyone else in your class?

Oh and the other thing about parkinsons patients and how maybe taking certain parts from a donor might help that was super interesting! My grandma had PD and it was terrible. I knew that basically her brain was misfiring in there and so I wonder if sme of those little parts could have been replaced, would she have had a better quality of life? And how expensive and tedious that surgery would be and also, that seems to be deep in the brain!

The brain fascinates me.

[morbidT]

I thought that when autopsies were performed, they put all the innards in a back and either placed them inside the rib area and sewed them shut or they had the bag down by the feet covered up. Is that true?

Also, when you donate your body to science, what all does that mean? I mean, a family might not be able to afford a cremation or whatever, so maybe they donate them to science? Do they keep them in a fridge for a certain amount of time so they can be studied and then they dispose of the remains after so many years or something?

I read that Rocky Dennis' mother donated his body to science and that was many many moons ago. Do you suppose they still have his body?

I haven't looked at the link that Artemis posted, but will later:-) Sometimes organs are placed in a bag and put back into the patient, but for the most part, organs are not put back in the body because the final pathology takes a couple of weeks. The reason for this is that during autopsy you take a couple pieces of tissue from each organ. You can't always see a disease process with the naked eye, so it is a guessing game. If, on microscopic examination, the pathologist sees something he/she is not comfortable with and wants to do more studies, the organs will be re-dissected and more tissue samples taken for an even more thorough exam. If the organs are placed back in the body after autopsy and buried with the patient, you are kind of shit out of luck with more samples. The only time we placed organs back into the body was with Jewish people. We also had to use paper towels to soak up any lost blood, and place the paper towels inside the body. Brains are not put back in the body. They take several days to soak in formalin (formaldehyde) and a couple more weeks to process the final microscopic exam. I have never know anyone to place the organs in a bag and lay them at the patient's feet. I've heard the rumor, but I do not know if it is true. Maybe KWD will pop in and clarify that:-)
Artemis gave a perfect answer for bodies being donated to science. Bodies can be used for years, but that is if the preservation of the body has been good. I worked with a body that had been used for 6 years. He was being "retired" after my class because there wasn't much left to cut on. He wasn't missing anything, but everything had been dissected. I was the lucky class that got to dissect his penis and gonads;-)

[White trash bitchy blonde]

You cut apart his dick???? WUT? WHOA!

[morbidT]

Whoa, the head tranplant freaks me out! I was thinking like they take a brain from a donor and put it into someone else but one part of the article mentions head transplants where the head is removed and used on the recipient. That means, like a new face and everything, that is wild!!
I can't see people being very comfortable with the idea of that, especially not ending up looking the same?

Im in awe over that article!

Im not sure how i would feel about a relative being in the body museum, I think that would bother me really bad, the emotional part of it.

When you did your reserach on the cadavers, did you ever have thoughts pop into your head that like 'oh, this was someone's mom, etc'? Was that hard for you or anyone else in your class?

Oh and the other thing about parkinsons patients and how maybe taking certain parts from a donor might help that was super interesting! My grandma had PD and it was terrible. I knew that basically her brain was misfiring in there and so I wonder if sme of those little parts could have been replaced, would she have had a better quality of life? And how expensive and tedious that surgery would be and also, that seems to be deep in the brain!

The brain fascinates me.

When I performed autopsies and in my class, I always thought about them being someone's loved one. I always treated them with respect and was very thankful for the person who donated themselves for giving me the opportunity to learn. I know that the person is "just a shell," but I do not know what the families beliefs are, so I felt that respecting "the body" was/is appropriate. Other people just flopped the bodies around because "they are just bodies." I think everyone should be respected because it is a gift to be able to study and/or perform autopsies. It is all a learning process and we should be thankful for it.

[morbidT]

You cut apart his dick???? WUT? WHOA!

Yeah. We sliced it down the middle, length wise. It was an experience! We also dissected the testicles. It was pretty cool.

[White trash bitchy blonde]

Maybe they were flopping the bodies around because they were trying to disassociate the realism of that cadaver belonging to someone at one point. Maybe it was a mind thing that helped them deal with it?

How do they dispose of the bodies after they are done being researched on? Cremation? and where do they put the ashes? Any idea on that?

[Artemis]

Whoa, the head tranplant freaks me out! I was thinking like they take a brain from a donor and put it into someone else but one part of the article mentions head transplants where the head is removed and used on the recipient. That means, like a new face and everything, that is wild!!
I can't see people being very comfortable with the idea of that, especially not ending up looking the same?

Im in awe over that article!

Im not sure how i would feel about a relative being in the body museum, I think that would bother me really bad, the emotional part of it.

When you did your reserach on the cadavers, did you ever have thoughts pop into your head that like 'oh, this was someone's mom, etc'? Was that hard for you or anyone else in your class?

Oh and the other thing about parkinsons patients and how maybe taking certain parts from a donor might help that was super interesting! My grandma had PD and it was terrible. I knew that basically her brain was misfiring in there and so I wonder if sme of those little parts could have been replaced, would she have had a better quality of life? And how expensive and tedious that surgery would be and also, that seems to be deep in the brain!

The brain fascinates me.

It is cool stuff. Glad you liked it. A lot of stuff to think about, that's for sure.

Personally, I wondered about the cadavers back stories, specifically, how they died. Not so much about relatives or anything. It wasn't hard on any of us though.

[White trash bitchy blonde]

My roommate is so annoying and I was sitting there talking to my oldest about this stuff and Brian (roommie) kept butting in with stupid shit to say....ugh.

Anyways, brian was saying that when he dies, he is taking all his parts with him. And of course he's just as selfish in death as he is in life so im not suprised and besides that, im pretty sure his organs ae compeltly black from being an utter asshole.

Anyways, he made this comment that he thinks that if someone has his organs, than they inherit his soul. Total eyeroll. I just told him that he had nothing to worry about since he doesnt have one anyways.

Gah.

[Nancy Drew]

@ his black organs

[puzzld]

How do they dispose of the bodies after they are done being researched on? Cremation? and where do they put the ashes? Any idea on that?

The mother of a friend of mine donated her body to a med school. When they were done with her, she was cremated and her ashes were returned to her family two years or so after she died.

[White trash bitchy blonde]

Wow, so they did end up with the ashes? See, this has me really thinking because if I can donate my body and my family can still get ashes back later, I would do this. I wonder if you can stipulate, like they can keep my body for x amount of years and then cremate me and let my family have my ashes? How do you even find out about this stuff so your family knows in advance?

[White trash bitchy blonde]

And can you be an organ donor and still have your body donated?

[Fleta]

Soooooooo, question: Don't they reject essentially any organ that has the potential to not be teh awesomeness? As in... I drink, I'm an ex-smoker, and I take LOTS of prescription drugs. I have tattoos and remarkably bad and deteriorating vision. Would any of my organs even be considered? I know they won't use my blood (and really, anemic blood is better than DYING, isn't it??)

[White trash bitchy blonde]

I'm curious about the question you just asked too. I'm a smoker, tatted up, not healthy like I should be either. I have A neg blood tho and I thought that was a more rare type. If someone confirms that its a much needed type, I would be more willing to donate blood. Can you donate blood while you are tattooed up like me?

[Nancy Drew]

You have to wait 12 months after a new tattoo.

I think rules differ but here are general guidelines- http://chapters.redcross.org/ky/rive...ity.htm#tattoo

[White trash bitchy blonde]

You have to wait 12 months after a new tattoo.

I think rules differ but here are general guidelines- http://chapters.redcross.org/ky/rive...ity.htm#tattoo

That sucks. I think my knuckles were done like 4 or 5 months ago, Id have to check. And im not sayin gi would but you could probably lie about how long ago you got tattoo'd.

[White trash bitchy blonde]

Im confused by the blood types. Im A neg. When I was pregnant and after my deliveries I had to always have the Rho gham (sp) shots.

How rare is A-?

[strmmrgrrl]

About "fourth" in rank. AB- folks have it the worst

RATIOS
O+ 1 person in 3 38.4%
O- 1 person in 15 7.7%
A+ 1 person in 3 32.3%
A-1 person in 16 6.5%
B+ 1 person in 12 9.4%
B- 1 person in 67 1.7%
AB+ 1 person in 29 3.2%
AB-1 person in 167 0.7%

[morbidT]

I'm going to come back to this thread and answer the other questions that have been posted.

Doctor: Puerto Rico boxer Camacho is brain dead
By DANICA COTO (Associated Press) | The Associated Press ? 38 minutes ago



SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Famed Puerto Rican boxer Hector ''Macho'' Camacho is clinically brain dead, doctors said Thursday, though they said family members were disagreeing on whether to take him off life support.

Dr. Ernesto Torres said doctors have finished performing all medical tests on Camacho, who was shot in the face Tuesday night.

''We have done everything we could,'' said Torres, who is the director of the Centro Medico trauma center in San Juan. ''We have to tell the people of Puerto Rico and the entire world that Macho Camacho has died, he is brain dead.''

He said at a news conference that the family expects to say by Friday if Camacho should remain on life support.

Torres said Camacho's father has already indicated that he wants the boxer taken off life support and his organs donated, but one of his sisters opposes the idea.

''This is a very difficult moment,'' he said.

Ismael Leandry, a longtime friend and former manager, told reporters that Camacho's mother also is wavering on taking her son off life support and would like more time with him. He said the family is waiting for Camacho's oldest son to arrive Thursday night before having a family reunion and making a decision.

''Let's remember him as a good man,'' Leandry said. ''He was a good father, a good son.''

Steve Tannenbaum, a friend and a former boxing agent for Camacho, said in a phone interview that he idolized Camacho as a boxer.

''He is one of the greatest small fighters that I have ever seen,'' he said. ''Hector Camacho had a legendary status.''

Tannenbaum said he initially believed Camacho would survive. ''He was almost like the indestructible man. He had so many troubles with the law, so many altercations in his life. It's a great shame.''

The 50-year-old Camacho was shot as he and a friend sat in a Ford Mustang parked outside a bar Tuesday night. Police spokesman Alex Diaz said officers found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend's pocket, and a 10th bag open inside the car. Camacho's friend, identified as 49-year-old Adrian Mojica Moreno, was killed in the attack.

Doctors had initially said Camacho was expected to survive, but his condition worsened and his heart stopped briefly overnight Tuesday, Torres said. The bullet entered his jaw and lodged in his shoulder after tearing through three of four main arteries in his neck, affecting blood flow through his brain, doctors said.

''That lack of oxygen greatly damaged Macho Camacho's brain,'' Torres said.

Torres had said late Wednesday that Camacho was still showing irregular and intermittent brain activity.

Camacho was born in Bayamon, a city within the San Juan metropolitan area, but he grew up mostly in New York's Harlem neighborhood, earning the nickname ''the Harlem Heckler.''

He won super lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight world titles in the 1980s and fought high-profile bouts against Felix Trinidad, Julio Cesar Chavez and Sugar Ray Leonard. Camacho knocked out Leonard in 1997, ending the former champ's final comeback attempt.

Camacho has a career record of 79-6-3.

In recent years, he divided his time between Puerto Rico and Florida, appearing regularly on Spanish-language television as well as on a reality show called ''Es Macho Time!'' on YouTube. In San Juan, he had been living in the beach community of Isla Verde, where he would readily pose for photos with tourists who recognized him on the street, said former pro boxer Victor ''Luvi'' Callejas, a neighbor and friend.

Camacho battled drugs, alcohol and other problems throughout his life. He was sentenced in 2007 to seven years in prison for the burglary of a computer store in Mississippi. While arresting him on the burglary charge in January 2005, police also found the drug ecstasy.

A judge eventually suspended all but one year of the sentence and gave Camacho probation. He wound up serving two weeks in jail, though, after violating that probation.

His wife also filed domestic abuse complaints against him twice before their divorce several years ago.



http://sports.yahoo.com/news/doctor-...3204--spt.html

[Fleta]

I wanna know if all my shit would be rejected.

If Camacho had a history if drug and alcohol abuse, wouldn't his be rejected?

[morbidT]

I wanna know if all my shit would be rejected.

If Camacho had a history if drug and alcohol abuse, wouldn't his be rejected?

A history of drug and alcohol DOES NOT exclude you as an organ donor.

Why would you think your organs will be rejected?

[Fleta]

A history of drug and alcohol DOES NOT exclude you as an organ donor.

Why would you think your organs will be rejected?

It doesn't? So is it based solely on the present condition of the organs? Like if a recovering alcoholic has a healthy liver, they would still use it? What about an ex-smoker's heart?

I think mine would be rejected because I am heavily medicated.

Can they "flush out" organs?

[strmmrgrrl]

It doesn't? So is it based solely on the present condition of the organs? Like if a recovering alcoholic has a healthy liver, they would still use it? What about an ex-smoker's heart?

I think mine would be rejected because I am heavily medicated.

Can they "flush out" organs?

Morbid probably has better knowledge of this, but a friend of my mum's was declared brain dead but they kept her alive artificially so they could indeed "flush" her of the different meds, etc., so they could proceed with donation.

[Trahnse]

We had a procurement at our hospital not too long ago and they are very picky about the status of the organs. I'm currently a nursing student and I didn't get to follow the case myself, but my friend did. She said to determine if the organs were viable, they monitored the necessary lab values that reflect the organ's function. They had a narrow window of acceptable values and if they went out of those boundaries, they had to be corrected immediately or the organ may not be taken. All this info is second-hand, so take it with a grain of salt. I really wish I could have followed that patient. Organ donation is something very interesting to me.

So I suppose if you had an unhealthy past, but your organs recovered, they might still be good to use. I am interested to know more of the specifics too!

[puzzld]

Well I know they don't even want my cancerous blood, still yet bone marrow or organs.