The myths and facts of organ donation and a mother's story
Kara Steele, Athens NEWS Contributor
June 6, 2005
Everyone has the capacity to save eight lives and enhance more than 50, but many people choose not to, said Nancy Ellis, manager of community relations at Life Connection of Ohio.
How can one person make a difference in so many lives? Simple -- by agreeing to be an organ and tissue donor. But the simplicity of this decision is compounded by misinformation. Organ-and-tissue donation myths, sensationalized by the media, steer people away from reality, Ellis said.
The myths
Myth one: If someone is on the operating table and the doctors know he or she is an organ-and-tissue donor, they will not work as hard to save the patient.
Fact: Physicians are dedicated to saving lives. Organ-and-tissue donation can occur only after a patient has been declared brain dead, and the physicians who pronounce brain death are not affiliated with the transplant surgeons, said Andi Norman, former community relations coordinator at Life Connection of Ohio.
Myth two: A transplant patient's socioeconomic or celebrity status outweighs his or her medical need when organs are allocated.
Fact: Everyone on the transplant list is ranked on medical factors, including body mass, blood type and urgency. These aspects do not consider fame or fortune, said Carolyn Ruge, director of recovery services at Life Connection of Ohio.
But the second myth is perpetuated by television news coverage. The media are more likely to cover a celebrity-transplant story than one on an average Joe, Norman said. But average Joe stories are much more common.
Myth three: Organ and tissue donors are not able to have open-casket funerals because their bodies are disfigured.
Fact: An organ and tissue donor's outward appearance remains unchanged because his or her organs are removed surgically. Organ-and-tissue donation surgery is similar to an appendectomy, and if one looks around, he or she cannot tell who has had his or her appendix out, Ellis said. The same goes for organ and tissue donors.
Myth four: Organ-and-tissue donation is against many religions.
Fact: Almost all religions -- Baptist, Buddhist, Catholic, Jewish, Lutheran, Mormon, Presbyterian and more -- publicly support organ-and-tissue donation as one of the highest forms of humanity, according to the Life Connection of Ohio Web site. The only two groups that do not approve of organ-and-tissue donation are the Shintos, a division of Buddhism, and Gypsies, Ellis said. The Shintos oppose organ donation because, according to E. Namihira's article, "Shinto-Concept Concerning the Dead Human Body," the dead body is seen as impure and dangerous, and in folk-belief context, injuring a dead body is a serious crime. Gypsies believe that one year after death, a dead person's soul retraces its steps. So, a dead body must remain intact because its soul maintains its physical shape, according to the Life Connection of Ohio Web site.
Myth five: The donor family must pay for the surgical procedures associated with organ donation.
Fact: The organ recipient is in charge of all costs, and the monetary aspect of transplantation is a hefty one. The average cost of a heart transplant -- including physician and hospital charges and follow-up care for one year -- is $391,800. The most expensive transplant is a heart/lung transplant, which costs $504,400 on average, while the least expensive transplant is a kidney, at an average cost of $143,300, said Annie Moore, media relations specialist at the United Network for Organ Sharing.
Beyond the myths
Although myths on organ-and-tissue donation impact people's decisions regarding donation, other factors influence their choices, too. A person with low socioeconomic status usually has a poor education level, which often translates to lack of accurate knowledge about organ-and-tissue donation. Fear of the unknown often makes people avoid the decision altogether, Norman said.
In southeast Ohio, the number of organ donors drops dramatically because of the above factors and lack of awareness, Ellis said.
Age is another influence impacting the decision to donate organs and tissues. Elementary-aged children are more likely to have open minds. For example, when Norman spoke to fifth-grade classes about organ donation, many students were bewildered. They did not understand why some people choose not to help others, Norman said.
The number of organ and tissue donors decreases with each breakdown in age -- the older a person is, the less likely he or she is to be a registered organ and tissue donor, Ellis said. Younger generations also are influenced by their parents' views. If parents do not educate children about organ-and-tissue donation, then their children probably will be uninformed about the subject, Ellis said. Misinformation also is transferred from parent to child.
Young people must be informed
Younger generations must contemplate organ-and-tissue donation. Many college students view themselves as invincible, but in reality, accidents happen and illnesses strike. Anyone, no matter his or her age, could wind up on the giving or receiving side of the organ-donation table, Norman said.
"If you ended up in the position of needing a transplant, wouldn't you hope others would be willing to give you that gift?" she asked. "If your answer is yes, then how would you answer if the question [were] reversed? If you're willing to accept but not willing to give, you're being unfair because it has to work both ways."
Organ-and-tissue donation affects millions of people. If someone branches out three levels on his or her family tree, he or she would find at least one person with a direct connection to organ-and-tissue donation. And in a smaller state, like Ohio, that person might need to go only two levels, Ellis said.
A donation story
Bev Shank, of Grand Rapids, Ohio, never liked to think about organ donation because the thought of blood and internal organs made her queasy.
"The idea of having something removed from your body -- whether you're alive or dead -- grossed me out,"_ she said. "I thought, 'I'm taking everything with me, by golly!"
But her son, Brock, known by his friends as the comedic life of the party, had a different view. When he got his driver's license, he did not hesitate when the clerk asked him if he wanted to be an organ donor. An immediate "yes" came out of his mouth, followed by a hard poke and dirty look from his mother, Shank said.
"I told him, 'Over my dead body will you be an organ donor. I'm your boss -- who do you think you are?'" Shank said.
But Brock was adamant about his decision, so Shank dropped the matter and took comfort in the thought that organ donation would not affect him because of his young age.
History repeated itself one year later, when Shank's son Dane, a basketball lover and well-behaved teen, went to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to get his driver's license. He, too, told the clerk he wanted to be an organ donor. This time around, Shank gave no dirty looks; she tried to accept her son's decision.
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