Originally Posted by spyridm

I was feeling the exact same thing.
...when I know I could put my body to better use via other means.

What other means?

Originally Posted by nerual

What other means?

I am planning to donate my body to an anatomy lab (or something of the sort) so they can use my body to study my condition or, crude as it may sound, possibly chop me up to put parts of me in those little glass display slabs.

I'm currently an organ donor. I used to think that being an organ donor is "unimaginable" in the sense that I can't see myself being cut up. But as you get older, you realize that your organs could go to waste or they could save 1, or even multiple peoples' lives, so I opted for the the latter. The thing that really influenced my decision though, was seeing a close family member go through the need for an organ. Seeing them prior to the transplant on the waiting list, and after it,seeing that he's now healthy only because someone who I don't know opted to be an organ donor really made all the difference.

I'm an organ donor and I donate blood every eight weeks, coming up on my 30th pint of whole blood.

I worry that if anything were to happen though, that my mother wouldn't consent to organ donation for me since I believe your family's wishes can override a signed, registered donor card. She just finds it "weird" to think about but there is absolutely no point in letting my organs rot in the ground or turn to ashes... they can tear me apart and take whatever they want if it'll help people, and if anything gets wasted, I WILL come back and do some mad haunting lol.

I also encourage everyone who is able to donate blood. It's a small thing we can all do to help our community.

In terms of not being able to sense another person's frustration at the personal turn a discussion has taken, that makes perfect sense. Not everybody vocalises everything they feel - especially not on the Internet.

In terms of not making a donation or contribution to health because of your personal decisions, I can see that as well. It's your body and you know it best. For instance, a person who drinks very heavily but hasn't reached liver cirrhosis yet may not feel the need to donate a crappy liver that's about to die out on the donor themselves. Another great example is medication. You might be the picture of renal function, but if your body processes a large amount of medication, your kidneys are at risk of damage or failure later on. I have a family member who needs 11 medications a day. If she didn't want to donate her organs for lack of functionality or wanted to donate to science instead, I would respect that decision. It's her body. She knows the tolls its gone through better than anybody else.

Yes, an MD can make an assessment. The thing is that MDs can also be wrong. And a desperate physician may not considerate absolutely every reason for organ rejection that you may already know about your past. And you may not be able to tell them and not want to take the risk.

Organs don't sit in a chamber of preservation until every test has been run. Often the donor's medical history is used and if a candidate is available,you want to transplant ASAP. And people lie so not everything will be on a person's medical record, but may be pretty critical to preventing an unsuccessful transplant.

And finally, you need not agree with somebody to respect their decision. It's their body. It's their decision.

I hope myself that every person donates and I hope that we can overcome some of the stigma around organ donation (often cultural) because it's an issue passionate about. However, forcing my beliefs on somebody else is not going to convince anybody. Being respectful and laying out your arguments in a rational and considerate manner would probably be much more effective for the larger cause.

How do people feel about soylent green?

Originally Posted by Silver

I didn't sense any of that.

I did a very good job then

Originally Posted by sinnersdrown

Thanks, I was getting a little frustrated with all the condescension and righteousness going around regarding my circumstances.

Some people on these forums dont understand the concept of personal boundaries. There are some things that you just shouldnt inquire about regardless of your curiousity. Glad that there are people on here that are willing to tell those people to back off and show some consideration, a persons personal health is their own business an no one elses. And the fact that you didnt post your condition initially should serve as a hint to the inconsiderate posters that you dont want to discuss the details of your condition publicly.
On the topic of organ donation, I am currently not an organ donor, dont know if i will be in the future, but for now I simply do not feel that need to go and make that commitment. I dont think that makes me a bad person, I just currently would prefer not to have my organs taken should i die.

Originally Posted by Chris23

Some people on these forums dont understand the concept of personal boundaries. There are some things that you just shouldnt inquire about regardless of your curiousity. Glad that there are people on here that are willing to tell those people to back off and show some consideration, a persons personal health is their own business an no one elses. And the fact that you didnt post your condition initially should serve as a hint to the inconsiderate posters that you dont want to discuss the details of your condition publicly.
On the topic of organ donation, I am currently not an organ donor, dont know if i will be in the future, but for now I simply do not feel that need to go and make that commitment. I dont think that makes me a bad person, I just currently would prefer not to have my organs taken should i die.

Well the original poster asked two questions. Whether you were an organ donor and why or why not. So it's not actually unreasonable for people to ask other why they don't wish to donate. If they're uncomfortable with answering, why did they post in the thread?

But I can see that they might say it's for medical reasons. Again, asking specifically why is not unreasonable, and if they choose that level of detail is too private, then they can simply say so. That being said, it's rather illogical to suggest that an individual knows that his or her organ's are no good and therefore they don't even sign up for donation. The medical examiners can make a good assesement of that once you die. But as others said, they would like to donate their body to an anatomy lab to study their condition, that's reasonable. Although a lot of anatomy labs don't end up taking individuals who want to donate in which case it might be wise to make sure your body is eligable for donation to an anatomy lab or other science lab (such as specific conditions, etc.)

And back to my first point, Chris you didn't fully answer the question. You answered that at this moment you don't wish to have your organs taken once you die... but why?

In my opinon, unless it is true that your organs cannot be usefully donated, there is no rational reason (that I have yet to hear) to not donate your body (be it to an anatomy lab, or to a patient in need of an organ). You have no use for your organs once you are dead, why not help someone who can actually use it?

Originally Posted by Amardeep_S

In my opinon, unless it is true that your organs cannot be usefully donated, there is no rational reason (that I have yet to hear) to not donate your body (be it to an anatomy lab, or to a patient in need of an organ). You have no use for your organs once you are dead, why not help someone who can actually use it?

Unless it is true that *all* of your organs cannot be usefully donated, and you have directly been told this and aren't inferring it based on what you know/think about your medical history.
Someone with cirrhosis of the liver could still make an excellent skin donor, for example.

Anyways, sinnersdrown answered the "why":

I'm not actively pursuing organ donation because I know they won't be suitable. I personally do not want to donate everything and the things I'd most likely donate are not safe. I should not be reprimanded for this.

It's not that all your organs aren't suitable, the ones that are you don't want to donate. That's really it. I'm not going to attack you for that, although I don't agree with it, I just really don't like that you're passing off your decision to not donate on something out of your control, when it isn't entirely. You COULD donate some of your organs and are choosing not to.
Whether or not the rest of your organs are or are not eligible is another point entirely.

Originally Posted by Amardeep_S

In my opinon, unless it is true that your organs cannot be usefully donated, there is no rational reason (that I have yet to hear) to not donate your body (be it to an anatomy lab, or to a patient in need of an organ). You have no use for your organs once you are dead, why not help someone who can actually use it?

Well I think someone mentioned below that there are religious reasons for people not wanting to donate their organs and I think that's completely legitimate and fair.

And just to play Devil's Advocate here, in terms of having a "rational reason", you're asking someone to put aside their emotions, their attachment to their own body and to look at this from a wholly objective perspective. I myself am an organ donor and it's great that a lot of people in this thread are, but there are some people who are not yet ready to make that kind of commitment. Does that make them a bad person? Definitely not. Sure, the argument can be made that they could sign their donor card now and if they realise that they aren't comfortable with it in the future, they can change their decision. But why not let them make the decisions for themselves, instead of coercing them and guilting them into doing so? In my opinion, your argument is a little too black and white and a little prejudiced.

Originally Posted by MichaelScarn

Well I think someone mentioned below that there are religious reasons for people not wanting to donate their organs and I think that's completely legitimate and fair.

And just to play Devil's Advocate here, in terms of having a "rational reason", you're asking someone to put aside their emotions, their attachment to their own body and to look at this from a wholly objective perspective. I myself am an organ donor and it's great that a lot of people in this thread are, but there are some people who are not yet ready to make that kind of commitment. Does that make them a bad person? Definitely not. Sure, the argument can be made that they could sign their donor card now and if they realise that they aren't comfortable with it in the future, they can change their decision. But why not let them make the decisions for themselves, instead of coercing them and guilting them into doing so? In my opinion, your argument is a little too black and white and a little prejudiced.

I don't believe a religion is a good reason.
I'm not going to go into all of my reasons for that, because that would completely derail the thread (if you're interested, PM me), but one of the reasons is that why would your god(s)/religious figure of choice not be okay with you saving someone's life, if it is within your power to do so and won't even harm you in any way?

Also, nobody is saying that people who aren't organ donors are "bad people", yet people keep seeming to infer that that's what the arguments imply.

Originally Posted by nerual

Unless it is true that *all* of your organs cannot be usefully donated, and you have directly been told this and aren't inferring it based on what you know/think about your medical history.
Someone with cirrhosis of the liver could still make an excellent skin donor, for example.

Anyways, sinnersdrown answered the "why":


It's not that all your organs aren't suitable, the ones that are you don't want to donate. That's really it. I'm not going to attack you for that, although I don't agree with it, I just really don't like that you're passing off your decision to not donate on something out of your control, when it isn't entirely. You COULD donate some of your organs and are choosing not to.
Whether or not the rest of your organs are or are not eligible is another point entirely.
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To your first point, sure if you actually know that your organs (some or all) are not useful for donation purposes, that is a rational reason not to donate your organs. Even if you tried, they would not be used. That being said, it is not rational to not donate merely because you think that since you've been a drinker all your life that you shouldn't donate your liver. Why not find out conclusively whether or not you are eligable, not on a supposed gut feeling that it's useless.

And I wasn't refering to sinnersdrown comments, i was refering to Chris who seemed to suggest it was inconsiderate to ask the reason why people held their positions.

Originally Posted by nerual

Unless it is true that *all* of your organs cannot be usefully donated, and you have directly been told this and aren't inferring it based on what you know/think about your medical history.

It's not that all your organs aren't suitable, the ones that are you don't want to donate. That's really it. I'm not going to attack you for that, although I don't agree with it, I just really don't like that you're passing off your decision to not donate on something out of your control, when it isn't entirely. You COULD donate some of your organs and are choosing not to.
Whether or not the rest of your organs are or are not eligible is another point entirely.
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1) You point out that one shouldn't believe that their organs aren't adequate based on their medical history unless they are explicitly told but you have to remember that a lot of medications affect more than just the targeted tissue of the persons illness, not to mention that people with chronic illnesses will have been on multiple drugs for their whole lives, many of which have side affects affecting many of their organs. People should not be berated for being aware of these side affects and acknowledging that their organs are likely not up to par. You cannot reasonably expect a person's specialist to check each organs to let them know if they are suitable for donation every time they go in for a check up for them to be explicitly told that they are not worthy.
(...and yet again, having been in a Burns & Plastics ward myself and having talked to the physicians, they prefer to use the persons own skin in grafts and will only use cadavers if forced, so please stop using that as a focal point to your discussion as it is misleading)

2) In my opinion you are passing unfair judgement (and yes, I would interpret it as attacking them as well based on your post) on those who have said they won't donate due to medical reasons. It is not something that is completely unwarranted and without a just reason in that persons mind. People are entitled to their opinions and decisions with whatever justification they choose (whether it be right or wrong in your mind).

3) What makes me sad about this thread is also that people seems to lack the understanding that this also is a sensitive topic. Do you think it makes people HAPPY to think that their organs are in shitty quality? Do you think that we would be against organ donation when the very people who are telling you they can't (for medical reasons) are the ones who will likely need an organ donation themselves?
People, have a little respect and remember that just because someone says they can't, doesn't mean that they wouldn't if they had the opportunity.

And of course, you will shoot back saying "but you could donate some of your organs"...I don't really feel that my skin is sufficient for me to donate seeing as I am aware that all of the other organs in my body have and are being affected by my illness and the medications I take to combat it.

Originally Posted by nerual

I don't believe a religion is a good reason.
I'm not going to go into all of my reasons for that, because that would completely derail the thread (if you're interested, PM me), but one of the reasons is that why would your god(s)/religious figure of choice not be okay with you saving someone's life, if it is within your power to do so and won't even harm you in any way?

Also, nobody is saying that people who aren't organ donors are "bad people", yet people keep seeming to infer that that's what the arguments imply.

I'm not particularly religious so I doubt I'm the best person to have this debate with, but again, there aren't just two sides to this argument. There are a plethora of factors that probably need to be considered before a religious individual is ready to make such a decision. In any case, as you said, this is getting off topic so let's just leave it at that.

But to your second point, based on Amardeep's response, I felt what he said was a little pejorative. I mean, he said that he couldn't think of any rational reason for people not to donate, implying that people who do not donate based their decisions irrationally. Also, the last thing he said, "You have no use for your organs once you are dead, why not help someone who can actually use it?" puts non-organ donors in a negative light. It kind of characterizes them as selfish and I felt the implication that those who do not donate should feel guilty for not helping others.