The decision to become an organ and tissue donor, whether while you are living and healthy or after your death, is an important one that should be weighed carefully with the benefits to you, society, and your family. Both the positives and negatives of donation should be considered so that your decision is one with which both you and your family are comfortable.
Living Donation: The Risks of Major Surgery
On of the most pressing risks to living donation is that the procedure is major surgery for the donor. There are always risks from anesthesia, bleeding, and infection among others. Surgery involves hospitalization, time away from work, pain during recovery, and medications to control potential risks such as antibiotics for infection.
Living Donation: Living with Compromised Organ Function
Another medical risk involved with living donation is that the donor is at an increased risk for complications from compromised organ function while he is living with only one kidney or lung or part of a liver, intestine or pancreas. The development of a condition such as diabetes or short gut syndrome would be much more severe and have more lethal complications than in a person who had not donated.
Living Donation: The Monetary Costs of Donation
Legally, no one can buy or sell organs in the United States, and the recipient's insurance covers the actual medical costs of the organ recovery and transplant. However, there are usually costs to the donor that are not or cannot be covered by insurance. These include travel to and from the transplant center, lost time off work, post-operative physical exams and physicians visits to monitor for continued risks, and the treatment of any conditions or diseases discovered during the pre-donation physical exams.
Living Donation: Psychological Concerns
Some donors experience psychological concerns during their recovery period. According to the donation advocacy group Transplant Living, this is because after the donation there is a strong shift of resources and attention to the recipient, leaving the donor often feeling abandoned and isolated. They suggest that this can be minimized by a strong support system and a close network of available family and friends.
Cadaveric Donation: Family's Added Grief if the Transplant Fails
When a person chooses do donate after their death, there are none of the risk outlined above as for living donors. Instead, the risk shifts to the family and friends of the deceased donor. One risk the grieving family faces is coupled hand and hand with one of the greatest benefits of donation.
Just as a family can celebrate the joy of a successful donation and transplant, if the donation and transplant fail or the recipient rejects the organ or dies, the donor's family often feels another layer of grief and disappointment at this outcome. This can be minimized by focusing on the gift of hope that the recipient receives with the donated organ and the priceless nature that hope can give a person who would otherwise face certain death.
adaveric Donation: Possible Extended Wait for Funeral
Another drawback that some families may face when a loved one donates their organs after death is the possible extended wait time for the funeral. The donation process usually takes 12 to 24 hours, so the funeral can occasionally be delayed by a day or so because of the time needed to recover the donated organs. However, this is not a guarantee because the donation process can usually take place during the time the family needs to make funeral arrangements.
