To really not understand why people do not join the organ donation register?

[3littlefrogs]

I have been registered since I passed my driving test nearly 40 years ago. If I am dead I won't need my organs. They could save someone else's child, wife, husband, sister, brother.

Its always good to open your mind and see all sides of things its the best way to form an opinion

I logged on to this thread to say that try as I might, the online registration form crashes every time I try to complete it! I've been putting off learning to drive so perhaps getting on the register is the motivation I need!

A dear friend's sister (in her 20s) is on her second donated liver. I cannot express how grateful she and her family are for the second and third chance she has been given. It is a wonderful gift and all the more awe-inspiring due to the incredible science and skill behind the process, in addition to the selfless gesture.

I am agog at the "personality transplant" assertion. But then perhaps the world is flat and the moon is made of cheese

I'd love to see the other side of things but I haven't even been pointed in any direction.

"Its always good to open your mind and see all sides of things its the best way to form an opinion"

So show me your side!

Its not MY side!

Ok- show me the side you brought to this thread, then.

Oh for FFS. Alright, I'll bite. What is it then!?

We don't know what the "other" side is because you keep not telling us. Veiled hints and mysterious non-references don't make you sound clever.

No but they do make her sound like a massive twat. Maybe that's what she was going for

I'm not trying to sound clever, what a negetive view
And jesus christ I'm not the fucking expert on this, along my life I've learnt things, go and do a bit of googling, or read what I've said in the thread...

MsBella Clearly you are not an expert!

Like I said...
I never claimed to be.
Just as none of you are claiming to be but you still think you're more entitled to your views than someone who may or may not agree but also accepts other views that she's been taught about
I mean ffs

You're talking crap and stating it as fact.

Ffs indeed MsBella.
Why come on a thread airing frankly ridiculous views if you can't show any evidence.
Oh, and I'm kind of glad you don't believe in organ donation, because if your theories are true someone might end thinking like you.

Excuse me I NEVER said I didn't believe in organ donation ffs why twist my words? Or actually make things up.. thts not even twisting words it is literally making shit up. All I have said is: all cells are concious, there have been caseswhere people got personality traits from donated oragsns,and that I'm not on the donor register (even stated something could make me change my life) and that it can be hard for people who are grieving to say yes to their loved ones body being tampered with instead of letting the body rest, and that there are spiritual views about the body and death which would make people not agree with this, and that it is a personal choice.

So before you start lying about what I've said READ THE THREAD??!

So where are these cases where people have had personality changes? And do they all see that as a bad thing and would rather be dead?

Would you say no to a transplant if you or a loved one needed it?

I think sometimes when a certain view or position becomes the consensus view, all other challenging ideas are seen as inferior. There is certain cultural hegemony, where you can question things within a certain framework but you can't actually question the consensus.

I don't know. My main concern is the fact that some hospitals have "sold" organs to foreign private patients. That is just wrong because it sets the precedence for a market in donating body parts. Where eventually it may be too costly to save your life with NHS funds but very profitable to sell your donated liver/lungs etc,....to privately funded patients. That's not to say this will happen but this time last year no one thought they were eating horse, a few years ago no one thought the NHS could ever be privatised and that welfare would be assessed by huge american and french private businesses finding people who can barely function fit for work.

Unless the registration allows you to make specific provisions about how your donated body parts are used, can you be sure that you would be happy with the how they are used? if I thought I might save a child's life, I might be tempted but I am not tempted to save the life of some private patient just because they had the money to pay.

From the NHSBT website here

How are kidneys shared locally and nationally?
The national allocation scheme uses a computerised protocol to allocate a particular kidney to an individual patient primarily based on blood group, degree of tissue matching and time spent on the waiting list. Under this scheme, all patients across the country are treated as fairly as possible, although children are given some priority. The local schemes in operation across the country vary slightly from area to area but tend to use very similar protocols to allocate the kidney to a local recipient. Whenever a pair of kidneys is retrieved from a donor, the allocation process usually results in one kidney being used locally and one nationally. The exception to this is if there are two very well matched recipients elsewhere in the country and none locally, in which case both kidneys are used at national level. UK Transplant is reviewing the current national allocation scheme and the protocol may change within the next year.

More facts, no fiction, sorry.

I did used to be a scientist in immunology and some transplantation stuff and think you are talking utter rubbish.

I would however be open to reading/looking at your evidence, IF YOU WOULD CARE to show it. Pls don't do your usual MO by telling me to re-read what you have already posted, because that is a view, not evidence.

That's what having an open mind means, surely, not just having to accept everything someone says as true because they say so.

I have lurked on this thread (and other similar ones) and really want some guidance as I really struggle with even thinking about organ donation.

I have always said no I couldn't do it, I think because I have a fear of death/the unknown but dh is very very pro organ donation.

I struggle terribly with the thought of putting dcs on the register as it means thinking about them no longer being here
I know this makes me sound like a hypocrite but I know I would accept an organ if needed without a second thought and that does make me feel bad.
I know I am rambling and probably sound stupid but I REALLY want to be able to do it, I would hate to think of somebody passing away just because I couldn't let go of something that was already gone anyway.I feel selfish that we are not all on the register but I just hate to think of dcs not being here.

Goodness I probably sound idiotic. Think I just need that final push. My fear of even thinking about losing dcs is clouding things. Even posting this makes me want to cry-how stupid am I?

"all cells are concious"

How are cells conscious? I'm interested - am a cell biology student so would love to know about this massive area of the subject that has so far passed me by. Please explain!

Interesting article from The Guardian about the government considering laws which will prevent families overriding patients' wishes to be an organ donor:

www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/apr/11/organ-donation-drive-prevent-overriding?INTCMP=SRCH

Ariane no, you're not stupid in the slightest. I am massively pro organ donation and have looked after many donors and their brave, generous families. I'm on the ODR (Organ Donor Register) as are most members of my family. My children are not. I'll let them decide when they're old enough to understand. If (God forbid) it comes to that kind of decision, then DH and I are their next of kin, so it'll be our choice. I too can't think about it without getting emotional. I'd really suggest that you have a look at the NHSBT website (sorry, am crap with technology, can't do links). There's loads of info there which may give you some insight. Good for you for even thinking about it

Ariane, it might help to hear things from the other side. My godson had a transplant a few years ago, shortly after his first birthday. During the months that he was on the register, we watched as he was slowly dying. He got iller and weaker, and at one point he was taken off the waiting list because he was too weak to survive surgery. He was called into the hospital 3 times for organs that turned out not to be suitable for him, but which were transplanted into sick adults instead. Ad his condition deteriorated, a relative volunteered to give part if his liver, and this went ahead successfully. But every Christmas, every birthday, on his first day at preschool, his first school play and all those other milestones, we think of those donors who might have been able to give him a new liver. And we think of their loved ones who aren't there to share those special moments with their loved ones, and we are so, so grateful that thanks to them, other families aren't experiencing that grief. And that's how we feel from not having had an organ from someone who died, so I imagine the feelings must be even stronger where that is the case.

So think of it this way: for every.person who loved the donor. there will two or three or more people who will think of them with love and gratitude for the rest of their lives.