3 ms·

Turning One Kidney Into Ten

19 points by robg 18y ago

deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
TetOn 18y ago
What I find disturbing in this piece is the seemingly massive false equivalency being perpetrated. Donating a kidney is not like giving blood. This is a major operation and carries with it an assortment of long-term health risks to both the donor and recipient (though, obviously, the recipient has essentially nothing to lose; long-term followup studies of live donors are still pretty small and not that informative)...yet the entire article seems predicated on "you'd be a monster not to give up at least one of your kidneys!" Where's that attitude coming from, exactly? Why not just toss a lung into the mix as well?
- newt0311 18y ago
  I don't understand by giving blood is assumed to be a duty either. Every time you put a needle into a blood vessel, you are bypassing one of your body's major defenses against disease: your skin. The needle could easily have been infected, possibly with a fatal disease and in that case, the donation is a death sentence. Admittedly, this is extremely infrequent (at least in 1st-world countries with advanced medicine) but that is only a difference in degree. If people really want more organ donation, there is a very simple method for doing so: pay people for it. Balance the risk with a payout that is more tangible than goodwill. The sad thing is that many organ recipients would be happy to pay for the organs they get. Its federal regulations which stop them from doing so.
- bd 18y ago
  They assume existence of donors already willing to donate, there is no call for extra donations. It's just about how to do more efficient matching. In this case "altruistic donor" could mean, for example, a mother with a sick kid, which she wants to save by donating her kidney, but it doesn't help because they are not a good match. So she just gives her kidney to some random kid, with a hope that others in a similar situations would do the same, which would eventually lead to her kid getting a matching kidney. Altruistic, because it's not guaranteed that her kid will get the right kidney in time (only that there will be some donated kidney left at the end). But if the "chain of trust" keeps going on, chances are high everybody would get the matching kidney.
iamelgringo 18y ago
I've been a critical care nurse for years. The hardest I've ever worked was on a 24 year old man, that tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head. His brain wasn't working so well, but the rest of his body was intact. And, the family was amazingly selfless and decided to donate his organs. We couldn't get the study to prove his brain death until morning, and he was bleeding like a sieve. In 15 years of being a ER/ICU nurse, I've never given one single person more blood products. There was a team of 5 or 6 of us giving him massive transfusions, all to keep this young man's organs alive the rest of the night. In this ICU, we also took care of patients that had just received kidney transplants. They are some of the most patient, long-suffering and most grateful people you'll ever meet. Why? Because for the previous three to five years, these people's lives have been consumed by having to go to dialysis three times a week for four hours a session. They can't live any other way, and a transplant gives them a new lease on life. We were able to get the study to prove brain death the following morning, and the organ donation team harvested his organs. Two weeks later, our ICU received a letter from the organ bank, giving us a brief update on each of the _24 people_ that received organs from this young man. It was one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had as a nurse. All that to say, when organ donation happens, it's a truly beautiful thing, and one of those things that renews my hope in humanity. I've had the donor box checked on my driver's license for years. I'd encourage people to do the same.
newt0311 18y ago
This is a prime example of why organ sales should be legalized.
ram1024 18y ago
i wanna be a kidney repo man for when one of these jerks renege on their obligations... oh and i watch too much dexter :(

19 points by robg 18y ago

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

TetOn 18y ago

What I find disturbing in this piece is the seemingly massive false equivalency being perpetrated. Donating a kidney is not like giving blood. This is a major operation and carries with it an assortment of long-term health risks to both the donor and recipient (though, obviously, the recipient has essentially nothing to lose; long-term followup studies of live donors are still pretty small and not that informative)...yet the entire article seems predicated on "you'd be a monster not to give up at least one of your kidneys!" Where's that attitude coming from, exactly? Why not just toss a lung into the mix as well?

newt0311 18y ago
I don't understand by giving blood is assumed to be a duty either. Every time you put a needle into a blood vessel, you are bypassing one of your body's major defenses against disease: your skin. The needle could easily have been infected, possibly with a fatal disease and in that case, the donation is a death sentence. Admittedly, this is extremely infrequent (at least in 1st-world countries with advanced medicine) but that is only a difference in degree. If people really want more organ donation, there is a very simple method for doing so: pay people for it. Balance the risk with a payout that is more tangible than goodwill. The sad thing is that many organ recipients would be happy to pay for the organs they get. Its federal regulations which stop them from doing so.
bd 18y ago
They assume existence of donors already willing to donate, there is no call for extra donations. It's just about how to do more efficient matching. In this case "altruistic donor" could mean, for example, a mother with a sick kid, which she wants to save by donating her kidney, but it doesn't help because they are not a good match. So she just gives her kidney to some random kid, with a hope that others in a similar situations would do the same, which would eventually lead to her kid getting a matching kidney. Altruistic, because it's not guaranteed that her kid will get the right kidney in time (only that there will be some donated kidney left at the end). But if the "chain of trust" keeps going on, chances are high everybody would get the matching kidney.

iamelgringo 18y ago

I've been a critical care nurse for years. The hardest I've ever worked was on a 24 year old man, that tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head. His brain wasn't working so well, but the rest of his body was intact. And, the family was amazingly selfless and decided to donate his organs. We couldn't get the study to prove his brain death until morning, and he was bleeding like a sieve. In 15 years of being a ER/ICU nurse, I've never given one single person more blood products. There was a team of 5 or 6 of us giving him massive transfusions, all to keep this young man's organs alive the rest of the night. In this ICU, we also took care of patients that had just received kidney transplants. They are some of the most patient, long-suffering and most grateful people you'll ever meet. Why? Because for the previous three to five years, these people's lives have been consumed by having to go to dialysis three times a week for four hours a session. They can't live any other way, and a transplant gives them a new lease on life. We were able to get the study to prove brain death the following morning, and the organ donation team harvested his organs. Two weeks later, our ICU received a letter from the organ bank, giving us a brief update on each of the _24 people_ that received organs from this young man. It was one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had as a nurse. All that to say, when organ donation happens, it's a truly beautiful thing, and one of those things that renews my hope in humanity. I've had the donor box checked on my driver's license for years. I'd encourage people to do the same.

newt0311 18y ago

This is a prime example of why organ sales should be legalized.

ram1024 18y ago

i wanna be a kidney repo man for when one of these jerks renege on their obligations... oh and i watch too much dexter :(