LETTER: THIS WEEK PROMOTES ORGAN/TISSUE DONATIONS

To the editor:

April 21-27 is National Organ/Tissue Donor Awareness Week. During this week, we honor those families who have given the most precious gift in the world, the gift of life, to others through organ and tissue donation. At this time, we also recognize the importance of organ/tissue donation and the serious shortage of organs and tissues available for transplant.

Organ/tissue transplantation is not experimental. It is a well proven, successful medical therapy which usually offers the recipient a second chance and a good quality of life.

We all probably know someone who has received a transplant. One does not plan to need an organ/tissue transplant. It can happen to any of us at any time. Those needing transplants must depend on the generosity of families they do not know and who have to make the decision to donate in the midst of their grief and loss. Current transportation statistics have shown that you have a greater chance of dying while waiting for a heart, lung or liver transplant than you have of receiving one.

Although I do not deal with the transplant aspect of organ/tissue donation, I do have the honor of talking to families after the death of their loved one and offering them the option of organ/tissue donation. I am there to give them the necessary information they need to make a decision about donation and to support and facilitate whatever decision they make. Many times, the death occurs after a young person is involved in a sudden, tragic situation such as a car or motorcycle accident or a suicide/homicide. Over and over, I have seen these families get back in control, get something positive from a tragedy and somehow make some sense out of their loss. As I see it, that is the best reason for donation. How else can you get anything positive from the death of someone you live? It is a way of that person living on in others and in their death providing life for as many as eight to 10 people.

Making the decision to donate or not when face with the death of your family member can be very difficult. It is made easier if families discuss this option before they are put into that situation. If organ/tissue donation is something you want to do, discuss this with your next of kin, as they are the ones who must give permission to donate after your death.

For more information about organ/tissue donation, please contact Mid-American Transplant Services in St. Louis at (314) 991-1661 or the Southeast Missouri office at (573) 243-0560.

In honor of National Organ/Tissue Donor Awareness Week, St. Francis Medical Center, Southeast Hospital, KFVS-TV and Mid-American Transplant Services are sponsoring our ninth annual walk on Wednesday. Registration will be from 5 to 6 p.m. at KFVS-TV, and the walk ends at Capaha Park. A banner contest is being held with several prizes being awarded. This walk is very popular among donor families, recipients and supporters of organ/tissue donation. For more information, please call 243-0560.

Cheri Huckstep-Reed, RN

St. Francis Medical Center

Cape Girardeau