Out of Pod Experience

Kudos to you for doing that.
Personally, I am fairly sure I would not be willing to become a LIVING donor even for somebody I care deeply about, let alone a complete stranger.
Then again, I'm not a really healthy person, and it's doubtful many of my organs would be suitable for transplant to begin with anyway, so that's actually a huge factor in my reluctance... heart and liver most likely not good, lungs and eyes questionable, and I'm not that sure about the kidneys either lately (I should get that kidney-adjacent pain checked out sooner rather than later).
After I'm dead, sure, take whatever you need, if it's still any good... but that's a different story.

I'm guessing my main question is why would you want to certainly decrease your own health just to help somebody you don't even know for no apparent benefit to your or your loved ones whatsoever ?
I'm still feeling the after-effects of my large-abdominal-cut gallbladder removal surgery nearly two years after it happened, and to be perfectly honest, I am horrified by the idea of ever possibly having to have any more surgeries of any kind done on me. My weight also plays a large role in the significant discomfort I still feel for sure, but some discomfort is not unusual even for very healthy individuals. And that discomfort never completely goes away either.

My secondary question is a hypothetical one - what if years later you end up with problems that could have been avoided if you would have not donated (not necessarily directly the same organ, but complications of other conditions due to the donation, or even just jerk-insurance-related issues) - do you think you'd end up regretting the donation you plan to do these days, or would you be content with the outcome either way ?
And are you sure you actually are aware of all the possible consequences of your altruistic act ?

would do it for my family. sure there's a disparity between national recipients and donors, but what about their families

I should add one of the reasons I would consider live donation, helping someone is obviously the main reason but under UK law once you die you have no legal possession of your body (because you are no longer an entity under the law). This means that even if you carry a donor card or registered on the national organ donor database that somebody can decide not to carry out your wishes and donate.

Relatives or whoever ends up "owning" your corpse can block the donation. Live donation would ensure that somebody gets something useful and I know its been done. Once I am dead I am obviously gone, I would rather be a live donor and know somebody got the benefit of my spare bits and pieces.

Thank you for your responses everyone! Ill try to answer as best as I can.



I think your first question is the most common one I get. Most people find it hard to comprehend the decision to do this. I think I can only answer by saying it feels right. That and I cannot imagine what it must be like to be on that waiting list. Either as an adult or child, the emotional impact of not knowing seems immense. There is a large emotional impact on me and my family for going forward with this as well. Not everyone in my family agrees with or supports this but I have been considering it for a very long time and feel, right now at least, that I would not regret it in the future. Now as me after the surgery when I'm trying to manage the pain and we'll see! LOL. To your last question, the process of donating here in Ontario requires that I pass a series of tests, most of which are psychological. I have met with three surgeons, one psychologist, one social worker and a medical consult all to determine if I understand the risks, which are very high. Ill not go over all the risks in this post, but the bad ones are death, liver failure, and internal bleeding requiring more surgery with a transfusion. These are all a very low probability, but the risk is there.

The other risks are social and financial. In Canada I have to go on unemployment sick leave, which gives me 60% of my regular wages. Since I make very little money to begin with I have to save up for the surgery and fundraise the extra money to cover my living expenses for the 8-12 week recovery period. I am fine with this because I will get the opportunity to talk to others about organ donation in general.




When I was at the hospital I was informed that I could also be a living lung donor, but There was no information anywhere I could find. It ended up being that the hospital specialized in kidney and liver transplants and didn't seek out lung transplants actively. Sometimes it is tough to find out information. Kidney donation is much less riskier that liver donation, and here is a LINK to a website about kidney donation in the UK.




This is something that has crossed my mind as well. I do know that, in the case of liver donors, only about 30% of those who try to become donors actually end up donating, mostly because of anatomy issues. The liver is an organ whose anatomy and blood vessel/bile duct layout can vary greatly from person to person, making it tricky to get a match. In the case of kidney I not sure. But I would personally expect the family to step up before requiring an anonymous donor, although this is unfortunately not what always happens.




What you say is true in many cases. The doctors told me that the death rate for the recipient is about 6% in the first year and 12-15% in the second. After this it drops rapidly meaning that if the individual does make it through the first few years, chances are they will make it, although never at 100%. The transplant program prefers doing liver transplant to children because of the increased chance of acceptance of the organ, as well as less trauma to the donor as only a relatively small portion of the liver is required for a child.


Thank you all again for your comments, encouragement and questions. I will continue to try and answer them as best as I can, and will post new (dry) videos as the process goes on!

Some people curse Tony Blair for his part in causing two wars, I don't. I curse him for allowing his religion to cloud his judgment and passing a law that forbade certain avenues of stem cell research.

Has anyone seen "Repo Men?"

That movie was awesome

Look on the bright side, at least it will get you out of your engagement. Give me a hail of gunfire before getting married again any day.

Maybe we were made for each other... she's a left winger, I'm a right winger. What could possibly go wrong?

It's called mental conditioning, not brainwashing

Considering that, compared to non-donors under the same circumstances, for some hitherto unknown reason organ donors tend to have a higher mortality rate on their way to or already in hospital, I consider your move a very brave one.