Eventually eight people, and possibly far more, will be saved because of the marriage of good will and medical technology.

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=78313

By Bobbie~moderatr on Monday, July 23, 2007 - 11:50 am:

Wow, quite a story..

My cousins wife has had three living donor transplants, not by choice. She was on a donor list for years, while her kidneys shut down. She resisted living donor until she couldn't wait any longer. The first from her father, then my cousin and then the last was from her brother... Her fathers kidney was rejecting, so they took cousins kidney but it was damaged during removal so they left her with the rejecting kidney and she went back on the list for a donor. The kidney died and she went on dialysis' and waited for her pager to go off. She was dying, with out a match and she had been called in several times for a donor transplant only to find out that the kidney couldn't be transplanted (underlying health issues to the donor, damage to the kidneys of the donor and so on). She finally agreed to try a living donor donation again and a mess load of the family went in to be tested. Turned out her brother was a close enough match that they could use his kidney.. She had her last transplant about five years ago and she seems to be holding her own now. She is doing so well, that they were able to lower most of her medication and take her completely off of others..

She is only 35 by the way and she went into renal failure at 17, out of no where. They discovered that she had an infection that attacked her renal system and damaged her own kidneys.. She had her first transplant at 21 and her last one at 30. So this has been a very long journey for her and she has touched deaths door through out the whole process..

Taking/allowing a living donor was such a hard decision for her to make but the list of people that are needing donation and the number of people that are willing to donate after death is still so low.. She is out there trying to make people aware of the reasons for signing up to be a donor.. Putting a face on the people that need that donation.. If she hadn't had found a match, she surely would have died..

By Cocoabutter on Monday, July 23, 2007 - 06:47 pm:

I am so glad your mom is still alive!

I will definitely donate all possible organs upon my death. As far as I know, everything is healthy except my eyes, which are VERY nearsighted. But, if it means a blind person would see again, even with glasses, maybe....