Becoming A Kidney Donor Is The Most Rewarding Task

Today we are in great need of a solution to solve the problem of the shortage of human organs available for transplant. The website for Donate Life America estimates that in the United States over 100 people per day are added to the current list of over 100,000 men, women, and children that are waiting for life-saving transplants. Sadly enough, approximately 18 people a day on that list die just because they cannot outlive the wait for the organ that they so desperately need to survive. James Burdick, director of the Division of Transplantation for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services confirms, “The need for organ transplants continues to grow and this demand continues to outpace the supply of transplantable organs”. The

“6,935 people are dying because they had to wait. That’s 19 people dying per day for an entire year”(Barry). That’s nearly 7,000 lives; which is equivalent to to almost 25% of the current undergraduate body here at UW-Madison. According to Dr. Chris Barry, a transplant surgeon and researcher at the University of Rochester Medical Center, “19 people die per day on the organ donor recipient list because there aren’t enough people signing their organ donor consent forms”. He proposes that we need to increase people's knowledge and tear down the myths and barriers of organ donation to facilitate their decision to donate.

There are at least 66,000 Americans awaiting kidneys, while only a tenth of that number of kidneys are transplanted from deceased donors per year (Postrel). The amount of people awaiting organs is rising, and with the shortage of organs that are

Recent medical advances have greatly enhanced the ability to successfully transplant organs and tissue. Forty-five years ago the first successful kidney transplant was performed in the United States, followed twenty years later by the first heart transplant. Statistics from the United Network for Organ Sharing (ONOS) indicate that in 1998 a total of 20,961 transplants were performed in the United States. Although the number of transplants has risen sharply in recent years, the demand for organs far outweighs the supply. To date, more than 65,000 people are on the national organ transplant waiting list and about 4,000 of them will die this year- about 11 every day- while waiting for a chance to extend their life through organ donation

David Trujillo is a 29-year-old man who was born with renal dysplasia, which caused his kidneys to be too small to work correctly. He has needed four kidney transplants in his life, receiving the first when he was four years old. One kidney came from his father, his aunt, his uncle, and his brother. All four transplants have been successful, and without the transplants Trujillo would have to receive dialysis three times a week for four hours a day (Knoll, 2012). Trujillo’s family has been remarkably generous in donating their own kidneys to keep Trujillo alive. Others, however, are not as lucky as Trujillo.

“There is a need to instil in people's hearts, especially in the hearts of the young, a genuine and deep appreciation of the need for brotherly love, a love that can find expression in the decision to become an organ donor.” Pope John Paul II stated in the Address to International Congress on Transplants. In a culture of death and self-centeredness it is important to prompt the youth to consider becoming an organ donor. The number of people in need of a transplant is growing quickly, and already is at a large rate. Eighteen people will die each day waiting for an organ transplant; more must be done to help these people, yet it must be within the standards of medical ethics.

“Ailing, rich patients are buying kidneys from the poor and desperate in burgeoning black markets. Clandestine kidney-sellers get little medical follow-up, buyers often catch hepatitis or HIV, and both endure the consequences of slap-dash surgery” (“Psst, Wanna . . . ” 15). This dangerous alternative provides one example of why the current organ donation system needs to be revised. Another example is that some patients pay to register with internet sites that try to help find organ donors. One site, Matchingdonors.com, charges a lifetime fee of $595 (Postrel 124). Not only do patients spend unnecessary amounts of money on these sites, many who find donors get rejected by hospitals. Hospitals fear that strangers designating a recipient may receive some sort of compensation for their donation (Postrel 124). The refusal of sick patients provides just another reason why the current organ donation system needs to be altered.

Organ donation could save the life of so many Individuals. One organ donor can save or significantly improve the lives of a minimum of seven others (Morgan, 2004). There has been a severe shortage in the availability of organ for transplantation. Presently, more than 40,000 patients in the United States are expecting organ transplants and it is guesstimated that about 60,000 people die yearly due to limited availability of organ for transplantation (Skumanich et al., 1996). The demand for organ donor is rising as transplant surgery turn out to be increasingly popular and successful in saving the lives of many individuals. Card

Organ donations can be controversial in the minds of potential organ donors due to inhumane activity, dehumanizing processes, or even the circulation of illegal revenue. Conceptual changes need to be made consistent with altruism in order to produce the desired outcome of increasing the availability of desperately needed organs and tissues. Groups such as the mentioned above can act as a resource and clearinghouse mainly focusing on patient’s needs. Organdonor.gov is ran by the Federal Health Resources & Services Administration and can act as ballast providing information geared toward donors such as

Organ donations have encountered organ donor, and as a result, organ supply decreases. Over the years, organ donation challenges and demands increase inversely in proportion to the organ shortages. The primary mission of donor’s organizations is to save as many terminally ill recipients at the end stages of their lives as possible with an end goal of giving these recipients a normal a life span. The significance of organ donation is to restore an ailing person’s quality of life. The ongoing issue of organ shortages may be a symptom of the current program that present an idealistic portrait of how these issues may be resolved. As a result, the mission and ultimate goal of organizations such as UNOS and Donate Life America, among others, is to obtain viable organs for their patients and to promote; education, empower altruism and establish quality ethics, and act as a resource for existing and potential donors.

Within the past few years, the demand for organs has increased at an alarming rate. This is due mostly to the fact that diseases and illnesses are becoming more prevalent and are brought on due to a significant change in American lifestyles. Failing organs can be caused by certain ways of living such as being a smoker or becoming obese. Many people are in need of a vital organ or know someone who needs an organ; these people are greatly impacted by a decision involving organ donation. Vital organs, such as the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and liver are involved, which means these people are in life and death situations. While organ transplants have created a way to give and receive life to others, the process has actually become controversial

Organ donation begins with a person who recognizes an opportunity to help others, enrolls in a state donor registry, and shares the decision to be a donor with family members and friends. The culmination of

A living organ donation is the taking of an organ from a live healthy donor, and giving it to a person in need. In 2016, 41, 335 organs were donated, approximately 4 out of 10 donations were from living donors. On average 20 patients die everyday for the lack of organs available (“Organ Donation Statistics”). Without living organ donation thousands of people will wait on the transplant list for an organ that is not an option. The organs that are donated are not equal to an appendage that can be replaced with plastic, but a crucial organ to life. 4 out of 10 lives are saved due to a spare kidney, or lobe of the lung. These can be provided by a deceased organ donor on the registry for donation; however the pending patients on the list have the convenience of living donations that decreased time on the list, risk of damage to the organ itself and have no controversy over permission for the

There is a need of organ donors. People are add it to the waiting list every ten minutes. Also, the waiting time for organ transplant can take days, months or even years. Meanwhile, people are waiting for an organ that many times do not come on time. Sadly, people are dying, without hope. A person can donate organs such lungs, heart, liver, intestines, pancreas and kidneys. The process of organ donations is a voluntary act of enrolling in their state’s donor registry. And even more it is Free!

About seventy-Four people a day receive an organ transplant, however an average of seventeen people die each day waiting for transplants. Did you know that more than 88,000 men, women and children currently await life-saving transplants? Every 12 minutes another name is added to the national transplant waiting list. Of those 88,000 waiting, 61,000 of them are waiting for a kidney. How many of you reading this are organ donors? I use to feel that I didn't want a doctor taking anything from me after I have passed, even knowing that two of my family members, an uncle and cousin, had severe kidney disease. It wasn't until after they had passed away that I really thought seriously about organ donation. I'm not proud of my prior