Organ donation: how you can help save a life- with Riverina magazine writer Jane Dikkenberg
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
We live in a world where medical miracles are possible.
The organs of the dead can be used to save the living.
But for someone who needs a transplant, life really turns upside down, and will never be the same again.
There’s the agony of waiting and the cost of putting life on hold during the wait for a suitable organ.
Charee Hansen is in need of a kidney transplant and is hoping to be put on the national transplant waiting list later this year.
The 45-year-old mother of two from The Rock, who spends every second day hooked up to a dialysis machine, believes her hope rests in changing the public perception of transplants.
Charee hopes her story will raise awareness of the importance of organ donors and encourage people to talk about becoming donors with their families.
“It is just so important that people take the time to think about donating their organs and, more importantly, they need to tell their family members about their decision,” Charee said.
“Because if they don’t tell their family, their decision can be overridden."
Charee’s journey began eight years ago when she was experiencing pain in her right side.
“I went to the doctor and had an ultrasound and was told I had polycystic kidney disease,” she said.
“So I was referred to the renal team at RPA in Sydney. Once they did all the tests on me, I found out there were cysts all through my kidneys and as they were growing, they began taking up the function of my kidneys.
“My kidneys were about 24cm in size and a normal kidney is usually around 11cm. So I had all the tests and scans done, and I was told that eventually I would need to be on dialysis.
“There was not much the doctors could do for me - all I could do was go home and try and live a healthy life.”
A couple of years on, Charee’s kidney function had deteriorated to 30 per cent function.
A short time later, it was down to just 9 per cent.
That was when she was told she had to go on dialysis.
“Today, I have been on dialysis for almost a year. My husband Russell, who’s employer Telstra have helped support us by letting Russell work from home every second day, puts the needles in and helps me set up for it.
“I do it every second day for seven hours. It’s not very pleasant, all I can do is sit there and read a book or watch a DVD.”
The waiting game
In Australia, there are typically 2000 or more people waiting for an organ transplant or tissue graft.
These people are seriously ill, and for many, the generosity of an organ donor and their family, offers their only chance for life itself.
While Charee is not on the waiting list yet, she is hoping to be registered later this year.
Organ and tissue donation is when a person, or their family, agrees to the removal of one or more of their organs or tissues, so that the organs or tissues can be transplanted into someone else to either save or improve their quality of life.
Most organs are donated by people who die while on a ventilator in an intensive care unit, generally as a result of a major accident, a brain haemorrhage or stroke.
One organ and tissue donor could help save and improve the quality of life of up to 10 other people.
Organ transplants transform lives and are the best possible treatment for people with organ failure – but there simply aren’t enough donor organs for everyone who needs them.
Due to this shortage of organs, currently there are about 2000 people on transplant waiting lists around Australia and an estimated 100 people die each year while waiting for an organ transplant.
“For me, kidney disease has completely turned my life around,” Charee said. “I can no longer work full-time like I used to. I can’t travel and I need to be very careful with my fluid intake and my diet.”
It is crucial that more people consider offering to become organ and tissue donors and that they discuss their decision with their family.
Families will be faced with the decision of whether or not to donate a loved one’s organs at a time of immense heartache and personal grief.
If the family knows about their loved ones’ wishes regarding organ and tissue donation then their decision is easy.
If they don’t know of their loved ones’ wishes, then the decision will be much harder.
Another important reason to think about donation and make your decision known is because less than one per cent of people die in such a way that organ donation is medically possible.
Currently only an average of 57 per cent of families consent to organ donation across NSW, ACT, Victoria and Tasmania, with one of the main reasons families say no because they are unaware of their loved one’s wishes.
A 2006 Australians Donate survey showed that although 94 per cent of Australians support organ and tissue donation for transplantation, one in four Australians have not made their wishes known about organ and tissue donation to anyone.
“So many people sign their license to say that yes, they wish to donate their organs, but they make the mistake of not telling their family about it.”
“That means that at the last minute, their next of kin can change their decision. In some states in America, they have passed a law that says once you sign up, no one can change that. Unfortunately, that is not the case here in Australia.”
By registering to become an organ donor you could be making the greatest gift one human being can give another - the gift of life.
More than 30,000 Australians have received transplants in the last 60 years.
Improved survival rates now mean that most organ or tissue recipients enjoy many years of high-quality life after their transplant.
-- Facts
As of this week, there are 1,017,709 Australians who have registered their legally valid consent or objection to organ/tissue donation.
Vital statistics
- In March 2007 - 1784 people were waiting for organ transplants: kidney 1415, heart 75, liver 137, lung 112 and pancreas 45.
- By the end of August 2007 -131 people had donated organs, allowing 435 people to receive transplants.
- By the end of May 2007 - a total of 461 people had donated eyes, allowing corneal transplants.
- By the end of May 2007 - 1706 people donated other tissue while
1260 people had received donated tissue implants.
- - If you are an Australian citizen, you can formally indicate your organ and tissue donation by joining the Australian Organ Donor
Register. Call 1800 777 203,or visit
www.medicareaustralia.gov.au.
Most important of all, tell your family about your decision, because permission is requested from next of kin before donation can occur.
Which organs and tissue can be donated?
Organs - heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas.
Tissue - heart valves, bone tissue, skin tissue, eye tissue, pancreas tissue.
Australian Organ Donor Awareness Week
- Held from February 17 to 24, Australian Organ Donor Awareness Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of organ and tissue donation and to encourage people to register as an organ and tissue donor.
- One organ donor can save and improve the quality of life of up to 10 other people.
- Organ and tissue transplantation can help the many Australians who are suffering life-threatening illnesses, including heart, kidney and liver diseases, diabetes and cystic fibrosis.
- There were 198 organ donors in Australia in 2007, while there are more than 1800 Australians waiting for an organ transplant at any time.
- Sadly, 20 per cent of those waiting for a heart, liver or lung transplant will die before receiving a life saving transplant.
PHOTO 1: For people with serious or life-threatening illnesses, organ or tissue transplantation could mean a second chance at life. Charee Hansen was diagnosed with kidney disease almost eight years ago and is hoping to be put on the transplant waiting list later this year.
PHOTO 2: The mother-of-two from The Rock is hoping to raise awareness of the importance of organ and tissue donation throughout Organ Donor Awareness Week next week -- a week to remember and celebrate the ultimate act of kindness by donor families who give strangers a second chance at life.
Throughout next week, the community is encouraged to think about organ and tissue donation, to talk about it with their families and to tell their families their decision.
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