Hart to Heart: Why aren't you an organ donor?

Hart to Heart: Why aren't you an organ donor?

Anne Hart | Sunday, October 26, 2008 at 12:30 am

We all believe we'd do anything to prevent a loved one from suffering serious health problems.

But would you donate one of your kidneys to keep your father from having to spend the rest of his life on dialysis and in poor health?

Camille Russo, 36, of Savannah did two Thanksgivings ago.

Merrill Jenkins, 66, of Tyrone just outside Atlanta, had long suffered from a kidney disease and was on the verge of having to start dialysis.

This November, on the anniversary of the day they had surgeries in side-by-side operating rooms at Emory University Hospital, Camille's family will celebrate the second birthday of her father's kidney.

Although the transplant preparation, surgeries and recoveries were serious and stressful, the father and daughter can joke about it now.

Camille's dad has had no rejection problems after the transplant. The only complication, he says jokingly, is also sharing his daughter's sweet cravings.

Camille, regional manager for AT&T, has no regrets about being a living organ donor, nor any health problems because of it.

Although her dad was concerned about Camille being the donor, for her, it was perfect time in her life to undergo the surgery and recovery, she said. After all, she was in good health and doesn't yet have any children.

Since the transplant, Camille's become an advocate for organ donation awareness.

About 1,800 Georgians, including 137 in Savannah, are waiting for life-saving organs. The wait ranges from a few days to more than five years.

And while many of us might be willing to become living donors to a loved one, not enough of us are checking the box on our driver's licenses to be organ/tissue donors after our deaths.

One donor can impact 50 lives through organ and issue donation.

Raising awareness of organ donation

A Savannah fundraiser on Thursday night aims to increase awareness about organ donation and encourage people to become donors, while supporting the Dawgs.

"The Gator Grille" at the Dawg House on Whitemarsh Island will take place at 7 p.m. Proceeds benefit the Georgia Transplant Foundation, which plans to open a Savannah office in 2009. GTF works to increase organ donation and provides financial assistance to donors and recipients.

The financial impact of undergoing an organ transplant is huge, said David Bakelman, executive director of GTF. Average annual post transplant costs on a kidney are $60,000, a liver $80,000 and a heart $120,000.

Most organ recipients, even those with good health insurance and a stable financial situation, end up needing some monetary help from GTF, Bakelman said.

To increase organ donation, GTF supported a first-person donor consent law, which the Georgia General Assembly passed last year.

Previously, the deceased's family members could overturn a donor's decision. The new law no longer gives family members that power.

Opponents to the first-person donor consent once argued that the driver's license discount for organ donors coerces people into being organ donors. That discount has since been abolished.

An organ recipient's gratitude

All Andy Moore, 44, of Atlanta knows about the organ donor who changed his life forever is that the donor was a Savannah teenage boy killed in an auto wreck.

And that the teen had made the crucial decision before his death to be an organ donor, a choice for which Andy is eternally grateful.

Andy received a pancreas and kidney on April 10, ending his dependence on dialysis, numerous medications and what had been a lifetime of insulin injections and blood glucose checks.

"What I had to live with on April 10 versus on April 11 is a huge difference," said Andy, who was diagnosed with Type 1 juvenile diabetes at age 13.

He suffered end-stage renal failure in January 2007 and lived on peritoneal dialysis for 16 months. Andy was able to continue working as a union electrician while striving to improve his health to qualify for the organ transplant list.

What many people don't realize is the enormous self-motivation required to make the transplant list.

"Organ donation is a gift," Andy said. "You need to be in as good as physical condition as possible before you can get on the transplant list.

"They aren't going to just give you one of those organs. You have to show you will take care of it."

The only downside is that the donor and his family will never truly understand how much they impacted Andy's life.

Said Andy: "You can't imagine the life you are going to give someone by donating an organ you can no longer use."

Contact Anne Hart at anne@southernmamas.com. Read her Web site for parents at www.southernmamas.com.

IF YOU GO

What: The Gator Grille, a benefit featuring food, a silent auction and appearances by former Georgia Bulldog Matt Stinchcomb, and Jamie Deen.

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: The Dawg House Grill, 4685 U.S. 80, on Whitemarsh Island

Why: Support the Bulldogs before the Georgia-Florida game and organ donation awareness.

Tickets: $35 in advance, $40 at the door.

Information: Call 678-514-1171

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