I have come across a few articles that are interesting and timely that I thought I would share. Either I am more aware or there is an influx of stories about organ donation this week. I suppose it could be a combination of both. I can really only process so much information these days, but I am also a bit compulsive, so I read both articles and figured it would make sense to share them here.
A close family member happened to listen to part of an NPR segment that interviewed the author of the controversial WSJ editorial that I began to discuss in my last post. Here is that NPR article and audiocast: this is the audio link and this is the transcript link. I happened to listen to this while at the gym yesterday and was pleased to hear that Dr. Richard M. Freeman made some very convincing, strong arguments to refute what Dick Teresi was claiming in his new book and the WSJ editorial I discussed. At one point, Dr. Freeman even claims that Teresi is "flat-out wrong."
Of course, I also appreciated Dr. Freeman's take on the advance directive topic that I brought-up. He agrees that not enough people have talked through with their families what their wishes are. When asked what should someone do other than checking the box on your license for organ donation, this was his response:
It was refreshing to hear someone that is an expert in the field explain the misconceptions that someone like Teresi exacerbates. Dr. Freeman sounds like a true expert AND comes across as genuinely compassionate--which goes against one of Teresi's 'facts' of the organ donation process that the medical community is only trying to hide the facts from the public. As a side note--I would love to see a little more of that compassion personally with our situation, but that's another topic. What is sad for me, however, is that these discussions that contain reputable, reasonable people making good cases for organ donation are usually not heard as loudly. They are also usually an after-thought, a defensive argument. Why doesn't prominent news institutions publish editorials by people like Dr. Freeman first to drive these conversations?
The other article happened to show-up in my email this morning. One of the daily digests for NYC that I subscribe to, Manhattan Users Guide (MUG), sent information about organ and tissue donation: here. I thought it was fascinating timing. They list various sites and a few statistics, including how few New York residents are registered for organ donation--even compared to the national average. If you are interested in learning more about organ donation, a good place to start is the first link in this article, which I also put on the side bar of the blog, Donate Life America. Here is another one: http://www.organdonor.gov/index.html I could keep going, but I need to have some restraint sometimes.
I did learn today while on the Donate Life America website that April is National Donate Life Month. There are probably 20 other important recognition "months" to people that will read this blog at some point including me, but I was thinking about this quite a bit today. In fact, I really need to process this a little more while I'm not juggling my work load and potentially big discussions with Dad's physician in Indiana. What if April's National Donate Life Month finally becomes Dad's month? What if? What if it doesn't? So many questions, yet none of these news articles can begin to even help me answer these questions. All we can continue to do is hope. And wait.
My mazel.
A close family member happened to listen to part of an NPR segment that interviewed the author of the controversial WSJ editorial that I began to discuss in my last post. Here is that NPR article and audiocast: this is the audio link and this is the transcript link. I happened to listen to this while at the gym yesterday and was pleased to hear that Dr. Richard M. Freeman made some very convincing, strong arguments to refute what Dick Teresi was claiming in his new book and the WSJ editorial I discussed. At one point, Dr. Freeman even claims that Teresi is "flat-out wrong."
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| http://dms.dartmouth.edu/news/2009/10/28_freeman.shtml |
Of course, I also appreciated Dr. Freeman's take on the advance directive topic that I brought-up. He agrees that not enough people have talked through with their families what their wishes are. When asked what should someone do other than checking the box on your license for organ donation, this was his response:
First of all, I hope people are not checking that box lightly and not thinking about it at all. If they are, then, I mean, it is a life-changing decision that you're making. And hopefully, the whole idea of checking the donor box and these donor registries is that you have spent time thinking about it, and more importantly, talked to your family at length about your desires and wishes, and that you have sought out the information that you need to make an informed choice about whether you want to be an organ donor or not.Thank you, Dr. Freeman.
It was refreshing to hear someone that is an expert in the field explain the misconceptions that someone like Teresi exacerbates. Dr. Freeman sounds like a true expert AND comes across as genuinely compassionate--which goes against one of Teresi's 'facts' of the organ donation process that the medical community is only trying to hide the facts from the public. As a side note--I would love to see a little more of that compassion personally with our situation, but that's another topic. What is sad for me, however, is that these discussions that contain reputable, reasonable people making good cases for organ donation are usually not heard as loudly. They are also usually an after-thought, a defensive argument. Why doesn't prominent news institutions publish editorials by people like Dr. Freeman first to drive these conversations?
The other article happened to show-up in my email this morning. One of the daily digests for NYC that I subscribe to, Manhattan Users Guide (MUG), sent information about organ and tissue donation: here. I thought it was fascinating timing. They list various sites and a few statistics, including how few New York residents are registered for organ donation--even compared to the national average. If you are interested in learning more about organ donation, a good place to start is the first link in this article, which I also put on the side bar of the blog, Donate Life America. Here is another one: http://www.organdonor.gov/index.html I could keep going, but I need to have some restraint sometimes.
I did learn today while on the Donate Life America website that April is National Donate Life Month. There are probably 20 other important recognition "months" to people that will read this blog at some point including me, but I was thinking about this quite a bit today. In fact, I really need to process this a little more while I'm not juggling my work load and potentially big discussions with Dad's physician in Indiana. What if April's National Donate Life Month finally becomes Dad's month? What if? What if it doesn't? So many questions, yet none of these news articles can begin to even help me answer these questions. All we can continue to do is hope. And wait.
My mazel.
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