DATE: Sunday, April 27, 1997                TAG: 9704250211

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 08   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: IN PASSING 

SOURCE: Alexis Smith 

                                            LENGTH:   74 lines

HAVE A HEART, PLEDGE TO DONATE YOUR ORGANS

Organ donation. Those words have been around for a while now. But just what is organ donation, how does it work?

And the most important question: Does it really improve the quality of life?

I have gone full circle with the answers. When we were first told my sister needed a kidney transplant, I thought it was a simple matter of calling up the transplant center and telling them I was volunteering.

It wasn't as easy as I thought. I was told that my health didn't warrant donating an organ. No matter how much I argued, I was not considered.

Next, my mother tried. She was told she was too old, as was my father.

It wasn't until years later, after my sister died and I attended a meeting of the Hampton Roads Coalition on Donation that I found out exactly what was involved, what myths surround donations and approximately how many years it improves one's life.

Bruce Nicely, manager of Hospital Communications at LifeNet, spoke to the group and explained in detail the whole process.

Finding the organ is the beginning for the recipient. There are six criteria for a match. You do not need to meet all six, but if you do, you are a perfect match and will receive that organ.

There is a 20 percent risk of rejection and high dosages of anti-rejection drugs can cause other complications such as cancer.

During this long process or what seemed like a long process involving my sister, my family asked a lot of questions. I would corner the doctor and ask specific questions and get vague answers.

The information I received several years later would have helped me tremendously then.

All I knew was my sister needed a kidney and wasn't getting one. A very close friend, Lucia Woodlan, needed one, too. They both also needed pancreas transplants.

Both had juvenile diabetes, the body's inability to produce the insulin needed to control blood sugar. Some of the complications are kidney failure, vascular breakdown and blindness.

Lucia was near death and legally blind when she received her kidney and pancreas transplant.

According to Nicely, one of the myths associated with transplants is that organs from a person in a fatal car accident can be used. But organs can only be recovered from an individual who is brain dead. On rare occasions, organs can be recovered from a cardiac arrest, but it has to be minutes after death.

Organs that can be transplanted are the heart, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, liver and intestines. Tissues that can be donated include the eyes, skin, bone, heart valves and tendons. If you are thinking about being a donor but are squeamish, don't worry, the procedure does not disfigure your body.

The most frustrating part of the experience for me was trying to understand ``THE LIST.''

If you are waiting for a transplant and become sick, you will be removed from the list until your health improves. This is because the anti-rejection drugs suppress your immune system.

Since there are 51,000 people on this list, which combines all transplants, naturally you wonder where you are. Are you number 5,000, 10,000, 30,000?

The answer depends on several factors. First, not all the people on the list are waiting for kidneys. Second, if you are removed from the list, you are added back into the same spot. The bad part about being off the list is that if a match is found, you don't receive the organ. My sister would become very distressed when she learned she was off the list.

Lucia received a kidney and pancreas transplant and for nine years she was no longer a diabetic. She told me that it was so strange to be able to eat what she wanted, after years of watching her diet. But she felt great and was glad she had the transplant. Unfortunately, the anti-rejection drugs caused tumors to grow kand she died at age 49.

My sister never received the extension on her life.

More donors are needed. MEMO: For more information on organ donation, call 1-800-847-7831.For

more information on organ donation, call 1-800-847-7831.

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