Anyone have 1st hand experience with organ donation?

[CynJ]

My DH heard a rumor at work the other day that I don't know if its true or not.

Someone told him that a relative of theirs died in a car accident and was an organ donor. The family honored his wishes and donated his organs - but then they got socked with a huge hospital bill for the "organ harvest".

Does anyone know if this is true? Anyone have first hand experience with how that all works?

 

[holycow]

I've not been personally involved but my Dad was a donor and my mom got a lovely letter in the mail thanking her for her husbands selfless sacrifice.

I've never heard of that before making you pay to be a donor?...just doens't sound right to me.

Holycow

 

[luvwinnie]

Try www.unos.org

 

[4greatboys]

There is no fee for being a donor. My my x's grandma died we donated her organs and there was no fee. With the hard time they have getting people to be donors doesnt make any sense they would then charge them, that would cause even less people to become organ donors.

 

[RadioNate]

When my aunt died we donated just about everything and I don't remember any fees. I do remember the wonderful letters from teh recipiants. She died more than 10 years ago and I often wonder how those people are doing.

 

[NCRedding]

We donated my FIL's organs and there were no costs associated with the donation.

 

[CynJ]

Found a great linkto the federal gov't's website http://www.organdonor.gov/ off of luvwinnie's link

here's a quote off of their "Myths & Facts"

Myth: My family will be charged for donating my organs.

Fact: Donation costs are not the responsibility of the donor’s family or estate.

So it sounds like either my DH was fed bs or an urban legend.....

 

[mrsgus06]

The biological mother of 3 of my daughters was an organ donor. We honored her wishes and there was no fee involved. The only thing we received was a letter stating that her heart went to a grandmother (60 something) and she is doing well and spending quality time with her family! I thought that was wonderful. I have the letter put up so when the girls grow up, they will know what a wonderful woman their mother was. We also learned that they could not harvest her skin due to the tatoos and all her other organs had been damaged due to the lack of blood, too sad. However, her eyes were donated to two people, no letter about them yet, but I like to think they are enjoying their families and loved ones faces for the first time. Organ donations are a wonderful thing!

 

[cgcw]

My brothers organs were donated. Even though he died of a heart attack, they were able to use the valves leading to the heart. Strange how that works.

I do know there was an additional fee from the funeral home. I'm not exactly sure how much (I'm thinking $150). Their reasoning was because there was extra work which needed to be done because his body was used for donation. I remember questioning it because it didn't seem right.

 

[DisOrBust]

I am just guessing here but if they did get a bill it was the wrong bill. The team that comes in for the harvesting I am sure does not generate a bill but he hospital probably does bill the organization for the OR time.

 

[binny]

Its an urban legend and one that makes me FURIOUS!!!!

Were a transplant family. My dad died while waiting for a heart Transplant. We had been through EVERYTHING as far as the donation goes... found out all of the information, went through the meetings etc. He was number one on the list in Washington and didnt live long enough to receive one It breaks my heart to this day to think it could have been otherwise.


People need to know the TRUTH about Organ Donation!! This is THE most selfless act a person can perform. You will NOT be charged for this. You will be REWARDED! You cant imagine the gratitude of friends that we knew through the program when they received their organs. The little kids, the young parents, the grandparents. The sheer awe of someone doing so selfless for another human.... there is truly nothing more humbling.



PLEASE I beg you, set the record straight! People need to know the truth. I would give anything to spare someone the hell that my father went through in those last months


Be an Organ Donor.

 

[DawnCt1]

Its an urban legend and one that makes me FURIOUS!!!!

Were a transplant family. My dad died while waiting for a heart Transplant. We had been through EVERYTHING as far as the donation goes... found out all of the information, went through the meetings etc. He was number one on the list in Washington and didnt live long enough to receive one It breaks my heart to this day to think it could have been otherwise.


People need to know the TRUTH about Organ Donation!! This is THE most selfless act a person can perform. You will NOT be charged for this. You will be REWARDED! You cant imagine the gratitude of friends that we knew through the program when they received their organs. The little kids, the young parents, the grandparents. The sheer awe of someone doing so selfless for another human.... there is truly nothing more humbling.



PLEASE I beg you, set the record straight! People need to know the truth. I would give anything to spare someone the hell that my father went through in those last months


Be an Organ Donor.

I am so sorry for your loss. There is nothing worse than "getting that close" and not having what you so desparately needed materialize. You are correct of course. That story is an URBAN LEGEND and I can't imagine the swine that would knowingly and willfully perpectuate that lie. Even living donors have their medical bills fully covered by the recipients insurance. I know a very brave young single woman with an autistic child who donated a kidney to her best friend. She was a match. She is a special person to take that risk and make that sacrifice. God Bless her.

 

[floridaminnie]

I also know here in Florida when I first applied for my driver's Liscnese, they made a big deal about it not costing anything.

 

[CynJ]

Sorry to bring up bad memories Binny

I know I have been listed as an organ donor since I turned 16 and got my license. There is no greater gift that you can give someone. I thought it sounded really WHACKED that the donor would be charged. But with as messed up as the healthcare system is I can envision my DH getting a bill....

If it did happen it was probably a billing error if anything.

DH wants to leave his body to science (seriously lol) - I would probably give him to UCONN Medical school or Yale Med School to keep with his wishes.

I would love for any of my usable bits to be used to help others. Imagine giving your eyes to someone who can't see, or lungs to somone who can't draw a breath......no greater gift....

 

[clh2]

I am just guessing here but if they did get a bill it was the wrong bill. The team that comes in for the harvesting I am sure does not generate a bill but he hospital probably does bill the organization for the OR time.

I am pretty sure that this is what is done at the hospital I work at.

 

[binny]

Sorry to bring up bad memories Binny

DH wants to leave his body to science (seriously lol) - I would probably give him to UCONN Medical school or Yale Med School to keep with his wishes.

I would love for any of my usable bits to be used to help others. Imagine giving your eyes to someone who can't see, or lungs to somone who can't draw a breath......no greater gift....

No Worries Cyn, as you can see this is a subject I am extremely passionate about

Anything helps. Donation to science may some day cure cancer or diabetes or AIDS.

When a friend died in a car accident when we were teenagers her parents donated everything they could. They received letters from the families ( annonomysly of course as they cant reveal who they are for the first year) describing the joy that they felt when their loved ones received her organs. A little girl was able to see for the first time, a young boy received her liver and was cured, the list went on and on. They read them at the funeral and it was amazing! People who were crying for the loss of a friend now cried for joy at the thought of how many people who lived because of her!




This is my wish as an Organ Donor, Ive posted this poem before but it really says how I feel.


To Remember Me
(Robert N. Test)

The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital busily occupied with the living and the dying. At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped.

When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body by the use of a machine. And don't call this my deathbed. Let it be called the bed of life and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives.

Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby's face or love in the eyes of a woman. Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain. Give my blood to the teen-ager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car so that he might live to see his grandchildren play. Give my kidneys to one who depends on a machine to exist from week to week. Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and every nerve in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk.

Explore every corner of my brain. Take my cells, if necessary and let them grow so that someday a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window.

Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.

If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all prejudice against my fellow man.

Give my soul to God.

If by chance you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.

 

[CynJ]

Binny - "To Remember Me" is wonderful!!!! Thanks for sharing it!

 

[WDWBetsy]

I stumbled across this post and thought I'd clarify some things. I work in the aftercare department of an organ procurement organization (OPO).

Our coordinators always tell our donor families that if they receive a hospital bill with charges from the point after they consent to the donation, they should forward the bill to our organization so we can contact the hospital. We also give our billing information to the hospital staff so that this type of thing doesn't happen. Unfortunately, hospital billing departments make mistakes and sometimes families don't always let us know that they received a bill related to the recovery of organs.

OPOs cover all charges related to the donation. So if you ever hear of this happening to a friend, please tell them to contact their OPO to get assistance.

If your loved one is a donor, you can contact your OPO to request updates on the transplant recipients, and even send letters/notes to them. Most OPOs follow guidelines that help ensure confidentiality until both parties are interested in releasing their identities. The OPO can give you the information to help you write the letter. I can't tell you how many donor families and recipients would like to hear from the other, and it helps so much in the healing process. Just a simple note can work wonders.