The Legacy
8×10 inches
“I hope that you find comfort
in my memory:
The work I do helps someone live –
my greatest legacy.”
The Legacy:
A message of love from an organ donor to his or her family.
In my last post, we discussed some numbers about organ donation, and how many people it has helped, and how many people still wait on an available heart or kidney or liver or cornea or tissue. We talked about how the medical science gets better all the time, enabling better matching between donors and those needing donation, enabling better surgical techniques both in terms of obtaining the organs and transplanting the organs, and about how better medications and better understanding of dosing help to prevent rejection of the organs.
The Legacy
4×6 inches
Donate Life!
And yet the need is so great. And you never know: Someday it might be you or one of your loved ones who needs help. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that there is an organ available for your child? Your spouse? Your parent? You? And since there are no guarantees for any of us in terms of how long we might be able to survive until an organ becomes available, the stress of waiting weighs heavy not only on the person who needs an organ or tissue, it weighs also on the family members too. And if you get sicker as you wait, this can prevent the transplantation surgery if and when an organ or tissue becomes available. Why? Because surgery can’t always be performed on you when you are sick. Your body is in a weakened state, and surgery on a weakened body, with a weakened immune system, is less likely to be successful in the sense that it can be more dangerous to you, and it is also less likely to lead to successful acceptance of the transplanted organ. And infection becomes a more real possibility, which can affect other organs, even healthy ones. So, the larger the pool of available organs, the more likely it is that transplants can be successful.
But there is another aspect too. Let’s face it: we are all going to die at some point, some of us sooner than later, and almost always sooner than we would like!) Wouldn’t it be nice to know that, in the event that you die with some healthy organs or healthy tissues, some of those organs or tissues could be used to keep someone else alive, and help them to live a better life? Wouldn’t you want that for your lived one? Or you? Think about it. To do that, you need to register to be a donor. Let your family know that you’d like to help someone too, even when you’re gone.
Donate life: Register today, right here.
This poem is available as an etched picture poem, 20×16 inches. To see the etched piece, click here.
It is also available as a photo poem, 4×6 inches. To see the photo poem, click here.
It is also available as a downloadable poem in 8×10 inches and 4×6 inches. To see the downloadable poems, click here.
The Legacy ©Daniel Mark Extrom 2009-2014.
