I heard a story about a 15-year old girl who needs to have a kidney transplant in order to live. Her mother put the word out via her blog, Twitter, and other social networks. I thought about how I was using social networking in a similar way to beg for Inauguration tickets and I felt humbled...so humbled, in fact, that I wrote to the nurse at the hospital that was managing the girl's possible kidney transplant to find out if a person with MS can be a kidney donor.
And that's when I found out that I not only have a defective brain, but substandard kidneys as well. Multiple Sclerosis is
on the list of contraindications.How about you? Do you have a spare kidney? Apparently, you only really need one. Visit the link above to see if you could become this family's hero.
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We can't give blood anymore, either. And, since I'm an organ donor I was curious about if my "parts" would be able to benefit someone else. Apparently it would depend here in Texas - the possible recipient would have to be told about the MS and decide to do despite that. Amazing how much this disease affects everything...
ReplyDeleteIt's true. We can no longer give blood, and that has been one of the hardest things for me to deal with over the years. I was a consistent, determined blood donor for many years before my diagnosis. When my former employer started having blood drives at work a couple of years ago, it was still difficult--even after 8 years--to have to say no. Of course what I remember most is the nurse who was so kind to me after I told her. She must have had some friend or family member who has MS. Or maybe SHE was the one with MS. Anyway, somehow she knew how difficult it was for me to be excluded from a group I had been so proud to be a part of. It was one of those moments of connection that you never forget.
ReplyDeleteI too was once an avid blood donor and advocate for tissue and organ donation, and now I feel left out and frustrated further by the never-ending list of limitations imposed by MS. However, I've been considering following my Grandad's example and willing my corpse to medical research. I'd love to find out how to donate it directly to MS research of some kind. I'm still sorting out the details, but I did hear about this book, "STIFF: The Curious Lives of Cadavers" by Mary Roach. Apparently it's fascinating and basically instructions on donating one's remains. I haven't read it yet, but it's on my Xmas list.
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