First off...
I've started sharing some photos on the menu bar to the right. There are only a few there right now but this will increase as I crop and clean photos of my choosing. These are my photographs and shall remain my property until the day when my organs are harvested and shared with others. Until that time, you are more than welcome to view and quite possibly enjoy them.
(speaking of sharing with others)
So what are you getting me for Christmas?
You really shouldn't have, I don't want you to purchase anything. The economy sucks right now and besides I always feel like if there is something I want, I'll just buy it myself... I don't even want you to make anything for me this year. No Gluten free Christmas cakes or wooden trinkets you carved with only your fingernails and a shot of whiskey. I do want you to consider one gift for me though. Even if it takes until the new year to decide. I receive Christmas cards just like most people do. I have received a few from you already in fact and I thank you very much, your very kind.
I would like to make one quick request. The gift that I want from each and every one of my readers is for you to sign your donor cards OR to at least speak to your relatives about your wishes to donate your organs.
"OMG this nut job is asking me to give my organs to him?"
No, my dear friends I'm not asking you to rip your beating heart out of your chests. I'm not wishing you were dead either, in fact quite the opposite! What I'm hoping for is a world where we ALL have signed our donor cards and so when in that very dark time in your life you meet face to face with death. That you and I might BOTH have a chance to remain alive because some amazing person had thought ahead and signed their card and discussed their wishes with someone who they knew would be there when they did die.
And have you considered, that when your family or friends are there with you at your life's end, that it will be one of the most difficult times of their lives? It won't really matter to you because when your dead you'll be floating on a cloud next to that crazy Philadelphia cream cheese eating lady from the commercials. Yeah, you know the one I'm talking about...
Organ donation will make it just that much easier for the people responsible for you when they know that you've requested it personally. They won't have to question it, they will just KNOW that you asked for it and that will give them peace. The peace that they will require in the greatest time when they feel "helpless" and "powerless". They will feel that they do have a choice, and that their choice can help others to live... What could possibly be more powerful than that? And ultimately it will be them who decides, not you.
It costs NOTHING except perhaps the cost of a postage stamp, even less if your just talking about your choice with your family. But what it means to me and to so many others is that the struggle to stay alive might finally find a solution. The grim suffering on one end, can help multiple others on the other end. This relationship happens anonymously. For me, my mother will be able to live for many more years instead of the one or two years the doctors predict in her current condition. Her quality of life failing just a little each day.
The color would return to her skin soon after her surgery. That warm color that every child remembers seeing in the face of their mother as a child. And her struggle to breath as she performs simple tasks such as walking from her bedroom to the washroom, or pushing a vacuum around on the carpet. Being her primary support person, a job I can assure you is full time. The chance that my life might return to normal again too is tantalizing. I will be able to work during normal business hours instead of filling oxygen tanks and eating fast food from the hospital. Or driving to and from doctor's appointments and pharmacies.
I have met literally hundreds of people in the past 6 months who are experiencing the amazing gift of life in one way or another. From soft spoken people from the east coast, to big burly lumberjacks from British Columbia they are all human beings like you and I. All of them had healthy productive lives at one time. Now they are doing the best that they can to maintain their lives. While I believe their quality of life could improve, that would be purely based on individual situation. You see, I believe my mother's quality of life is affected by her illness but that in any situation you will find that people make up their own quality of life based on how they react to their surroundings. My mother for example, loves her 7 grand children so much. She has fixated on this to be her main reason for living and it reflects in her smile every day. Literally between the gasps of air I see her crack a smile when the kids do something ridiculous. It's uncanny that when your suffering so much you can still find joy. She does have enjoyment in life and has stated many times that she loves life but she is constantly trying to balance it with the hardships of illness.
The Gift of LIFE!
Please sign your donor card...
Talk to your family...
You certainly don't need your own blog or web page to make your wishes known. Just mention it to the people who will most likely have to deal with your death when it happens.Talk to your family...
IT REALLY IS THAT SIMPLE!
Take your head out of the sand and start thinking about your future. Consider how much easier it will be for your family to deal with your tragic end when they know that this will give others life. I am making my wishes public to show you that It's so easy to share your wishes with your loved ones and that organ donation is not some taboo subject that needs to be private."Friends, Family, and all who are reading this... In the event of my death please know that I wish to share the gift of life by donating my organs to others."
Ok, Ok, so how do I go about doing this?
Once again, talk to your family? It doesn't have to consume your entire day but just make sure they hear you say "I want my organs to be available to others when I die" You can also sign a card when you go to the motor vehicles office to renew your license and pay your tickets...
Did you know you are able to choose which organs you donate?
It's all handled with absolute respect for your family, your religious beliefs and if they have specific wishes in how you are handled or just preference of which organs they do not want harvested they will be heard.
In closing friends...
From the bottom of my heart I want to thank you, I believe the choice is a natural one for all of us. And if you have any medical or personal questions about it or spiritual reservations about it I know of someone at the Toronto General Hospital who I would be more than happy to forward your questions or concerns too. Take it from some one who is submerged in the lives of so many transplant people, I have seen the sucesses come back from surgery one at at time and they all glow with an amazing rejuvination. The color of their skin, the bounce in their step... I am so excited each time I see another success.
Feel free to comment on this message or email me and I will try to answer your message as quickly and accurately as possible.
Have yourself a "SAFE" and Merry Christmas in 2008.
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