Comedic Survival and Organ Donation (more on Brain Death)

I have been surviving on comedies this summer. All the energy and intensity of CPE leads me to seek refuge in more mindless things where I can laugh, smile, and be touched by entertainment. I finally saw UP (the latest Disney-Pixar film) the other night. It is beautiful. I have to say, all in all I LOVE the Disney-Pixar films. One thing I particularly find heart-warming in UP is the relationship of the old man with the young boy. I wish more older people weren't afraid of the role they can play for young people. (I have to note that I do not know they are afraid, but this was my sense in doing youth ministry.) There is something so beautiful when we connect persons across generations. We all need each other!

I've also been ordering the early Will and Grace episodes through Netflix. I love that show. There is something attractive about escaping into a world where lines are perfectly delivered, and laughter erupts.

After a couple responses, I feel like I want to say more about the brain death on Sunday. That particular situation was painful for me because the patient was so young - only 46. That meant that there were generations on both sides affected by her death. It was tough to be with the patient's mother who seemed couldn't really grasp what was going on. She could see the heart monitor beeping and seemed unable to believe that her baby was dead. She was a very vocal woman, as was the whole family, and she spent much time praying (almost yelling) to God to heal her daughter. Through some of our conversation she talked of the burden she would carry if her daughter left - she felt like she would have to be strong and carry them all through. What a heavy load for one person to bear. I wanted to tell her that she didn't have to do that, that she could grieve, and in fact I think she should, but we are not there to give our opinions. We are there to listen. So that is what I did.

At our hospital, when a patient is brain dead, there is something unique that can happen as a result of the circumstances. Organ donation becomes a possibility. My CPE group just had a person from Gift of Hope, the organ donation organization, come in to tell us about organ donation last week, so when this death happened the information was fresh in my mind. I remembered how infrequently organ donation can even be an option - something like 2% of all deaths. Brain death is one of the unique opportunities for organ donation to be an option because the patient is on a ventilator and blood is still flowing through the body, so in a sense the organs are still functioning even though the brain is not (they are functioning b/c of the machines; they could not function on their own). Out of the 2% of deaths that can be offered organ donation, only something like 25% of those actually donate. This is for various reasons from choice of family to medical complications (like if the organs are not good enough to be donated, for example).

In my brain death experience, as the doctors were doing the final tests to be able to say for sure that the patient was brain dead and pronounce her as such, I had the opportunity to talk with the woman from Gift of Hope who would talk to the family shortly after the pronouncement. Gift of Hope talks to everyone who has the option of organ donation; they don't talk to those who don't, which means there is a little research done ahead of time to see if the patient can be an organ donor. This patient could, as was evident by the woman's presence. Her job is such a tough one and I got to witness why first-hand because I got to be in the room when she talked to them about the possibility of organ donation. I think it is a tough job because they have to talk to the family as soon as possible after death is pronounced so the medical staff can know what to do next. [With brain death this is removing the tubes; the tubes are left in if the patient will be donating organs. With cardiac death this is going into surgery ASAP because the organs are already starting to shut down as soon as death succumbs.] So moments after hearing the pronouncement of the patient's death, the family was in the room with the representative from Gift of Hope, and myself. The representative was very caring in her conversation, and recognized that they were in a place of deep grief. One of the hardest things for me was to realize that the oldest daughter of the patient, a woman not much younger than myself, all of a sudden was expected to make decisions about her mother's body as a result of death. I won't say whether or not they donated, but if you are interested in learning more about organ donation and why I think it is a great thing, you can check out Gift of Hope's website by clicking here. It is not an easy decision, but for me personally it is one that makes sense. I realize not all religions are open to organ donation, though most leave it up to each individual to decide.

A quick health update: still feeling sick, but took a long nap today and am looking forward to sleep tonight. I want to get better so I can go dancing this weekend at Chicago's Summer Dance at Millennium Park!