What Happens Next
How are transplants organised?
Transplants are organized by transplant coordinators. At the time of a potential donor becoming available the medical staff will contact the transplant coordinator who will come and talk to the next of kin. If the next of kin agree and if the donor has actually put their wishes onto the organ donor registers, that that is what their wishes actually are, then the transplant coordinators contact UK transplant which is the health authority and it goes on from there. The transplant coordinator, the recipient transplant coordinator will be contacted, and a recipient will be found for those organs. And the donor coordinator will stay with the families of the potential donor until the organs have been retrieved. And afterwards the donor coordinators keep in contact with the donor families and some of them become very life long friends.
What organs can be transplanted?
There are numerous Organs that can actually be transplanted. There are kidneys, livers, lungs, pancreas, skin, bones, tendons, corneas for the tissues. And there are a lot of things that can be donated that people don't seem to realize. They often just think about the heart but there are other organs as well that can be donated.
Can I agree to donate some organs and not others?
You can agree to donate any organs you wish, and you can also decide that you don't want certain organs donated. And some people say that they don't want their heart donated because it's their heart. A lot of people will turn around and say they don't wish to donate their corneas because it's the window to the soul and they want to see where they're going. It's all personal choice. You can make that choice, yes.
Can my face or limbs be transplanted?
Face and limb transplants are very, very new. When you sign on to the organ donor register you are not signing the register and giving the wishes for those items to be used. This is a specialist thing. If you did want them to be used at the time of your death, the best thing to do is to make sure you tell your next of kin. But they will not be taken with you signing on to the organ donor register.
Who are Transplant Co ordinators?
Just at the name implies. They coordinate two groups, the donors and the recipients. Majority of coordinators work with the ICU. They bring the two family groups together (donor/recipient) to acquaint them. They see the actual transplant in the operating theatre and try to keep communication running smoothly between all parties involved: patients, families, medical personnel.
Who will get my donated organs or tissues?
The organ donor waiting list, which is held by the NHS UK Transplant, a lot of people think it's a list where when you get to the top you automatically get the organs but it doesn't work that way. It's the person who is in greatest need of the organs at that time and if the tissue typing matches and if the blood group matches, and this is how the person would get your organs, is by tissue typing and by blood grouping and by how much that person is in desperate need of that organ and the best match for that organ.
Will donated organs or tissues be used for research purposes?
Donated organs and tissues will never be used for research purposes. When you sign on to the organ donor register you are signing your wishes for donation only, not for research.
Does donation leave the body disfigured?
Donation does not leave the body disfigured at all. I know of donor families who have actually seen their next of kin after retrieval and they say there is absolutely no difference at all. When the donor is taken to theater for retrieval of organs, they are treated just the same as they would be if they were a living patient. And with and possible more respect than a patient would have.
Is it possible to see the body after donation?
It is actually possible to see the donor after retrieval. The donor coordinators, would, I'm sure, encourage the next of kin, to go and see the donor, after the retrieval has been performed. They will find no difference, whatsoever, in the body at all. And it would be their opportunity to say their goodbyes.
Could a donor's family ever find out who the recipient was?
Donor families very rarely do find out who the recipients are. This is a very rare occurrence. It does happen; I do know of cases of this happening. I know of somebody who actually is very good friends with the recipient of his daughter's heart and they meet up every year at the transplant games. It is a rare occurrence, but it can happen.
