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One of the most beautiful yet sad things to see,is when organ transplant coordinators prepare a person for harvesting organs..
(Thread)
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This is the scenario,a young lady,aged 20,collapses at her flat.Her bf reports that during the day,she has been complaining of a persistent headache
He also reports that once during the night she woke him up because of the headache and feeling "hot".
On arrival at the hospital,she is not responsive and according to the boyfriend,after he gave her her tablets she had got from the doctor for the headache,she vomited.The tablets turn out to be Tramacet,usually given for anxiety
CPR is started and she is immediately taken to ICU and ventilated. EEG is taken and immediately shows she is brain dead.Other investigation shows she is pregnant,but a sonar shows that she has aborted ,possibly at a backstreet because there is some remnants left..
If the abortion was donelegally,they would have scrubbed her womb and the pregnancy test would have come negative.The boyfriend pleads ignorance about this or the pregnancy
The doctor immediately phones the parents far out in Polokwane to come quickly but also phones the transplant coordinator for the area.She arrives within 30 minutes.
The parents only arrive the following morning,and though difficult for them to accept,(confusion,shock,anger,denial, every feeling you can think of),they concede to donating her two kidneys.
The moment they do that,the clock starts ticking.The patient is discharged from the hospital and is now the property of the Organ Donor Foundation.The medical aid no longer has to pay and the ODF takes over the account.
They will pay for everything ,alledocal bills until she is harvested. In the meantime,the ODF also send a nursing sister to come and help nurse the patient
Especially in private,this is crucial because some hospitals refuse to allocate a staff member to look after the patient at their cost since well the medical aid is no longer paying.Bit the patient has to be kept alive until all processes are done
This includes tissue typing and blood type to ascertain what type of recipient to put on standby for the two kidneys.But crucially,it is also a long wait for the family whilst they wait for the patient to be take n to theatre
The transplant sister is on the phone cajoling laboratories to run tests quicker,so that the family can also find closure.The mortuary is also informed,whilst someone is also busy counseling the family
At least in this hospital,the ODF nurse is not left alone to look after the patient, someone is helping herake the process quicker and stabilise the patient,so at least,her concentration is at optimum
With everything done at last after 17 hours the patient is wheeled to theatre.The ODF sister goes there with her cooler box marked "human organs"
The vascular surgeon who was also on standby since morning harvest the two http://kidneys.One of them is taken to the state hospital for a matching recipient and one goes to private hospital facilities
For the state this is important because this is the only way they can open up a slot for dialysis for a patient,with resources limited.Someone has to die or get a kidney to create space for another.Otherwise,many are put on a waiting list,basically to die..
Of course no one will admit to this,but when they say don't call us or come back,we will call you,it's a nice way to say go home and die.The family is called to come and see her body before the mortuary takes her away..
It's snot en trane either way,for the family that has lost their child,bit tears of joy for someone who has been on dialysis,some for more than 10 years ,forever hoping to get the call that says,come to hospital quickly ,we have a kidney for you
For us that know how much it means and the tireless ODF team,this is why you see them handle the body of Miss Z ,with so much respect.I did say from the moment she was discharged and given over to ODF she was marked as Miss Z ne?
The family is asked if they want to write a letter to the recipient,and the same process will be asked of the recipient if they want to write a letter thanking the family for allowing harvesting of their child's, organ and subsequent donation.
It's a beautiful in execution,sad in implementation but nevertheless a very confusing and fascinating thing to watch..
My name is Marwesha Cedric Mabe ,and I am a dialysis Technologist...
