Valentine's Organ Donation Spiel

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I'm reminded of an experience from medical school. And usually forget the actual business of getting a card or chocolates or flowers which I should probably be working more on.

Anyhoo, I had the unique and coincidental privilege of working on the transplant surgery service for a stint covering Valentine's Day. I assisted with harvesting organs at all hours of the day all around South Texas and transplanting them and saw a tremendous amount of good done and lives changed as well as some of the most ethereal circumstances with the lives lost in the process. This did include, oddly enough, taking a limo from San Antonio to Austin on Valentine's Day to procure a heart and bring it back for a heart transplant. Why a limo? We usually took a plane but it was a short enough distance they decided to drive it. I have no clue why a limo was the option though. But it was pretty nice Valentine's Day for a penniless medical student with no girlfriend at the time.

Short point is that if it's not against your beliefs, signing up to be an organ donor can be an amazing a life-changing experience for someone so I encourage everyone to sign up if they are able.

Here is more information on signing up to be an organ donor

On a related note, I also got turned on to the National Marrow Donor Program a few years ago when our neighbor's infant needed a bone marrow transplant for leukemia. This is a similarly life-changing gift for those in need and as opposed to being an organ donor, you get to go on living a healthy life with only minor procedures needed for donation if you are a match.

And here is how to learn more and sign up for the National Marrow Donor Program

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