Hello all! It’s been a while! Hope you are all well. Something a little different to think about this September! Please persevere and read till the end; thank you!
One Tuesday morning, more than six months ago, after years of leading what I considered to be an extremely active and healthy lifestyle, I was delivered a diagnosis for an autoimmune liver condition that changed my and my family’s life forever. I won’t bore you with all the minute, gory details, but let’s say it was extremely life threatening and an organ transplant was the only way to give me another chance at life. Quite shocking, as until the day before, it was life as usual!
Shortly after I was listed for transplant, things deteriorated further and I had to be put into an induced coma with a multiple organ failure to add to the growing list of complications!
But I probably had a bit more life left in me. I was extremely lucky to receive a compatible liver and after a very long and complicated operation that had to be done over two days, the talented surgeons were able to swap the damaged organ with the healthy one to give me a new lease of life.
Recovery in the hospital was slow with a prolonged ICU stay and I had to relearn everything like a new born baby- to walk, to speak, to eat…so the days flew by in a blur!
But as I grew more stable, the enormity of the event dawned on me, and it was very overwhelming to realise that I was alive only because of the kindness of a stranger; a stranger, who in passing away from this world had selflessly ensured that someone else could have a second chance at life! A simple ‘thank you’ doesn’t really suffice! Without the organ, no doctor or medicine would have been able to save me!
In a few days time, it will be six months since my life-saving transplant; an extra six months that might not have been possible for me! Six extra months with my family and friends, and all because of my donor and her family!
Organ Donation Week
September 23-29 is Organ Donation Week in the UK. This year, the NHS Organ donor Register is celebrating its 30th year of changing and saving lives.
Every year, thousands of people in the UK, including children, from all backgrounds and communities, wait on the transplant list for a life saving organ transplant. Currently, according to the NHS, around 7,500 people are waiting for an organ transplant. Some of them will be lucky enough to find a suitable match. Sadly, due to shortage of organs, many won’t. Last year, more than 400 people died while waiting on the transplant list.
There is a much better chance of compatibility of organs and tissues, if both the donor and recipient are from the same ethnicity. Unfortunately, the waiting times for patients from Black and Asian ethnicities are longer due to donor shortages. I was one of the lucky ones as my blood group was comparatively easier to find!
We don’t realise how important organ donation is until it happens to us or someone we know!
It just takes 2 minutes to register as an organ donor. And those two minutes could save up to nine lives and give them a second chance at life. You can register here- https://organdonation.nhs.uk/register-your-decision/donate/?
Once you have registered, please let your loved ones know of your decision. They can override it if they are not aware of your wishes. Many potential organ donations are lost due to this every year.
If you want to know more about the current laws around organ donation in the UK, or have any other questions or concerns, please visit: https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ to know more!
If you live in another country, please make an effort to find out the relevant rules and laws where you live and check how you can get registered! It is so important!
Thank you for reading!
Please feel free to share this post for more awareness. Thank you.
-Sunita
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