The cadaver looked just like me

St. Petersburg Times ^ | 3/11/07 | Pauline W. Chen

[wagglebee]

That was until my 83rd procurement. She was a 35-year-old Asian-American woman, like me. She was driving on a Southern California road when a drunken driver collided with her car. Three days later, brain-dead, on my operating table, she looked merely asleep.

That's because SHE WAS STILL ALIVE!

[wagglebee]

Ping.

[wagglebee]

Moral Absolutes Ping!

Freepmail wagglebee or little jeremiah to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.

FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
[ Add keyword moral absolutes to flag FR articles to this ping list ]

[trisham]

Yikes.

[wagglebee]

Pro-Life Ping

[aruanan]

Maybe it was a twin sister separated at birth.

[Sherri-D]

You guys are SO GROSS!!!

(shaking head over you Goofs)

[redgolum]

That's because SHE WAS STILL ALIVE!

Which is the problem I have with many organ donor programs.

[Tulsa Ramjet]

She should have touch the girls eye with her finger. If she flinched, she is alive.

Man, what a good story. the cadaver IS her twin sister that she was separated from. OR, she is merely day dreaming. And in fact, she IS on the operating table, thinking it is her looking at her body, and then she realizes, she still IS alive, but being cut open for an autopsy. Where's my agent?....

[wagglebee]

Yep. The organ harvesting business is nothing like it is portrayed to be.

[NonValueAdded]

Yes, there is something deeply disturbing about the description of the procedure - are those bodies truly brain-dead? Is the standard a flat-line EKG or is there a looser standard? or no standard? Sounds to me like the brain is receiving oxygenated blood and there is the possibility of some awareness of what is happening. Does brain dead mean all centers are shut down, that there are no parts of the mind available to register pain? Isn't that the big worry about lethal-injection executions, that the condemned might be cognizant of the kill shot? Well, what of these human beings having their organs harvested? I doubt they receive pain medication since that might be present in the harvested organs. These docs must be carving them up while still alive. How much of that registers in the brain?

[8mmMauser]

Pinged from Terri Dailies

8mm

[Mom MD]

In an organ donor case we would do something called a flow scan - a nuclear medicine test. The pt was declared brain dead if there was no demonstrable blood flow to the brain. In ethical institutions, I have no problem with the declaration of brain death, and no problem with organ donation, even though I am rabidly pro-life

[NonValueAdded]

Thanks for that info, mom. The key to what you said is "in ethical institutions." I wonder how many corners get cut (npi) by the time most institutions are working on donor #83.

[Elsie]

Parts are parts!

[redgolum]

My cousin is very involved in the organ donor network (He received a kidney from his mother and sister), but even he does not like some of the practices of taking the organs of "brain dead" people.

There is a huge financial incentive to harvest organs, and there have been many cases were the heirs were pushed to have the victims organs donated when there may have been a chance at recovery. And we won't even talk about what goes on in China.

[Malesherbes]

Oh, Lord, when my time comes, let me go without Interns rummaging around in my cavities. Amen.

[kalee]

Amen.

[BykrBayb]

This essay was taken from Pauline W. Chen's book, Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality. I haven't read it, but the reviews suggest it is a must-read. Her writing style draws the reader in, and brings her experiences to life.

The reviews also tend to suggest that she threw this story out there for our consideration, without necessarily learning much from it herself. It would appear that her feelings for this patient revolve around the woman who once was, rather than the living patient she was disecting for parts.

Now I'm just going to have to get the book, so I can see for myself.

The concept of donating your organs so that others may live is admirable. But how many people are still alive when their organs are harvested, and how many people even know this is being done? The ones who scare me are the ones who know, and still approve.