Marcie Waldron, Organ Donation

Marcie Waldron presented a program on the state of organ donation in California.

 

Marcy is a resident of Sonoma, California. She received a kidney 18 years ago and has dedicated her life to promoting organ donation throughout the population. She came today to present a program on the importance of donating organs, and the ease with which you can join the registry of potential organ donors.

 

At this moment there are over 125,000 people waiting for vital organ transplantation (life-saving) in the state of California. 80% of these transplants will be kidneys, with the majority of kidney damage being caused by diabetes and untreated hypertension. Nearly one person dies every hour waiting for a transplant and every hour six people are added to transplant lists.

 

Organ donors typically save more than one life. There is an organized panel of organ procurement teams located throughout the entire state of California that can be called into action when a person who has agreed to become a donor is at the stage when his or her organs can be donated.

 

Marcy received a kidney transplant 18 years ago following the untimely death of Christopher Landry, a 16-year-old boy. Prior to that she had been living with dialysis for over 10 years, spending nearly 10 hours per day hooked up to dialysis equipment. At that time she did not have much interest in "getting old"; now she is absolutely thrilled with the prospect of getting old and being able to enlist other members of society to contribute as they see fit to prolonging other people's lives.

 

She has been recognized in her community for her program "Got the Dot? which encourages people to register with the Department of Motor Vehicles to have their drivers license signify that they are willing to be an organ donor. Information about ensuring that your wishes regarding organ donation are available can be found on her website  donateLIFEcalifornia.org.. This is also something to be discussed with other significant members of your family or close friends.

 

Surprisingly, family members of the person who donated organs, often feel relief and a sense of continuity as they know that their loved one, who donated organs, continues to live within another person.

 

All members of the Club should consider signing up to ensure that they can become organ donors. A copy of the form that was distributed at the meeting accompanies the email that is sent to members with this meeting notification. Marcy may be reached at marciestars@sbcglobal.net.. Members should also check on their current drivers license to see if they have a pink dot on it designating their status as a donor.