of Life: The Complexity & Impact of Organ Donation STORY LIZ GENEST SMITH PHOTOS SETTOON FAMILY
If you’re anything like me, you probably have pretty limited knowledge on the subject of organ donation. I’ve always checked the box on my driver’s license, but I’m pretty sure my first introduction to the concept came courtesy of Clairee Belcher in the movie Steel Magnolias, who explained in an exaggerated drawl, “They carry those organs in beer coolers… those doctors take out their six-packs, throw in some dry ice and a heart, and get on a plane.” Colorful and amusing, but not exactly accurate. I have learned so much more about the complexity and magnitude of this incredible practice after having the privilege of recently meeting some extraordinary people who are directly involved with and affected by organ donation.
Touring LOPA The first step in opening my eyes to this topic was a visit to the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency’s (LOPA) brand new headquarters in Mandeville. An independent, not-for-profit group, LOPA is Louisiana’s sole organ procurement organization, whose main objectives are to house and maintain the Louisiana Donor Registry and to recover organs and tissue for transplant. Kirsten Heintz, the Director of Communications for LOPA, was kind enough to give me a grand tour of the gorgeous, modern, state-of-the-art facility and to help me understand how it operates. The first floor houses the allocation center offices, medical staff training rooms, refrigerated units for medical supply storage, machines to flush and prep kidneys and three huge operating rooms that eventually will hold the up to seven different teams it may require to recover organs and tissue. These procedures are still taking place in hospitals, but that will soon change. The upper two floors are beautiful, open-concept administrative zones for a dizzying array of employees. In
addition to medical and surgical staff, there’s allocation staff, hospital and community education staff, family advocates, organ coordinators and a finance and quality group, just to name a few. They’re all crucial to the success of this finely tuned machine, and Kirsten kindly broke down its mechanisms into layman’s terms for me. “Hospitals call in the referrals (alerting LOPA of potential donor candidates). We check to see if the patients meet specific criteria and send staff to get information and make a plan with the hospital. If a possible donor is not in the registry, we ask their next of kin for consent. Organs are then matched to recipients and an O.R. time is set.” I knew there would be a lot of clinical and administrative aspects to wrap my head around, but I wasn’t expecting to find was such an infusion of heartfelt compassion. As an overly empathetic person myself, I just assumed that people involved in such sensitive work would have to remain emotionally detached in order to function, but I was wrong. After we had seen much of the facility, Kirsten pointed out a Christmas card from a grateful recipient who now frequently volunteers for the organization. Apparently, this happens quite often. She also told me of plans to create a memory garden to honor donors that will be situated in a picturesque spot alongside the lake, which is visible through the enormous two-story wall of windows shared by much of the administrative staff. One of Kirsten’s most surprising revelations was that the surgical staff often performs final ceremonies – such as the reading of poetry, saying of prayers or even playing music – on behalf of the families as the machines are shut down just before organ recovery begins. The families have already said their goodbyes, but they get comfort from knowing that their loved ones are treated with respect and reverence in their final moments.
EDGE February | March 2019
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