National Donate Life Month: Organ Donation

By: Dr. Mourad M. Alsabbagh
at DHR Health Transplant Institute

At DHR Health Transplant Institute, the only adult kidney transplant center in the Rio Grande Valley, we offer the service of living and deceased kidney donor transplant. We have an expert multidisciplinary team located right here in our area serving the needs of our community.

National Donate Life Month
National Donate Life Month (NDLM) was established by “Donate Life America” and its partnering organizations in 2003. Observed in April yearly, NDLM helps raise awareness about donation, encourages the community to register as organ, eye, and tissue donors, and honors those who have saved lives through the gift of donation.

Who can become a donor?
All people should consider themselves potential organ, eye, and tissue donors. Your age, race, ethnicity, religion, or health (in most cases) does not matter.

Facts about donating organs:
1. There is no age limit to donation or to signing up. People in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and older have donated and received organs.
2. In 2020, one of three people who donated organs was over the age of 50.
3. Many religions support organ donation. Speak with your faith leader for more information.
4. Few people who sign up can actually become donors. We encourage everyone to sign up in hopes of saving more lives.
5. Once you are 18 years of age or older, your registration is legal and cannot be changed by any person but you. .
6. All Texans can register to become a donor, regardless of health conditions or background.
7. More than 113,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for an organ.
8. Every 10 minutes, one more person is added to the national waiting list. These people are in desperate need of a kidney, liver, heart, or other organ.
9. About 20 people a day in the U.S. die before that organ becomes available.
10. Organ donors are always in short supply. There are far more people in need of a transplant than there are people willing to donate an organ
11. Most of the organs that are available come from deceased donors. When you fill out an organ donor card with your driver’s license, you’re agreeing to donate all or some of your organs if you die.

Do my blood and tissue type need to match the recipient’s?
It’s easier to transplant an organ if the donor and recipient are a good match. The transplant team will give you a series of tests to determine whether your blood and tissue types are compatible with the recipient’s.

Does registering as a donor change my patient care?
Many people never considered organ donation due to inaccurate information or assumptions about organ donation and transplantation. One of the most common myths is that a person’s decision to register as an organ, eye, and tissue donor affects the level of medical care they receive in case of an emergency. However, medical care is not affected in any way by your status as a registered donor. Doctors who care for a patient in a hospital setting are not associated with the doctors who perform an organ recovery or transplant surgeries. Medical professionals always exhaust all lifesaving measures, and death is declared prior to and independent of donation

This National Donate Life Month, we ask you to become a part of this interconnected life-sustaining community by registering as an organ, eye, and tissue donor, becoming educated about living donation, and championing the Donate Life cause.

To learn more about organ donation or to speak to one of our experts, please contact DHR Health Transplant Institute at (956) 362-5433.

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