Many Montanans await gift of life

Last year, 19 people in Montana left more behind than memories. When they died, they left a legacy of life by becoming organ donors.

“From these people, 52 organs were transplanted and 52 lives were saved,” Kevin O’Connor said. “Montana is doing a good job in providing the gift of life.”

O’Connor serves as president of LifeCenter Northwest, one of 58 federally designated nonprofit organ procurement organizations in the United States. He and Jan Hendrix, LifeCenter’s director of tissue donation, recently visited to encourage even more people to register as donors.

“In my view, Montanans have a very giving nature and understand the importance of community and of helping other people,” Hendrix said.

Just this year, two Montana organ donors saved eight people’s lives. Also in 2010, 76 people who signed up as donors provided tissue and 382 gave corneas to help the living.

Even with these successes, many more Montanans still need life-saving organ transplants. O’Connor said the list numbers 225 with 165 of these — about 80 percent — waiting for a kidney.

Because dialysis helps people with failing kidneys survive longer, their numbers are greater. Other Montanans need livers, pancreases, lungs, intestines and hearts.

O’Connor and Hendrix wanted first to dispel myths that discourage people from registering. One is that hospital staffers won’t try as hard to save the lives of donors.

“That’s not true,” Hendrix said. “First of all, the hospital staff has no idea if someone wants to be a donor. Their highest priority is to save lives.”

Sandra Swanson, manager of Quality Services at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, added that hospital personnel don’t approach the family. She said federal regulations require that the hospital notify procurement organizations in the event of a death.

“They do the look-up to see if the person previously registered as a donor,” Swanson said.

Hospital staff consult with LifeCenter Northwest, reviewing the potential donor’s medical record and circumstances of death to determine suitability. The procurement agency representative then calls the family about the donation.

O’Connor said donations fall into two categories: tissue or organ.

“Tissue can be recovered after loss of circulation up to 24 hours,” he said.

People who are neurologically dead but maintain circulation on a ventilator become candidates for organ donation. It requires close coordination between health-care facilities such as Kalispell Regional Medical Center and the procurement organization.

“People here work together hand-in-glove,” O’Connor said. “It works very, very well.”

Less than 1 percent of all deaths qualify for organ donation but each that does makes an amazing impact on one or many lives.

O’Connor recalled a recent such death in which a couple donated their baby’s liver, stomach, pancreas and intestine that went as a cluster transplant to another infant, giving it the chance the other baby did not have. O’Connor had great admiration for the grieving parents’ gift.

“This family is very special to us,” he said. “We support families for 18 months.”

LifeCenter Northwest employs three bereavement counselors. A decision to donate organs or tissue often serves as a positive force in the grieving process.

“These families derive tremendous comfort that their loved one was able to save lives,” O’Connor said.

It was that way for Scott and Tracy Osler, who lost their son Trevor to  a car accident on Nov. 19, 2008. When he died, Trevor was just 21 and a student in web programming at Flathead Valley Community College.

His family honored his wishes to become a donor by donating Trevor’s tissue and bone.

“Knowing he had made that decision in advance made it easier — it took the weight off of us,” Scott Osler said. “In all that was wrong that night, here was something good. It makes me realize what kind of a man my son was.”

He said Trevor had just renewed his license that year and made the choice to donate. A law enforcement officer on the scene of the accident noted the donor choice and alerted LIfeCenter Northwest.

Osler said the call he and Tracy received from the procurement center was difficult but they knew Trevor wanted to help others in the event of his death. Since then, they have attended yearly life celebrations that bring together donor and recipient families.

“You talk about a powerful thing,” Osler said. “You really feel good when you leave there.”

People such as Tyler, a 15-year-old featured on the LifeCenter Northwest’s website, try to express what a difference organ or tissue donation made in their lives. A victim of bone cancer, Tyler received donated bone in a transplant that saved him from a leg amputation. As a result, he still enjoys golf and dreams of a landscaping career.

Hendrix said people such as the Oslers often become incredible advocates for donation. She said they spend a lot of time and effort encouraging others to give the gift of life by signing up as donors on their driver’s licenses or other identification.

In Montana, a little more than 60 percent of licensed drivers or I.D. holders have registered. This compares to the national average of just 35 percent.

In general, the first priority for receiving an organ donation goes to patients within the donor’s region who match the blood type and size. If a donor has a family member or friend on the list, they may designate them if a match is made.

“That can be important in the decision-making,” Hendrix said.

She said organ, cornea, tissue or bone harvesting does not preclude visitations or open casket funerals. With medical advances, recipients of these gifts are surviving longer and longer.

O’Connor said some patients have lived with transplanted kidneys for more than 35 years thanks to advances in immune-suppressing drugs and other therapies. He said he gets a lot of satisfaction serving an organization that makes these gifts possible.

 People may register their donor wishes in one of three ways:

n Online at DonateLifeToday.com.

n Calling (877) 275-5269 for a registry brochure.

n Agreeing to become a donor when renewing a driver’s license.

For more information about LifeCenter Northwest, check the website www.lcnw.org.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com .