Hollywood's Version

It is amazing how one never seems to take notice of movie/television stories until they seem to relate to your life.  The first movie about heart transplants I remember seeing was "Return to Me" where the young girl who got the heart falls in love with her donor's husband.  I remember thinking at the time how amazing the whole process was and wondering how I would feel in the same situation.

Then, as I was dealing with the possibility of a heart transplant, Denny was on "Grey's Anatomy".  At that time I could see where the Hollywood version had its inaccurate moments, although they did an excellent job of describing the emotions of the subject.  "Grey's" has had several transplant episodes and while the medical facts are often off, the emotional descriptions have been right on and have often been cause for great discussions among family and friends.  For it is the emotional side of transplants that vary from each patient.  Some are grateful for the second chance and try to do better.  Some continue on the way they had been living and find further need for medical aid.  Others can't handle the amount of medications and side effects they cause and stop taking them, which becomes their death sentence.  All transplant patients face the wicked side effects of the medication and the challenges they represent.

Today, I caught the last half of an old movie called "Repo Man" about people who had been given artificial organs but had failed to pay for them, and a group of men who were assigned to track them down and remove the organs for use to other people.  While the concept of artificial organs is great, I do hope we never get to the point of "selling" human organs.  I know I am very fortunate to have been given the gift of a heart and I also know that there are many in this world for whom time runs out before they are given the same.  But to have a "black market" where organs are sold to the highest bidder is not the way to go. 

I hope that the government, in their desire to create a new health system, keeps all this in mind in regards to transplants.  Life is a gift and as should be passed on as such.  If you haven't signed up to be a donor and then discussed it with your family, please consider doing so.  If you have, thank you.