Okay, this has nothing to do with romance of any stripe, but I’ve been thinking about it and I want to know what the rest of you think. A couple of days ago, I found this article via Yahoo. It talks about the changing nature of life and death, and the increasing difficulty of drawing a line between the two in this age of sophisticated medical treatments, and especially about the moral implications of our increasing ability to keep the body “alive” long enough to harvest organs for transplant.
How can we get more organs? By redefining death. First we coined “brain death,” which let us take organs from people on ventilators. Then we proposed organ retrieval even if non-conscious brain functions persisted. Now we have “donation after cardiac death,” the rule applied in Denver, which permits harvesting based on heart, rather than brain, stoppage.
But stoppage is complicated. There’s no “moment” of death. Some transplant surgeons wait five minutes after the last heartbeat; others wait two. The Denver team waited 75 seconds, reasoning that no heart is known to have self-restarted after 60 seconds. Why push the envelope? Because every second counts. Mark Boucek, the doctor who led the Denver team, says that waiting even 75 seconds makes organs less useful.
The article goes on to point out that some believe this is ethically sound since the organs harvested can’t work anymore in their current body due to illness or injury or whatever, while others believe we should own up to taking organs from living (if fatally damaged) people, thus causing their death earlier than it would normally happen in the course of their illness or injury.
I can see both sides of that argument on organ transplant. It’s a terribly delicate balance, making sure that the donor’s rights aren’t lost or ignored in favor of the recipient’s rights. Both are human beings, both are equally important in this equation. As far as the line between life and death, it’s so hard to be certain anymore. I still tend to think of death in terms of brain death, because a person’s personality lives in the brain. Our brains make us who we are. But, if your heart isn’t beating, your brain will die pretty quickly. So is cardiac death the true definition of death? Is there a true definition of death? Can there be, really?
The answer is, I don’t know. I’ve thought about this before, and I expect I will keep on thinking about it. So, what do YOU think? What is life? What is death? How do we find the morally and ethically right territory where the two meet? I’d love to hear what y’all think of this.
Next week will be mansex related. Swear O_O
Written by Ally Blue
Ally is a rich and famous author of hot gay manlove. She travels the world in her private jet, being waited on hand and foot by her team of pretty young men who bring her umbrella drinks and make out for her pleasure . . . Okay, so that's her dream life. Her novels of Manlove & Angst are mostly written in her living room, in between working at the Evil Day Job and doing Mom Stuff. Oh, the glamorous life of an author!
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LBea wrote,
I just walked this path. Someone I loved was removed from life support recently. Brain death? Cardiac death? I think once we know someone is gone from their body, irretrievably gone, then the grieving starts in earnest. Because we are more than the shell that houses us.
Link | October 8th, 2008 at 4:59 am
Chris Roberts wrote,
Because of my husband’s illness we know that someday he will need a liver transplant, so I do see the need for more organ donation. 3 out of 4 people die while waiting for a liver. As to when a person dies I think that has to truly be their family’s decision if the person themself has not made his wishes known.
Link | October 8th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Ally Blue wrote,
LB, **massive hugs**
It’s never an easy decision. And I totally agree with you, we are so much more than a body. Which is why I will probably always see death as the time when the brain — the personality, the person — is gone.
I’m thinking of you, hon. I hope you’re doing okay.
Chris, you are right, it really does have to be the family’s decision if the person is not able to decide for themselves, and has not left instructions. It’s such a monumental thing to have to decide, I think everyone should have that talk with their loved ones. My husband and kids know exactly how I feel about it. If they ever have to make that decision, God forbid, I want them to have as much guidance as possible.
I can’t imagine how hard it must be to have to wait for a new liver. I’ll keep you and your husband in my thoughts.
**hugs**
Link | October 8th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
JL Langley wrote,
*hugs Lisabea* Sorry hon.
Yup, I’m there with you, Ally, and Lisabea. For me it is determined by brain/personality function. But then I’m an ER nurse’s kid and DNR has been drilled into my brain since birth, so organ donation is one of the only cases in which I can see life support being used at all.
Link | October 9th, 2008 at 2:30 pm