Organ Donation & Transplantation

The Transplant Wait List - The B.C. Organ Donor Registry
Organ Donors Improve Lives - The Kidney Foundation of Canada - Links to More Information

Do you ever think about Organ Donation?

I received a kidney transplant after waiting two and one-half years. My brother, Todd, donated a kidney on April 17th, 1996—the gift of a lifetime! The freedom from needing to deal with peritoneal dialysis four times a day is priceless. I have far fewer diet restrictions and because I don’t have to schedule my life around the requirements of my dialysis sessions.

On July 20, 2002 I married Michelle, also a kidney transplant.

My kidney transplant is now over 11 years old (April 17, 1996) and is still doing well.
Michelle’s kidney transplant is now over 28 years old (December 4, 1979) and is still doing well.

The Transplant Wait List

Many people are waiting for Organ Transplants and some will die waiting.

This can be a very long wait for many people and this wait continues to grow. The average wait for a kidney transplant in B.C. is currently 5 years (averaging 60.28 months in 2007).

Why Such a Long Waiting List?

Demand is increasing and far outstrips supply.
While the need for organs has never been greater, the number of people registered on the B.C. Organ Donor Registry as a percentage of the population continues to be very low.

What Can I Do?

There are several things that you can do to help reduce the wait for people to receive a transplant:

Fill out the Organ Donor Registry Form for each member of your family.
»» Be sure to mail it in or register on-line.
»» The sticker on your drivers license is no longer valid.
Talk to your family about your wish to donate your organs and tissues. Approximately one of every three organs that could be available for transplant is lost because the wishes of the loved one are not known by their family.
Support the Kidney Foundation of Canada financially.
»» The Kidney Foundation has provided over half of the more than $50 million dollars spent in Canada on research for kidney disease.
»» They funded the development of Peritoneal Dialysis techniques.
»» They funded clinical trials of EPO (erythropoietin, a hormone used to enhance the production of red blood cells in kidney patients to fight anaemia).
Volunteer for the Kidney Foundation. There is a Kidney Foundation Chapter in Victoria. Healthy volunteers are needed for a variety of tasks.
Have a volunteer speak to your service club, school, employee group, etc.
»» There are a number of people trained to speak about this issue (while I did this for a number of years, I am no longer actively speaking).
»» These volunteers are transplant recipients, living donors, family members and others that have a keen interest in reducing the wait lists in British Columbia.

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The B.C. Organ Donor Registry

Drivers License Sticker Invalid

Did you know that the sticker on your drivers license is no longer valid?

ODR Ten Years Old

British Columbia became the first province in Canada to establish a new Organ Donor Registry in 1997. It replaces all previous forms of consent including a sticker or the words ORGAN DONOR stamped on your drivers license.

Only 15% Registered

According to BC Transplant Society:

85% of British Columbians said they support organ donation and intend to register their decision, yet only 15% of you have done so.
The chances that you will require an organ transplant far outweigh the odds that you will ever be a potential organ donor.

As of June 17, 2009:

716,021 people are signed up with the Organ Donor Registry in B.C. (approximately 15% of the population).
There are 312 people on the waiting lists.
There have been 107 transplants so far in 2009.
There were a total of 266 transplants in 2008.

Current stats are displayed on The British Columbia Transplant Society Website.

People Will Die Waiting For Transplants

The following percentages are expected to die while waiting for their transplant:

Renal (6%): 20 people.
Extra Renal (30%): 17 people.

The longer the wait, the more that will die waiting.

When you consider than only about 1% of all deaths in B.C. will result in organ donation you can see the critical nature of these numbers and the need to improve registration. If everyone in B.C. was registered there would be a significant reduction in the waiting list. Since 1968, there have beem more than 4,300 organ transplants in B.C. More living donor kidney transplants have been performed each year than deceased donor kidey transplants each year since 1999.

Are You Registered?

Are you registered? For more information contact The British Columbia Transplant Society and register to be an organ donor today! The following locations carry the forms:

Drivers Service Centers (Motor Vehicle Branch)
London Drugs locations.
ICBC Autoplan Brokers.
ICBC Claim Centres.
Doctors' offices in B.C.
Overwaitea and Save On Food Pharmacies.

You can also register on-line or confirm your registration. Register now!

Organ Donors Improve Lives

Improved Quality of Life

I can’t begin to tell you of the improvements in quality of life that an organ transplant brings to the recipient. It ends the uncertainty of not knowing if you will get that call today and lets you get on with living your life.

A Gift of Life

For the family of the donor you know that a gift of an organ means that the selfless giving nature of your loved one continues to live on in the improved well-being of the recipient. It truly is a gift of life.

Talk To Your Family

To ensure that your life-saving gift is used talk to your family now and express your desire to make this valuable contribution.

There is a Shortage of Organ Donors

One Donor Helps 13 people

One person’s donation can help up to 13 people waiting for transplanted organs and tissues.

Talk To Your Family

British Columbia is purchasing corneas from the United States because of donation shortages. An increase of donors will help alleviate this problem in addition to reducing the waiting list for solid organ transplants.

Tranplantation Makes Economic Sense

Transplants are Cheaper

Transplantation is the most economical form of treatment for end-stage kidney disease. It costs $50,000 per year to treat each patient on dialysis but, following the $25,000 cost of the transplant surgery, transplant patients are maintained for about $6,000 per year.

Ten-year Savings of $435,000

Over ten years the cost of a transplant is $75,000 compared to $500,000 for dialysis treatment over the same period — a savings of $435,000! The benefits to our strained health care system are obvious, and this doesn’t take into account the tremendous increase in quality of life for the recipient.

Tranplantation Reduces Demand for Scare Dialysis Facilities

Demand is Up For Dialysis

Hemodialysis demand in Victoria has been increasing at a rate of 17% per year.

Victoria Services Vancouver Island’s Dialysis Patients

This affects the whole renal patient population on Vancouver Island since the Royal Jubilee Hospital Dialysis Unit is the home hospital to all hemodialysis patients on the Island. All such patients start here, and must return if they are unwell.

Tranplantation Eases Demand

Transplantation will help to ease the demand for these facilities and greatly improve the quality of life for the patients that receive a transplant.

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The Kidney Foundation of Canada

The Kidney Foundation of Canada is another important organization. They focus on three areas:

Research - finding effective treatments for kidney disease. About half the research dollars spent on kidney disease research in Canada was funded by the Kidney Foundation. Governments provide basic health care but don’t fund the necessary research.
Public Education - aimed at improving the number of organ donors and reducing the long waiting lists.
Patient Services - such as funding the production and distribution of the binder Living with Kidney Disease. This manual is used to inform newly diagnosed patients and their families about the types of renal (kidney) disease, the various forms of treatment available, renal diets and the process of learning to live with a serious disease.

Kidney Car Program

The Kidney Car Program would be happy to take your unwanted car, truck or van off your hands. Donating your vehicle will give you the satisfaction of cleaning up the air and making a difference in the life of someone with kidney disease. Plus, you’ll also receive:

A free tow; and
An official tax receipt

The Foundation recycles these donated vehicles, with the proceeds helping the work of the Kidney Foundation in fighting kidney disease.

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Links to More Information

For more information on Organ Donation and transplantation try:

Learn More About Organ Donation

If you would like to know more about organ donation in Canada, I can put you in touch with people that you can talk to at the B.C. Transplant Society, the Kidney Foundation of Canada or with other transplant recipients and living donors.

Research Resources

For a listing of a number of good medical research starting points try these medical sites listings.

Use This Information Wisely

You should always consult a health professional that you trust to verify the application of information you find on these sites.

Become an informed medical consumer using the resources on this site but remember that practicing medicine on yourself, especially without qualifications, is like representing yourself in court—and you know what they say about that!

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