Domino Surgery, Grey's Anatomy and My Family

Back in 2008, I wrote about organ and tissue donations, encouraging people to consider donating after death for saving lives. On my writing forum, we have a man who worked as a tissue procurement specialist, who advocated for tissue donation after death. This year, my good friend and fellow writer Rissa Watkins was diagnosed with acute lympoblastic leukemia, and is requiring marrow or stem cell donation in order to save her life and cure her cancer.

Everywhere surrounding me, organ and tissue donation has been an issue in my life. Every day, according to WomensHealth.org, eighteen (18) people die while waiting for an organ transplant. It's a sad, frustrating situation when people who are already dead and have no need for their organs die with them intact and usable, when they could save someone's life.

Live Organ Donations

Thus enters live organ donations. Live organ donations are simply a donation of an organ or a portion of an organ (such as the liver that regenerates itself in healthy people), but instead of waiting for someone to die, the organ is harvested from a live human rather than one who has passed.

Of course, not all organs can be donated live, such as the heart, which people need to live, but one kidney and liver lobe or sections are among the organs and tissues that can be donated. The problem with donations then becomes how to find matches and find donors who will give a complete stranger a part of their own body.

Grey's Anatomy Episode: There's No 'I' in Team

In 2008, "Grey's Anatomy" did an episode entitled "There's No 'I' in Team", in which the surgeons of this popular humorous medical drama participated in what they called a "domino surgery."

As simply put as possible, as "Grey's Anatomy"explained, a domino surgery is one in which one person needs a donation, but no one in their family is a match. However, someone in another family is a match, but their loved one has a need for an organ, and another family matches them. The point is, two or more families or strangers come together, and instead of one person making a direct donation to one person, organs are harvested from multiple donors and then are moved around to be implanted in multiple recipients.

How Domino Surgeries Work

Here's a brief rundown on how a domino surgery might work. There are five patients in need of donations: Patients A, B, C, D, E. Nobody in their family or circle of friends are a match. But in their family and circle of friends, Patient A has a friend who is a match for Patient B. Patient C has a match in their family for Patient E. Patient E has a match in his work colleagues for Patient D, and so on, so that between the five patients and the five donors, all patients get the organ donation they need from live donors, strangers to them, but usually with connections to the other patients needing donation.

The reason it is called a domino surgery is because, since one patient receiving a donation depends upon another patient's friend or family member donating, if just one person pulls out and changes their mind, deciding not to do the donation, the entire stack of dominos could possible fall, since Patient A won't donate to Patient B's wife, if Patient B's wife isn't donating to Patient C, who had a boyfriend who was donating back to Patient A.

It gets confusing, doesn't it? Imagine handling that with two, three, four, five or more simultaneous surgeries happening, often in the same hospital or in very close proximity. Why are they all done at the same time and in close proximity? Since each surgery likely depends on the compliance of all participants, they perform the surgeries at the same time, so that no one can get a donation from someone and then later someone else backs out.

My Personal Experiences with Domino Surgeries

Last year, my father's wife needed a kidney transplant and was having difficulty finding a donor. My father was tested and was found to be a compatible donor for another family, and through that family's doctor, a donor was found for my father's wife.

So my father and his wife both ended up having surgery at the same time, he donating a kidney to a stranger so that stranger's kidney could be given to my stepmother.

Fluid and Tissue Live Donations

A lot of people don't know that you can donate blood and plasma and stem cells and more to people who are living, fighting for their lives, without any expense and usually very little pain (other than needle pokes) for you. For example, my freelance writer friend, Rissa Watkins, is looking for a match for her donation for marrow and stem cells at the bone marrow registry, www.BeTheMatch.com.

It's completely free to sign up, if you meet the requirements, and they will send you a kit to be tested. The kit is completely free, and it requires you to only swab the inside of your cheek. If you qualify, they will type and match you, and then list you into the registry, where you will not receive a call, message or any other contact, unless there is someone you might be a potential match for.

Donating is not what it once was. You no longer needs to have you bone cracked, marrow extracted in a painful procedure to help save a life. In fact, it might be nothing more than an experience very similar to giving blood, and you're going to have saved someone's life.

Grey's Anatomy Leads to More Live Donations

Check out Grey's Anatomy currently on your local ABC affiliate, at ABC online, or you can catch the reruns of "There's No 'I' in Team" on your local Lifetime Network in syndication.

Remember, you don't have to know someone in need of an organ to donate ones your body can live without. If you are healthy, young, vibrant and want to do a good deed, or if you have a family member or friend in need of a donation, perhaps a domino type donation would help your family member or friend, or someone else's loved one, find a new chance at life.