Helping Out

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was a very nice 7-person dinner at home....great food and great company. I'm guessing there won't be much blog reading on turkey day, or even the day after, so I'll keep this short.

I had a call from the organ donation group earlier this week, during which I answered a long series of questions about Andrew's history in order to determine his candidacy for donation. The set of questions is mandated by law and they can't assume anything; they have to ask each and every question and get a verbal response, which is then recorded for legal reasons. The call included questions that obviously applied (any recent surgeries, recent transfusions, etc.), but also included some off-the-wall questions for a five-month old that's been confined to a hospital (sex, recreational drugs, visits to Africa, mad cow disease, etc). It may have been sad if the questions weren't so outlandish...fortunately I was able to find the humor in the situation. I haven't found out whether he was considered a valid donor, and I don't know if we'll ever know what tissues went where. Our hope is that his heart valves especially are used to help babies with major heart defects. In our five months in the NICU, we saw many babies with their chests open after cardiac surgery. If one of those babies could benefit from a valve transplant, I feel like Andrew will have made a difference in yet another life.

I'm also looking into options for milk donation. We still have a freezer full of bottles, and we'd love to be able to help someone rather than just discarding them all. There seem to be several options, ranging from global aid programs to casual email arrangements. One option is the International Breast Milk Project, which sends 25% of all the milk collected to Africa for children whose mothers have HIV/AIDS. The rest of the milk stays in the US and is processed into milk fortifier, which is then used in NICUs across the country. This program requires a blood test, a DNA test, and boxing/shipping all the milk to the program via FedEx. Another option is donation to a Milk Bank. This also requires a blood test and milk transport, and the nearest location is in San Jose. The milk all goes to help parents of children with lactose issues, in NICUs and across the country, but the testing/packing/shipping process seems a bit more strenuous; I'm trying to find an option with minimal difficulty for D, as she's been through enough. I've also found people offering to set up milk donors with those who need it via email. Though there would certainly be less oversight and bureaucratic red tape, the concept is a little creepy and I don't think I want something quite that unofficial.

That's it for now....Happy Thanksgiving.