Organ donation process? My Mom was the donor.

LisaDNP · Nov 16, 2008

DaisyChains,

I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost my dad recently and I am just now looking back at the details of his death since the fog of the situation is just now lifting. I have no idea what the dark liquid was they gave your mom. Maybe someone else has some idea.

If your mom was declared brain dead, then she was taken to the OR on the vent and the vent would have been dcd when after the orgains were procured. See, if she was declared brain dead, she was then legally she was deceased, not after the surgery was complete.

The organ procurement organization that assisted with your mom's donation will be more than happy to answer any of your questions. Please don't feel like you can't contact them even now that it has been 3 years. If you want to see the operative report, they may help you get a copy of that as well.

Thank you for your unselfish gift of your mom's organs. I know your mom would be so proud of you!:redbeathe

Sandy_dfw · Nov 16, 2008

I am sorry for your loss and I wanted to say thank you for your unselfish gift also.

flightnurse2b, LPN · Nov 16, 2008

i'm sorry to hear about your mom, daisy. i agree with lisa in that you should call the donation organization. they may be able to help you find some peace.... they should have an archive of the operative report... and they also may be able to tell you who your mother's organs went to.

as for the dark liquid, i'm not sure. if mom had a g-tube (thats the tube i'm assuming you're talking about) my guess would be a medication like a cardiac inotrope.... i know some of them come in liquid forms. they usually give something to potential organ donors to improve cardiac pumping function and perfusion especially if the heart was being donated.

i wish you the best in finding your answers and wish you peace during this upcoming holiday season. bless you for giving the gift of life. :heartbeat

Neveranurseagain, RN · Nov 16, 2008

Sorry for your loss. You and your mom did a great thing by making her an organ donor. People are alive today due to your generosity and a part of her still lives on. She left a great legacy to be remembered by.

Ask to speak to one of the nurses associated with CORE. My husband was an organ donor, and I asked all kinds of questions that most people don't ask due to my medical background. The nurses gave me straight forward honest answers. And it's not too late to ask these questions of CORE.

Try not to dwell too much on her last hours of death. Remember her for who she was and hold those memories close. If you find that certain aspects of her death bother you too much or you find yourself dwelling on the details too much, find a counselor who can help you deal with what happened. It's never too late, as I am just now seeing a therapist 4 years after my husbands death.

BluntForceTrauma · Nov 16, 2008

When a person is declared brain dead, then legally they are deceased. So the next step is either organ donation or being taken off the vent until the heart stops on its own.

Working in a Level I trauma center, I have dealt with many organ donation cases.

I'm not sure what the liquid was that was given to your mother because I have never seen that. But we usually draw tons and tons of labs before taking the pt to OR, about 15-20 tubes or so.

Once in OR, usually Heparin is given right before the pt is extubated. When the pt is extubated, the surgery staff wait for the pt to go asystole, and remain asystole for 5 minutes before beginning the organ procurement.

slcpicu · Nov 16, 2008

Daisy,

I am very sorry for your loss. I will attempt to answer some of your questions. I have seen many organ donations and taken care of many before becoming donors. I just want to say thanks for making that very difficult decision.

As for the liquid you saw instilled, it sounds like you might be describing an OG? if that is the case, I have seen a bowel prep given prior to procuring of organs if the bowel will be donated. (mostly children though not so much in the adult world). Otherwise, I m not sure, but the organ procurement agency would know because it is probably part of their routine.

As for what bluntforce said about extubation, that is not the case what so ever. The pt. is not extubated prior to the organs being procured. The heart would never be allowed to stop prior to getting those organs out when it is a brain death case. There is a donation called Donation after cardiac death but this would occur in a NON brain dead pt that still has some upper brain stem function. In that case, his discription would be more accurate. For the case of Brain death, it is not at all accurate.

The organs were procured and your mom was more than likely given anesthesia (most hospitals still give it although the pt is brain dead for relaxation for the incision) once the abdominal organs are recovered (depending if they took lungs and heart) the vent would then be discontinued. I m sure each hospital is alittle different in their own procedures.

Sometimes other teams come to procure the organs, so as for the surgical paperwork contacting the agency might be the best option.

BrnEyedGirl, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN · Nov 16, 2008

Daisy

I'm so sorry for your loss, you and your Mom did a wonderful thing by donating,.because of your unselfish generosity someone else still has their Mom/Grandma/Sister etc. What wonderfully loving thing to do. Thank you.

I'm not sure what the brown liquid was either, but I bet you could still find out. As far as the donation process,.it is done just as any surgery is done. In the OR, sterile, anesthesia, pain meds etc, by physicians who often also perform "normal" surgeries on pts that will recover.

If this is really bothering you I'm sure you can get a hold of her medical records, including the OP report. It will list all the meds given and maybe with a list we can help you figure out which one was the "brown liquid". You did a wonderful thing in the middle of trying to grieve, it was a wonderful thing and again thank you.

FireStarterRN, BSN, RN · Nov 16, 2008

I'm so sorry for your loss! My mother also died of a brain anurysm at age 62. She still had a lot of life to live and it was very unexpected. She lingered on for four months and wasn't a candidate for organ donation.

God Bless.

justme1972 · Nov 16, 2008

If you are in the "hills" of Virginia, I am assuming you are in the Western or Southwestern part of the state. Most of the organ donations take place through a company out of Knoxville, TN. Call any of the hospitals and find out who they are....they are always willing to educate the public.

I am a student, not a nurse, but during my orientation for an externship this summer, we attended an educational session on organ donation.

If the patient is brain dead and on life support, or on life support and the family has decided to d/c artificial means of support, they will keep the patient alive until a transplant team shoes up. This is to keep the organs alive for as long as possible.

It is a skilled team that removes the organs and packs them for immediate shipment to where they need to be. They do it in such a manner that a family can still have an open-casket service. The body is not traumatized in any way to where you can readily tell on a clothed body that the deceased has given their organs....this is a relief to family members.

I would encourage you to contact them and they will be more than happy to explain to you the process and answer any questions that you have.

Please note that "letting someone die" for organs is a myth and there is no truth to it whatsoever. Organs are not sold, they are donated, so the hospital doesn't have a "dog in the race".

Tweety, BSN, RN · Nov 16, 2008

I'm sorry for your loss. I can understand you're wanting to know, but it might be easier if you think along the lines that she was aldready dead and machines were simply perfusing her. Removing the machines didn't kill her, she was already dead. Obviously it's not a pretty site to take someone's eyeballs, and cut them up, but that's not what killed her. Being brain dead she felt no pain whatsoever regardless of the steps in the process.

I hope the information you find here from the experiences nurses helps you find peace and closure. Thank your mother in your prayers for her generousity.

core0 · Nov 16, 2008

it's been almost three years since my mom became an organ donor.
however, i have always wondered a couple of things and i've asked several nurses but no one knows.
#1 right before taking her to for removal, i am sure that the nurse poured a dark liquid into a tube that was already going into the mouth. she was on a vent, but i don't remember any more tubing. what was the liquid and why was it used and where was it going? maybe iodine, i don't know.
this has bothered me over the past three years. i guess not knowing makes me feel less involved.
short of looking at the chart you'll probably never know. every center has a different protocol. one thing to remember is that we still continue to support the patient as we normally would. this may not have been related to the transplant.
#2, i cannot find anything about organ removal on the net, and i would feel like a weirdo asking core. i really want to know if they took her off the vent and let her die , or did they remove organs while on the vent?
if anyone can find out the answers for me, please tell me. the unknown is not comforting to me. i only recently found out about "how" her corneas were removed, and it bothered me at first, but i feel much better knowing.
like i said, knowledge of what happened makes me feel more involved, or in control..i'm not sure, but i need answers.
first of all agreeing to donate organs is an incredibly unselfish act. i work on the transplant side and we have patients dying that do not receive organs. i give thanks every day that there are people that can see through their suffering to save a life.
i have worked organ procurement both as a pa and a cst. i am always impressed how much care and compassion the organ procurement agencies give to the donor. they recognize that this is someones loved one and go out of their way to give the respect and consideration to the donor.
to answer your questions about what happens, the patient is on the vent attended to by an anesthesiologist or anesthetist. they are given essentially the same anesthetics that someone undergoing surgery would be given. i won't go into detail but the vent is not disconnected until the heart stops. there is another kind of procurement which was described above called donation after cardiac death but from your description this is not what happened here and it would have been explained to you.
barely 55, my mom woke up on december 26 and had a massive aneurysm, leading to her brain death. i guess with that coming up, it's really weighing on me.
what is it called when the doctor performing the surgery writes down all the details of a surgery. i've read reports of common surgery, so i wonder if one of those was typed up.
thank you, to whoever helps out.

this is called an op note. unfortunately at least here, it will be in the record of the recipient not the donor. it is a very technical document that is used more to help the surgeon understand the anatomy of the donor.

on a different note, i would contact core. not necessarily for information but to tap into their bereavement services. this has obviously affected you deeply and this may help you gain some closure (hopefully this does not violate tos).

i get to do the fun part. watch someone who didn't think they were going to make it to christmas play with their kids. but every life we save represents a tragedy for someone else. thank you for making a brave decision.

david carpenter, pa-c