Somebody sent this to me, and asked me to share it, around. Ummmm....... Ok.........

[Siwsan]

[Croney]

1. Melania has a truck?

[Siwsan]

4. I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything - you'd owe me a new keyboard!!!!

[mountain grammy]

27. Ha

[guillaumeb]

2. Recommended.

Grow your own kidney, Trump voter, instead of depending on charity.

[BigmanPigman]

3. What is ISO?

[Siwsan]

6. I'm assuming "In Search Of"

[Danmel]

7. In search of

[rufus dog]

8. In Search Of n/t

[rzemanfl]

9. In search of, I suspect. n/t

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

41. Glad you asked. I thought "International Standards Organization".

But that made no sense.

You'd think if someone was displaying that, they'd specify O+ or O-.

[BigmanPigman]

42. That would have been the smart move but judging from

his POTUS choice I doubt he is the brightest bulb in the pack.

[rzemanfl]

5. You really shouldn't post a phone number.

Even of an asshole.

[Siwsan]

10. The needer of the kidney is driving around with it so it's out there, everywhere

Not just on the roads, but on the web.

[rzemanfl]

14. "Someone else did it first" doesn't make it okay in my opinion.

The person who needs the kidney may be a parent, sibling or child of the truck driver. They could even be a Democrat.

[Siwsan]

17. Umm. Somehow the trump* sticker makes me thing they aren't a Democrat

And, again, they are driving around with this, so THEY did it first. I'm really confused by, but certainly respect your objection.

[rzemanfl]

21. They did it first, someone else put it on the net. Think of your number on Free Republic.

To me it is like obscuring license plates in photos even if the car is covered in right-wing crap. That's just my opinion, thank you for respecting it.

[Ms. Toad]

22. People in need of organs - who may die on the waiting list -

often use public media and other means to reach people who might be live donrs because there are not enough cadaver kidneys (or any other organs) available.

On average:
* Over 3,000 new patients are added to the kidney waiting list each month.
* 13 people die each day while waiting for a life-saving kidney transplantt.
* Every 14 minutes someone is added to the kidney transplant list.
* In 2014, 4,761 patients died while waiting for a kidney transplant. Another, 3,668 people became too sick to receive a kidney transplant.

https://www.kidney.org/news/newsroom/factsheets/Organ-Donation-and-Transplantation-Stats

When people take drastic measures like this, they - or a loved one - are at risk of dying if they do not find an organ. They WANT the number pulicized.

[rzemanfl]

24. That is a valid point. n/t

[Haggis for Breakfast]

30. And isn't it tragic, that in this country

people can be rejected for organ transplant by their insurance companies for minor issues ?

We have taken a giant step backwards in organ donation/transplant in this nation because of PROFIT'S BOTTOM LINE..

This speaks to desperation. Instead of criticizing someone's attempt to save the life of another, do some research on organ donors and transplant surgeries and the insurance cluster-fuck in this country and advocate for change.

[Ms. Toad]

31. Insurance & profits have little to do with it.

The primary problem is a shortage of organs. Most people who need a transplant are eligible for medicaid based on disability.

"minor" issues are generally not minor, when it comes to choosing which few (among the many who need them) receive the gift of life. In order to be eligible, you have to demonstrate that you will have the ability to care for that organ. That means being medically compliant (because failure to do so will result in the organ being rejected) and having the means to pay for the anti-rejection drugs (either medicaid, or private insurance - which is the role insurance plays - but none of my more-than-a dozen friends (regardless of income) have been rejected for an organ based on lack of access to insurance or other ability to pay.

The other "minor" issues that people complain about are use of marijuana (medical or otherwise), or the need to be alcohol free for 6 months to a year, or other things that demonstrate an unwillingness or inability to follow the rules. Keeping an organ alive that was not originally part of your body is a delicate dance. It requires rigid compliance to a medical regimen for the rest of your life. If you cannot comply with medical guidelines when you are near death and most motivated to do whatever is necessary, there is little chance you will be more compliant after you have the organ. Then the organ will be destroyed and potentially two people will die - the person who received the organ, and the one who would have received it. I know it seems picky - but until there are more organs available than people who need them - there has to be a means of sorting. Sorting based on the willingness to comply with medical orders and once that threshold is crossed - who ever is sickest and closest - is a lot better than giving it to the highest bider.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

39. Thank you for your post.

I knew very little about this. I am an organ donor, but at my age, I doubt that my organs are in the best condition for transplant. I'm not a smoker, not much of a drinker anymore, never been a druggie and am probably in better physical shape than most people my age, but AGE is a big factor, isn't it ?

[Ms. Toad]

43. It is a factor - but the biggest significance is when you are trying to be a live donor.

Live donors for kidneys and livers are capped at 55-ish (it depends on the transplant center). The limit is because a live donor transplant takes a healthy patient and creates a sicker one (temporarily). There are risks associate with the surgery, so they have to put a cap on the age of the live donor to protect the donor.

With a deceased donor, they don't have to worry about risk to the donor - and the organs themselves are viable at a much older age than the cut-off for live donation. Whether the organ is good for transplant is a decision that will be made at the time. Even less than perfect organs may still be used for transplant under some circumstances. For example, a liver from a person who is HIV+ can be transplanted into a person who is also HIV+ (even though it would not be offered to a HIV- person). They are also offering less than perfect organs to people who might otherwise die on the wait list (e.g. Hep C positive organs - since hepatitis C can be treated now).

So - there's no harm in being an organ donor. They will use what they can, and they are able to use more and more as they are finding out how to overcome barriers that destined some organs for the trash bin in the past.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

44. If 55 is the cut-off,

I guess I'll have more success being a donor when I'm not using my organs anymore.

I know that they are doing amazing things with skin transplants (for burn victims) and my skin is in great shape. So, maybe they can harvest that when I'm gone.

[Ms. Toad]

45. The cutoff varies by center (and perhaps by organ)

Since my daugher will ultimately need a liver (but not before I aged out of being a live donor), I volunteered to be tested to be a live donor for a friend of ours - the cutoff at that center for live liver donors was 55. I know of people who have donated as old as 60 for livers.

Thank you, by the way, for being a donor!

[mwooldri]

11. Maybe truck driver needs to get fellow Trump supporters...

... to sign up for TrumpCare.

Given that the Trump Party's platform on healthcare is to repeal the ACA and replace it with what amounts to vapourware - something like Trump University or Trump Steaks or Trump Air - and if enough Trumpists sign up and take part in TrumpCare... that might increase the supply of kidneys. Sadly.

[avebury]

12. That is in Oklahoma. nt

[rzemanfl]

16. This might narrow it down-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_44_in_Oklahoma

[avebury]

20. The 918 area code is in the NE/E part

of Oklahoma. Even numbered interstates run East-West and odf numbered interstates run North-South. Strangely enough while I44 is considered E-W, geographically it runs from NE OK kind of in a SW direction.

[Different Drummer]

26. Specifically Pryor.

https://www.area-codes.com/exchange/exchange.asp?npa=918&nxx=864

[rzemanfl]

19. Northeast part of the state, probably Tulsa. n/t

[aeromanKC]

13. Might as well say: ISO Brain

[DeminPennswoods]

15. LOL!

[Ms. Toad]

23. Have you ever been around someone in need of an organ?

I have dozens of friends who have had transplants - and a handful who have died waiting. It is not pretty. (My daughter has a rare liver disease that will ultimately require a transplant - perhaps more than one. The friends are others with the same rare disease.)

There are not enough cadaver organs around to save all those who need a transplant - so people resort to lots of unorthodox means to find someone who is willing to be a live donor, becase the alternative is death.

[Sea Turtle]

25. Does anyone here have Trump supporting relatives?

Lots of people have Trump supporting relatives. Some of those relatives may even actually love their Democrat children, parents, nieces, or nephews and so forth. Certainly the person needing a kidney just might be a Trump supporter.

The thing is, we really don’t know one way or another. It never gives me pleasure to watch anyone die a horrible death. I certainly never cheer either when someone is executed on death row even though there is a good chance they are a terrible person. I would rather see them in prison for life without parole. If for some reason the justice system got it wrong, there is a chance to sort of make it right. If they are dead, nor so much. Life is a precious thing. Anyway, we don’t get to pick our relatives, so we don’t know if the person facing death due failed kidneys swing right or left.

[lunasun]

28. Should say Please help I need a kidney or something with HELP to get more attention but good luck

it depends where you live and can take years to match unfortunately
I’d take my political sticker off to increase my chances and not offend, but then again it’s a trump supporter so

[Bayard]

29. That's stupid in multiple ways

Many years ago, I gave my diabetic sister a kidney. I spent a week in the hospital getting every kind of test imaginable for compatibility (the tests were way worse than the surgery). Its a lot more than just blood type.

[Siwsan]

32. I had that very thought.

The screening process must be very expensive. And, I wondered who carries the cost of the whole surgery? Is it 100% the recipient's insurance or does the donor's insurance cover half of the process? That would also have a massive impact on who is going to be in a position to even consider offering an organ to a complete stranger. Not to mention the expense of the prep and recovery time for the donor.

Let's add in the time and expense of screening though the phone calls. Hopefully that phone number is to a "burner" phone.

And, btw, I think you are a wonderful person to have given your sister such a gift of life.

[Bayard]

33. My sister was on Medicaid

And they paid all of it. My insurance company at the time got a bill for $100K+ (we're talking 30 years ago), and totally freaked out, until the mistake was rectified.

It gave her an extra 30 yrs of life. My other Type 1 sister had to go through 3 cadaver kidneys. Its a horrible, horrible disease. They both eventually died from total organ failure, as multiple amputees.

[Siwsan]

34. I have a cousin who is undergoing dialysis

He spiraled into a devastating case of diabetes after he ignored all of the warnings coming from his doctor. He kept on smoking, drinking and eating whatever he liked, and has twice (that I know of) gone into kidney failure. For a while he was convinced that a shot of vodka, per day, would be the solution to all of his problems. And, no, I have absolutely no idea where he came up with that one.

He's in his mid 70's, now, has a myriad of other health issues, so he is basically treading life's waters until he finally shuts down. I keep waiting for that phone call from his sister.

[irisblue]

35. I hope they find the kidney. Human being first

[Siwsan]

36. I would think there HAS to be a better way, than this

Maybe desperate needs spawn desperate measures but can you even begin to imagine the screening process of calls that DO come in? And I mean screening out the kooks and finding people actually even remotely qualified. And how many of those who meet criteria would throw a monetary component into the mix.

I almost wonder if it isn't just some sort of socio/psychological experiment being conducted by some PhD candidate. Seeing how many responses they'd get to a charitable plea from a trump* supporter.

Actually, that would be a pretty good study.

[irisblue]

37. I have seen similar in the past

Here--https://www.donatelifenc.org/blog/searching-living-donor-world-social-media

And more on Tumblr, but I can't get a source photo

[LAS14]

38. I think it would be neat if this publication on DU is the thing that resulted in a found kidney. nt

[RandiFan1290]

40. yes