Just finished watching Independent Lens on PBS. Tonight's film made me bawl, complete with snotty nose and hiccups. "D Tour" is about Pat Spurgeon of Rogue Wave's failing kidney and hunt for a living donor while continuing to tour with the band. Imagine dialysis on the road. It was amazing and inspiring and heartbreaking...
One of the potential donors was his then-bandmate's wife, who was adamant that she wanted to give him one of her kidneys. She was ruled out because of a kidney stone, but the dialogue she and her husband had set the stage for his unexpected death and subsequent organ donation to four recipients. Watching her meet two of the recipients really set off the waterworks.
Over the years I've had the forms to become an organ donor and the thing that keeps stopping me is a stupid thing: it asks for your SIN number. Like, my privacy has meant more to me than organ donation. I haven't trusted that the people who manage human organs can keep a stupid SIN number from falling into the wrong hands. It seems so stupid because it is so stupid. It feels like it's time to revisit those forms and register.
2 comments:
WHy do they need your SIN anyway??? It's for federal income tax/employment tax purposes. There has to be a way to sign up without providing that, don't you think?
They've got a new system that lets you verify yourself online (!!!), so I'm now an organ donor! Now I just need to talk to my family about my wishes...
Post a Comment