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May 21, 2006
A real hero's story
Following on this post from a couple of months ago on Virginia Postrel's donation of a kidney to a friend, don't miss Virginia's inspiring Texas Monthly ($) article on the experience.
Interestingly, the most important part of Virginia's successful donation was her stubborness in going through with it:
Most important, it turned out, I had the right personality. Donating a kidney isn’t, in fact, a matter of just showing up. You have to be pushy. Unless you’re absolutely determined, you’ll give up, and nobody will blame you—except, of course, the person who needs a kidney. When I went to see my Dallas doctor for preliminary tests, the first thing she said was “You know, you can change your mind.”To me, giving Sally a kidney was a practical, straightforward solution to a serious problem. It was important to her but not really a big deal to me. Until the surgery was scheduled—for Saturday, March 4—and I started telling people about it, I had no idea just how weird I was.
Normal people, I found, have a visceral—pun definitely intended—reaction to the idea of donating an organ. They’re revolted. They identify entirely with the donor but not at all with the recipient. They don’t compare kidney donation to other risky behavior, like flying a plane or running 31 miles to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back, as my brother did last summer.
What a gal!
Posted by Tom at May 21, 2006 7:24 AM
Comments
Tom, I enjoy the blog. The same day I read your blog on Virginia Postrel I received my current issue of Forbes in the mail. Ironically, there is a column by Virginia herself dealing with hospitals doing 'selective' kidney transplants for what they believe are moral reasons. It is certainly an interesting dilemma that I thought you might enjoy if you hadn't seen it already.
Here is the url to the online article. It is free but does require registration at Forbes.com
Posted by: Mitch Meis at May 24, 2006 3:33 PM
Mitch, good to hear from you. Thanks for the link to the Fortune article. Virginia has a very interesting perspective on such matters. Thanks for reading Clear Thinkers and stay in touch.
Posted by: Tom K at May 24, 2006 4:23 PM
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