Postby rosemary johnson » Tue 14 Mar 2006 7:04 pm
I suspect that the experience of going through a transplant operation, not to mention the catastrophic events and/or steady deterioration that made it necessary, and the recovery process, is probably enough to change most people.
To a greater or lesser extent, and in more or less subtle ways
By the time you've come thorugh the other side, you're a survivor!
The stress and worry about possible rejections, etc, can go on for some time, so you're still surviving.
ANd in the process, you've probably come across more of the medical profession and health service than most people want to encounter in a life time.
ANd the donors? - are public=spirited enoug to want to donate (enough to fill in donor cards, registry forms, and tell their family and friends their wishes), and come from families who share their wish to donate.
And come from families who are public-spirited enough, and have the presence of mind, to remember to think of "donations for transplants" at a time of great stress and sorrow (when a loved one is dying), and are articulate enough to find the right people in the medical establishment to say it to, and fill in the right forms.
I suspect there's enough there to make at least some donor/recipient pairs become a little more alike.
There's also the psychological effect that donor families must subconsciously be looking for similarities, because they'd like to see their dead loved one's organs go to someone who's like their relative, and who their relative would like and find good company.
As for the vegetarian getting the intense cravings for McDonalds, this proably says more about hospital food than anything else!
(ore seriously : if you're recovering from a spell in hospital, and major surgery, your nutritional needs are different from during your previous "normal" life. SO your needs for food - and hence the types of food you'll crave - will be different too. Craving McNuggets suggests a need for high protein content as the body rebuilds its tissues, and the high energy content of fatty foods.)
Rosemary
