17 Again: A Story of Life After Life by Lisa Boullt

Author:Lisa Boullt [Boullt, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Idun
Published: 2023-08-10T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Yellow Roses

Immediately after my passing, a representative from the hospital brought my Mom, Dad, Jerry, and Lisa into a private room to talk about what was next. Since I was a young, healthy seventeen-year-old, they spoke to them about donating my organs. This was something I had never really heard about. I mean, I was a teenager. Why would I?

The team at LOPA explained how donations save many lives. LOPA, which stands for Louisiana Organ Procurement Association, is a nonprofit organization that started five years before my accident in 1988. Their home office was in Covington, Louisiana, in the southern part of Louisiana, not far from New Orleans. They had representatives in the bigger cities, and we met with the Monroe rep, Laura. She was so kind and loving with my family and explained there would be no charge to them for any of the services.

There was no question about it. My family knew what they wanted to do within minutes, and I was so happy they made that choice. I never thought about it at my age, but that’s exactly what I would have done. Organ donation wasn’t something that was really taught or brought up. Once the decision was made, my family shared with everyone what was coming next.

As the process began, the hospital kept me on a ventilator for hours to keep blood flowing through my organs until the recipients were notified. Once the families received the call, it wasn’t long before the next phase of my life would begin. Each recipient on the list was contacted with the news they had been waiting for while my family grieved their loss. It was so hard for everyone to know I was still in the hospital, and my parents had to wait until surgery was over before they could proceed with my funeral arrangements.

The surgery team removed the organs they could use for those who matched with me. There was not much time for some organs to be in transit. Depending on the organ, it could be a four- to thirty-six-hour window from hospital to hospital. They were even able to use my bones and tissue too. My lungs were the only organs they couldn’t use since they were damaged in the accident, and I developed pneumonia from being on the ventilator. The lives of six people were about to change forever.

Wow, I learned so much about organ donation in a short amount of time. The LOPA representative explained the process to my family so everyone had as much knowledge about organ donation as possible. This was the first time anyone we knew had become a donor. She explained how the surgery would go. As promised by the surgical team, no one could tell my organs had been removed since prosthetics were placed where needed for my funeral, and everyone could pay their respects to me and be there for my family.

My parents were not doing well since their baby girl was no longer with them. No parent should ever have to plan their child’s funeral.

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