Something to Think About - Donating a Cancered-Killed Body to Science
Watching the always-obese Carl waste away from cancer (though he still had quite a bit of poundage when he died) evoked terribly deep feelings of helpless and frustration. We were losing the fight to keep Carl healthy, and Carl was losing the fight to stay alive. Some days, it all seemed so pointless.
One bright light that we experienced near the end was that perhaps some good could come of Carl's experience. Yes, there is good that comes from sharing experiences, such as through Cancer Diary. But there is something more: whole body donation so that researchers can learn more and medical students can be trained.
Carl wanted to leave that kind of legacy and, the father of a neurobiology professor who had needed cadavers for her training, wanted to help out medical students become better doctors, and if some research into cancer of unknown primary, of which little is known, could shed a little more light on a dim subject, then he was all for that, too.
We researched and found an organization that could make Carl's dying wish happen. And, indeed, it was a dying wish. He could not give written permission or consent via computer. Five days before he died, though, he gave verbal consent in a phone call from Science Care, which had responded flexibly and quickly to the hastening death facing Carl. Fortunately, his weight was just under the pound limit, and our location (two hours from San Francisco) was just at the miles/time limit (cadavers need to be received within four hours of dying in order to be able to be preserved -- two hours to reach us and two hours to return).
All the family was present when the two individuals from Science Care showed up quite promptly, exactly at the time they said they would, and so very gently expressed their condolences, assured us of their gratitude, and treated Carl's body with respectful care. We were impressed. They made a difficult moment manageable -- and we felt good that Carl's last wish was being honored and that indeed there was hope that something good (a contribution potentially to improving cancer treatment) would come from what we had experienced as something bad (the cancer).
Information about Science Care can be found at its website. Here is an overview from one page of the Science Care website:
Each year thousands of people choose to donate their body to science to change the world for all of us. Science Care whole body donors have accelerated medical research on many fronts, leading to new medical devices and safer, more effective treatment for patients.
Science Care has also helped to facilitate the training of thousands of surgeons and physicians at our medical training facilities as well as outside our facilities.
Our clients include top pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, renowned educational institutions, and healthcare organizations large and small, focused on improving patient outcomes and advancing medicine. We only work with qualified researchers and educators who have passed our stringent qualification process.
Much more information is available on the website. There is also the opportunity to identify yourself as a future donor or to set up an immediate donation for someone who is dying -- or even someone who has just passed (keeping in mind the time limit for cadavers to arrive where they can be prepared appropriately).
There are likely other sources for whole body donation. This is the one we used. We found the organization caring, competent, and prompt. Everything anyone could ask for. They even cremated the body for free when they had finished with their use of it (about two months), returning the ashes to us so that we could hold a funeral and memorial -- and planted a tree in Carl's name!
Blog editor's note: As a memorial to Carl, and simply because it is truly needed, MSI Press is now hosting a web page, Carl's Cancer Compendium, as a one-stop starting point for all things cancer, to make it easier for those with cancer to find answers to questions that can otherwise take hours to track down on the Internet and/or from professionals. The web page is in its infancy but expected to expand into robustness. To that end, it is expanded and updated weekly. As part of this effort, each week, on Monday, this blog will carry an informative, cancer-related story -- and be open to guest posts: Cancer Diary.
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