•  Polar   ( @Polar@lemmy.ca ) 
    link
    fedilink
    8710 months ago

    I had a double lung transplant 6 years ago. You have to be EXTREMELY compliant to even get put on the list.

    So many meds and tests and shit stuff you need to follow EXACTLY, every 12 hours, every day, for the rest of your life.

    If you refuse a vaccine you’re never going to care for your new lungs. It’s not easy.

    • Nope. That’s why the courts allow transplant coordinators to require that you be vaccinated. This vaccine was so incredibly safe that it’s ridiculous that she chose to die rather than getting it. I mean, literally the worst thing that could have happened to her because she got the vaccine happened to her because she didn’t get the vaccine.

      •  Polar   ( @Polar@lemmy.ca ) 
        link
        fedilink
        2910 months ago

        This vaccine was so incredibly safe that it’s ridiculous that she chose to die rather than getting it.

        Unlike the transplant meds. Pretty large increase for cancer from them.

        Seems weird to refuse a COVID vaccine, but be fine swallowing a ton of meds every 12 hours that increases your risk of cancer significantly.

        Obviously me and many others accept that increased risk, because like you said, the other outcome is just dying straight up.

        In the end I’m glad the organ went to someone else who will respect and appreciate it.

        •  MapleEngineer   ( @MapleEngineer@lemmy.ca ) OP
          link
          fedilink
          English
          21
          edit-2
          10 months ago

          I have a background in chemistry. Early in the pandemic when all the anti-vax nonsense was at its peak I took a look at the ingredients in the three main vaccines in Canada (A-Z, M, and P). For the most part they all included:

          mRNA which we all have in our bodies all the time

          4 salts of which one was table salt

          4 fats of which one was cholesterol

          and sugar.

          That’s it.

          • While I do agree the vaccines are safe enough, saying “mRNA which we all have in our bodies all the time” is a bit misleading. The number of ways an mRNA strand could mess you up is astronomical.

              • Every single cell in our bodies contains mRNA at all times.

                That’s like saying computer viruses are fine because they’re made of code, which computers are already full of.

                We’re full of mRNA, sure, but we’re full of mRNA that’s supposed to be there.

                What are these ways that mRNA could mess you up of which you speak?

                I’m no biologist, but perhaps mRNA that creates a prion?

                • Sure, mRNA could be created to create a prion but the mRNA in the vaccine does not. It creates a small fragment of protein similar to a trans-membrane protein on the covid virus.

                  I assumed that you had concrete information to share no just wild anti-vax fear mongering.

                  • I am not calling into question the safety of these vaccines. They are safe.

                    I’m pointing out that just because something is a salt doesn’t make it safe (see Sodium Cyanide), and just because a compound is mRNA doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous.

                    If you base your assessment of the safety of a drug on the premises you laid out instead of on controlled studies, you’re no better than anti-vaxxers.

    • Fact is, there’s more people in need of transplants and simply not enough viable organs to go around.

      I’m not going to fault the transplant committee for denying someone over a vaccine. Simply, why give this very finite and very precious resource to someone when they’re just going to go get themselves unalived over something as dumb as a 100% preventable disease or something just because they have a brain malfunction that makes them think vaccines are bad. Especially when so many other people are literally dying without the same organs, who are more than happy to follow doctors instructions to ensure they can live a long and prosperous life with the replacement they desperately need.

      It’s all rather silly.

      The thing that probably bothers me the most about organ transplants in general is that if cloning research and stem cell research was allowed to proceed properly, it’s entirely possible that science could find a way to grow you a replacement of your own organs… Apart from genetic problems causing organs to fail, it would almost completely eliminate the entire demand for organs. But no, some idiots don’t want cloning because it upsets their imaginary friend.

      On a related note, go fill out your donor card people. Even if you’re one of those “nobody will want my organs” type of people, do it anyways. The transplant people will figure out if your organs are viable when you no longer need them anymore. Let them figure that shit out for you. Just check the box to be a donor and don’t think about it any further.

      •  Polar   ( @Polar@lemmy.ca ) 
        link
        fedilink
        1810 months ago

        On a related note, go fill out your donor card people. Even if you’re one of those “nobody will want my organs” type of people, do it anyways. The transplant people will figure out if your organs are viable when you no longer need them anymore. Let them figure that shit out for you. Just check the box to be a donor and don’t think about it any further.

        and the stupid rumour about “the doctors will kill me to save 8 others” is bullshit. I am glad my donor signed. His wife said she didn’t want him to, but seeing me live because of his selflessness made her reconsider, and she tells everyone to be a donor.

        • That rumor flies in the face of the first rule doctors vow to uphold “do no harm”.

          IDK about you, but killing someone for their organs is pretty damn harmful for the individual “donating” their organs.

          It’s a different story if you’re braindead or hurt to the point of being capable of recovering at all, even with all of the modern science and medicine that is available.