Organ Donations after cancer

Posts: 67

Joined: 05/11/20

Posted by KerriKerri on Jul 29, 2020 5:24 pm

I have always had the organ donation part of my drivers license signed and just assumed that with having had cancer, that would no longer be allowed. Then on a whim, I did a search and found that this is not necessarily so. I am going around in circles with my searches to find out the rules for here in Ontario. Perhaps our Admins would have a clue because I am not doing well in my search for answers.

KerriKerri

Buffythevampire

Posts: 440

Joined: 11/15/18

Re: Organ Donations after cancer

Posted by Buffythevampire on Jul 29, 2020 6:50 pm

KerriKerri‍ If I remember correctly, I asked this question at one of my early appointments with my Oncologist and she had said yes. I am from BC, so not sure if it's different by province or by type of Cancer. Hopefully someone can confirm this for you.

Laika57

Posts: 723

Joined: 12/25/19

Re: Organ Donations after cancer

Posted by Laika57 on Jul 29, 2020 7:58 pm

KerriKerri‍ this is an interesting question.
according to the FAQ, you can register anyways, and suitability (of you as a donor and also each individual organ) will be determined when the time comes.

https://beadonor.ca/about-donation/faqs

i suppose if you're about to die of heart failure, the possibility of maybe possibly "importing" cancer doesn't look so grim.

some donations, like the brain, go to scientific research, so i assume anyone can be a candidate for that.

Have you hugged your dog today?

Kuching

Posts: 191

Joined: 10/09/19

Re: Organ Donations after cancer

Posted by Kuching on Jul 30, 2020 7:32 am

KerriKerri‍ A surgeon (in Ontario) told me that they don’t accept organ donations from people with cancer. When I renewed my OHIP card, I asked them about canceling the organ donation, but the office I was at couldn’t do that, she told me not to worry, they would figure it out when the time came. This is just my personal experience, I don’t know the actual rules.

Lacey_Moderator

Posts: 5687

Joined: 07/15/14

Re: Organ Donations after cancer

Posted by Lacey_Moderator on Jul 30, 2020 8:34 am

Hi KerriKerri‍

I used the same site as Laika57‍ -https://beadonor.ca/about-donation/faqs. It states:

Your current or past medical history does not prevent you from registering to be a donor. Individuals with serious illnesses can, sometimes, be organ and/or tissue donors. Each potential donor is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

From my searching there are many factors taken into consideration, type of cancer, when your last treatment was, etc.

Are you still planning to be a donor?

Hope this helps,
Lacey