Myths plague organ donors

By JENEÉ OSTERHELDT | The Kansas City Star

Maxine McMullen never knew a thing about organ donors, transplants or kidney failure.

She says health is not always a priority in urban communities where paying the rent is a bigger deal than the food pyramid. People don’t talk about diabetes, high cholesterol or, in her case, kidneys.

That changed in 1997, when she was diagnosed with kidney failure.

“I thought I was fine,” she says. “But I wasn’t. I had to start dialysis.”

For years, she went three times a week for hours at a time so her blood could be filtered. The process removes waste, salt and extra water to prevent build up. It helped ensure she had safe levels of potassium, sodium and the like.

She did this while raising two daughters and working full time.

“It wasn’t easy. It took a lot out of me,” says Maxine, 60. “But it gave me a second chance at life, and I bonded with a lot of people. But it was challenging.”

Seven years ago she was given the gift of a lifetime.

On March 9, 2004, Maxine received a kidney transplant. And it was then, at KU Medical Center, that she learned about the Midwest Transplant Network. The nonprofit organization spreads the word about the need for organ and tissue donations.

She wanted to get involved because, as a woman of color, she knew there were a lot of myths about organ donors and transplants. Today, she’ll be speaking at the area National Minority Donor Awareness Day event.

The Midwest Transplant Network ( www.mwtn.org) has partnered with Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City to educate and motivate minorities to become donors. The all-day event (7 a.m. to 6 p.m.) is at the Boys & Girls Clubs, 3831 E. 43rd St.

Some might wonder why a special day for minority donors is necessary. As of July, 702 people of color were waiting for organ transplants across Kansas and Missouri. Only 23 minorities have donated.

Old wives’ tales haunting urban communities keep people from donating, Maxine says.

Only the rich and famous get transplants.

If you were born with it, you need to leave with it.

Being an organ donor is like putting a target on your back. People will kill you for your parts.

Having grown up in urban neighborhoods, I’ve heard those myths, too. But the reality is minorities make up 35 percent of the U.S. population and 55 percent of the national transplant waiting list.

“There is a lot of misinformation in the community,” Maxine says. “They have to get past the fiction and learn the facts.”

And no, you don’t have to get an organ from a person of color if you are a person of color. That’s not how it works.

“A white woman gave me my kidney. Color doesn’t make a difference. She changed my life. It was a blessing. I don’t have to sit hooked up to a machine anymore. It may have saved my life.”

But since people of all racial and ethnic groups need life-saving transplants, all of them should know the importance of donating.

“You have to give back. You never know when you’re going to be on the receiving end of the donation,” Maxine says.

“It’s a simple thing to do. You don’t have to give blood or sign your house away. You are just saying that when the time comes and you are no longer able to use it, someone else can.”