The best gifts are those that can’t be bought or sold

Sometimes it is what we don’t know that causes the most angst.

Many years ago a close relative completed the paperwork to donate her body, after death, for medical research. When she died I struggled with the thought of her body in a room full of medical students. We heard nothing more from the medical school where her body went.

A week ago, on the other side of the world, my brother-in-law told me how good he felt about his sister’s body being donated for medical research some months ago. He had just attended a special ceremony for family members of the cadavers that medical students were working on. The medical students were present and some made speeches or read poems. Family members, including my brother-inlaw, chose to make a speech.

His sister had been the “difficult” sibling as a child and later in life. He was comforted to think of her body making a difference in the medical field long after her death.

Another medical student talked reverentially about the body of an older man he was working on. As he began working on his hands he noticed the scars of a long life. He wondered how many hands the man had touched in his long life. There would have been the hands he touched in love — his wife and his children as babies, those he shook hands with in greetings, and the grandchildren that he would have shown how to catch a ball or pick wildflowers. The books he would have held in those hands as he read. The lovely part was that his hands were still making a significant contribution. He was continuing to give to this world even after his death. The medical student felt the weight of how much he was able to learn medically from the body and how his hands in turn would touch the lives of many others in future as a doctor.

Last week at a Palliser Friends of Medicare event we heard that those who seek medical assistance in dying (MAID) can donate their organs or their body for medical research.

It is important to remember when making these choices that we have a discussion with family and even close friends to explain our wishes and answer any questions they may have. It is an opportunity to calm fears and ensure they understand how much it means to us.

It is also important to remember that even though we may make that choice and complete the relevant paperwork it may not work out like we had planned. For a wide variety of reasons your wish may not be carried out. It is important to tell your family that you understand that but you have done your part by making the request and you’re OK with that.

I have interviewed recipients who received donor organs that have saved their lives. They are emotional recognizing the priceless gift they have received.

The best gifts are those that can’t be bought or sold.

Here’s to giving and here’s To Your Health.

To Your Health is a weekly column by Gillian Slade, health reporter for the News, bringing you news on health issues and research from around the world. You can reach her by email on call 403-528-8635.