Organ Donation after BC

It is my understanding that once you have had cancer, you cannot donate blood or organs. I know I wouldn't want someone who may still have a few cancer cells lying dormant somewhere, to give me blood or to donate an organ.
Your life changes once you have cancer. Not necessarily for the worse - but things are different.
I wish you the best in your life. Take good care of yourself.
Hugs from Brenda

I think that organ donation can't happen after breast cancer. There was a recent news article (Feb 6, 2003, New England Journal of Health) about a woman who had melanoma (skin cancer), who had been in remission for close to 16 years so her kidneys were donated after she died. Unfortunately both the people who received the kidneys ended up getting cancer and they definitively tracked it back to the donor, who had the "cured" melanoma cancer. Although breast cancer and melanoma aren't exactly the same thing, I would kinda bet that doctors these days would still not want to take the chance of spreading cancer this way.

P.S. Like ksfc, I was also told my doctor that I could no longer be a blood donor.

chemoqueen1 said:

Thank you all for your responses. I will double check with my Dr. But I guess it would make sense that you could not donate blood or organs after Cancer. I guess I will find some other way to make a differance in peoples lives.

I've been wondering this for a long time also. Thanks for the info. My drivers license is up for renewal in a couple of months, so I will have to change my "organ donor" status. I'm sure we'll all find other ways to make a difference in someones life.