TISSUE BANK WITH BIO-SKILLS LAB

JOURNEY JOURNAL... Cumberland, Rhode Island

"PART-ING GIFTS"

Recently, a woman announced definitively that she was going to be an organ donor when she died.  Her assuredness contradicted reality, as circumstances of death must mesh with stringent parameters in order for transplants to happen.  In spite of good intentions, often transfers of innards to living recipients are not possible.  Of course, there won’t be any utterance of “Darn, I am so disappointed!” coming from her if the potential donor is deemed an unsuitable candidate.  But family members may feel sorely deflated, knowing that this woman had been hell-bent on having her internal leftovers benefit the lives of others. 

Organ and tissue transplants have evolved during the past century to the point where they are in the forefront of people’s minds in connection with death and dying.  Perhaps folks are less apt to consider the alternative avenue for a whole body donation to support research, education, and skill enhancement.  But think of the multitude of scientists, practitioners, technical innovators, students, and varied personnel whose work relates to health and quality of human life.  Their best teachers are apt to be the decedents who contributed their physical substance for the enhancement of personal proficiency and societal progress.     

Within its national network of five tissue banks in different regions of the country, MedCure – a whole body donation program founded in 2005 – provides unembalmed (frozen), non-transplantable organs and tissues to medical research and education providers around the world.  

There is no cost to the family, as long as the firm is contacted after death occurs instead of a random funeral home.  Its personnel manage every detail, including transportation from the place of death to the closest MedCure facility via arrangements with one of their contracted funeral homes.  Acquisition of the standard death certificate and disposition permit is part of the process.

Tucked inconspicuously behind one of many corporate enterprises lining a long road in Cumberland, Rhode Island, an ordinary building belies the extraordinary operations underway inside it. Besides serving as a collection center for distribution of physical elements, this particular site is also a place of learning… a facility where surgical skills are honed and educational lab experiences are conducted, thanks to donor contributions of whole bodies. 

Even high school students can be exposed in this manner to the intricacies of the human body, sometimes engendering an inclination toward health-related vocational pursuits or even enlightenment that changes deleterious personal practices such as smoking. 

The environment here is modern and spacious, with state-of-the-art technology and knowledgeable staff. 

Lab managers are certified as tissue specialists capable of preparing, managing, and monitoring specimens in addition to assisting with procedures.  A 2500 square-foot laboratory space with fifteen surgical stations mimics operating room milieus, featuring lights equipped with video cameras that relay procedural details to learners situated in a nearby auditorium space that accommodates up to one hundred observers. 

Computer stations and a locker room offer additional amenities for visiting bio-skills participants.

When hunger strikes, a large room connected to a small kitchen is the place where catered meals are provided.

Bodily donations can be accepted from all continental states, with the exception of New Jersey and Minnesota. There are no age restrictions. Some, but not many, disease conditions would render specimens unusable.  The more likely exclusions include HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B or C, a history of intravenous drug use, incarceration or institutionalization, and severe under- or overweight.  Anyone with terminal cancer can be pre-screened to determine eligibility.  So this type of donation can be an alternative to medical school donations, which may be more restrictive.

A circulating truck makes the rounds between headquarters in Portland, OR and the sites in Henderson, NV, Orlando, FL, St. Louis, MO, and Cumberland, RI to pick up and deliver the precious resources.  Besides the facility in Rhode Island, the ones in Oregon and Nevada also have bioskills laboratories on site. 

Every specimen is tested and must meet defined criteria before being distributed.  At time of death a matching process follows a review of the donor’s medical status to pair the bodily components with the most appropriate educational or research applications. Later, the family can be apprised of the ways in which use of the donated body were implemented. 

When a decision to donate is declared prior to death, donation forms are accompanied by a request for health and social histories, including medical records. 

A specimen for training purposes is used only once, followed by cremation as soon as possible – typically, within six to twelve weeks.  Family members have appreciated the container provided for the cremated remains, which is a heart-shaped box. 

 

So even if organ transplants into living bodies is preferred as a way to utilize physical residuals, consider a backup “Plan B” as a contribution to a body of knowledge.  

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HOME FUNERALS

HOMEBODIES AMID WALLFLOWERS

It’s a four-letter word that implies rapport rather than dissonance. 

It’s where the heart is.

It’s often a haven… a refuge from worldly chaos.

It’s where enduring memories are made.

HOME is so much more than a building.  Before society relied on hospitals and funeral establishments, it was even a place for birth and death… for penetrating immersion in life’s beginnings and endings.

Through the evolution of generational cycles of resurgence, new forms arise.  In these modern times, a funerary practice of the past has resurfaced as an option in the present.  Although people aren’t necessarily aware of it, they can provide after-death care and conduct commemorations in a residential home or at an alternative site where the decedent had lived.   

State laws determine the extent to which such ministrations and related activities can take place.  Though a few states require services of a funeral director for a limited number of specified tasks, most allow families to determine just how much direct participation suits them.  Generally, they may attend to a few, many, or all details independently and informally amid familiar surroundings.

Advocates of this practice note that participation of relatives and friends, including children, can be a life-changing and enriching experience as natural processes are witnessed and the reality of death is tangibly realized.  By adopting functional roles, a feeling of helplessness can be counteracted.  A sense of purpose as a team member can be therapeutic. 

A wide range of opportunities for involvement makes it possible for people to engage themselves in ways that are most comfortable for them.  It can be a matter of merely keeping a decedent’s body on the premises for a while, sometimes up to three days or for a shorter time, even if death occurred elsewhere.  Participants may simply choose to fill out and file paperwork, namely, for the death certificate that will have to be filed in order to obtain permits.  Or some may become connected to the transactions by writing an obituary or memorial announcement, or by transporting the body to a cemetery or crematory in an ordinary vehicle – usually a van, truck, or sport utility vehicle.  Otherwise, funeral home personnel can be delegated to take care of those matters.

Physical preparation for final disposition can be done in a home, if desired.  This typically entails washing and dressing a body in garments that may have been chosen by the decedent or by the family.  Then dry ice is placed in a pillowcase or towels and positioned underneath and around the body on a bed or in a casket.  Bodies can be maintained this way under cool conditions for about two to three days. A body may be placed on top of flower petals or covered with a sprinkling of them; it may lie on a bed of aromatic cedar chips or other matter deemed significant to the person’s life. 

Some folks want only to spend a few hours with their loved ones, sitting or lying nearby, touching, singing, listening to music, or engaging in a previously shared activity.  Either a private gathering of close family members or an open house visitation with meals and camaraderie among friends may be preferred. In a spirit of community among the mourners, a simple pine or cardboard box may be built and/or decorated (maybe even prior to the event by the person who had been terminally ill), a basic urn may be embellished, or people may create some other type of funerary art.  The interior and exterior of a casket may be adorned with representative thematic elements, mementos, and expressions, or painted in colors that were favorites or those that pertain to an aspect of the individual’s experiences, such as school or team colors.

Personally conducted ceremonies may be held, with poems, stories, songs, rituals, and caring gestures, often exuding originality and reflecting religious, cultural, or pivotal influences. Home-based gatherings can be combined with faith-based rituals conducted in places of worship. 

Sometimes family and friends even handle the final disposition.  This might include digging a grave and placing the body in it, witnessing a cremation, or scattering cremated remains.

So home funerals can have different meanings for different people.  But the approach is governed by flexibility and the varying predispositions of those involved.  Regardless of the degree of participation by family and friends, their initiatives can be jointly intertwined with funeral directors’ services, even utilizing their facilities for some or most of the operations and affairs. 

Proponents of this approach to death management cite many benefits.  Embalming is not done.  More time in the presence of the decedent allows for gradual adjustment to the loss with flexibility for viewing, visitation, and ceremonies.  It is believed that within this context, when all of one’s senses are exposed to death, it is understood better.  That is, the unknown becomes known and the grieving process is facilitated.  Family members have more control than they would otherwise.  Such an intimate act of caring is more personal and inspires a spirit of community. The mood among those gathered can range from tranquil to enlivening and can unfold spontaneously.  In accustomed surroundings, people can express emotions freely and do whatever they want outside the confines of a strict schedule and without feeling self-conscious about being observed or supervised.  Honest discussions with children about death can occur more naturally in these settings.  The home environment promotes uniqueness and offers creative outlets that may be especially cathartic for people who are having difficulty articulating their feelings.  And without employing consumptive funerary services and products, personal ministrations can be economical.

However, the hands-on element of a family-centered approach is not for everyone.  The prospect of being in the perpetual presence of a deceased body could readily be regarded as startling.  Assuming responsibility for handling the details might seem overwhelming.  For future mourners disinclined to choose this alternative avenue, it is always reassuring to know that specialists in the funeral industry are ready and willing to shift into high gear and provide the essential services. 

Otherwise, people who intend to be involved extensively as home-based providers should prepare themselves ahead of time, ideally, through structured workshops so they will know what to expect. 

There has been national recognition of the home funeral reincarnation.  Educational materials are available through organizations that advance the concept via literature, presentations, and in-service education programs. The online Home Funeral Directory has a roster with contact information to access supporters and organizations that provide information and assistance.  “Death care consultants” or “home funeral guides” offer families specific instructions and suggestions through workshops and consultations as well as personal on-site guidance at the time of death.

Though ancestors routinely engaged in such practices, this is not something that can be done at the drop of a hat or, rather, upon the sudden drop of a person.  If interest and inclinations are pre-determined, pathways of preparation will pave the way most optimally to a gratifying and memorable experience.

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Certain segments excerpted from 

Pondering Leaves:  Composing and Conveying Your Life Story's Epilogue

DEATH CARE BUSINESS

GRIEVING MARKET LOSSES

In terms of trendy places these days, crematories are “hot!”  People in North America are increasingly opting for cremation rather than ground burial.  It is a phenomenon mourned by funeral directors and cemetery operators for whom conventional interments had always provided the “bread and butter” for their businesses.  Loss of income is at the root of their tribulation. These establishments, like so many others, have suffered the effects of a recession propelling individuals’ quest for cost-saving measures.

A customer need not pay an exorbitant amount if cremation is the preferred mode for final disposition.  In fact, the so-called “direct” approach allows for a body to be transferred from the place of death to a crematory with few intervening bodily ministrations that would entail fees.  But even if a whole body destined eventually for a furnace is tended in a funeral home for a while, certain funerary products and provisions will not need to be factored in when calculating costs.  Without a casket, vault, cemetery plot or mausoleum crypt, opening and closing of the space, a perpetual care allotment, bodily transport to a burial site and vehicles for a procession, monetary output can be reduced.

On the other hand, anyone opting for cremation can get “carried away” even in the absence of a body.  Maintaining physical remains on the premises for a period of time prior to cremation offers opportunities to contract for a number of “line items” from the general price list.  How about an expensive urn instead of the cookie jar at home?  Or a period of visitation would warrant embalming – a stipulation at most funeral homes.  For a funeral service on site, it doesn’t matter if a body or an urn is the central focal point.  And an impressive array of manufactured goods with equally impressive price tags is available for perusal. 

So altruistic nurturers with a high degree of empathy who choose cremation, but nonetheless want to feed a funeral director’s “kitty” can select variations on the usual theme. The livelihoods of funeral home personnel can still be boosted regardless of certain dead elements within their domain. Think of it as grief therapy for providers.  For example, I recently attended a Catholic church funeral that transpired according to tradition… except that the body had already been cremated.  An urn took the place of a casket.  But funeral home personnel assumed their usual roles, as if a body were on the premises.  They delivered the urn and floral arrangements to the church, waited throughout the duration of the service, and afterward, placed the urn inside a full-sized, snazzy hearse for transport to a cemetery columbarium.  Family members followed behind in a limousine from the funeral home’s fleet of vehicles. 

This, of course, might be considered “overkill” by anyone seeking to minimize expenses.  For the most part, as a result of abbreviated services in conjunction with cremation, income generated by funeral home participation is apt to be less if this method of disposition is chosen.

So if you are the frugal type, what can you do for after-death providers who are mourning their losses?  How about giving a funeral director a hug today?  It will "do a body good."

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