Don’t mean to be a downer but-

[MouseAddams]

do any of you have plans to donate your body for research purposes to further the treatments of future warriors? If so how do you plan to donate? His brother did this for his ALS

We were thinking about giving through Medcure as they claim to do everything for free but a few people recently had issues with them. Also they are a for profit type company.

The university near us wants the family to pay for basic embalming and shipping to their facilities. Also it’s up to a two year wait before they return the cremains.

We are open to other suggestions.

[MarkBC]

Metastatic cancer patients can not be organ donors so my initial plan can't happen. The University of British Columbia, near me, will accept bodies for research or as cadavers for the School of Medicine. They will take cancer patients provided the cancer has not destroyed all of the useful tissue.

Immediately after death, they have people who will assess the body. If accepted, the university takes custody of the body right away. They look after embalming and the care of the body for the next 3 years. Medical students and many other students learn from dissecting human bodies. After 3 years, the body is cremated at the university's expense and the ashes are returned to the family.

The university also holds a ceremony each year attended by the students, staff, and the families of the donors. The ashes of the donors are returned. It is an opportunity for the staff and students to thank the families for the knowledge gained through the donations. This is what I hope will happen to my body after I die.

[MouseAddams in reply to MarkBC]

Originally I had thought I might donate myself to a body farm but it would be years before they could return the leftover parts to the family. A few were weirded out about the idea. So I changed plans.

[gsun in reply to MarkBC]

Thanks Mark. I am going to look into that.

[Jewelrylady]

My husband and I are donating our bodies to UC San Diego body donation program. It’s pretty similar to what MarkBC wrote, but UCSD does not return ashes to family. They spread them at sea and family is not notified when this happens. They also have a yearly ceremony. We didn’t get to specify how we want them to use our bodies. There is no cost to us if they accept our body. If for some reason they decided not to use our body, family would need to assume responsibility for cremation/burial. UCSD also works with Organ Donation program, so if they couldn’t take our body, perhaps organ donation program could use parts, but family would still need to arrange cremation/burial.

[tarhoosier]

In a sense I have already. At the patient education session prior to surgery I was asked if I wanted to donate my prostate tissue to the hospital and research institution to advance knowledge of our disease. I said certainly. Who would decline? The male nurse said there were people in his hospital who would not sign such document because their religion prohibited the type of treatment they were about to undergo and they wanted the minimum involvement other than surgery. (7th day adventists, Christian Scientists, etc.) This referred to everything, not only prostate surgery.

[MouseAddams in reply to tarhoosier]

Yep they gotta start somewhere. May as well be a willing subject.

[Mascouche]

I contributed while still alive. A few years back, after my oncologist had used his finger to check my prostate he asked me if I would mind if his 3 interns did so too in order to gain experience. I wasn't thrilled by it but I took one in (or three?) for the benefit of mankind.

[MouseAddams in reply to Mascouche]

I hear ya! We donated several vials of blood to th Million Veterans Program for use in research. This was prior to him being diagnosed with cancer. I’ve always said the biggest set of Guinea Pigs and laboratory rats was the military.

[j-o-h-n]

They can have mine right now.........(but the laughs belong to my son)....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Monday 10/16/2023 6:34 PM DST

[Concerned-wife]

yes we both signed up with our local medical school. In case they don’t accept our bodies, they recommend having a backup plan..here is what they recommended

Med Cure [phone] (she said is the best of the 2)

Science Cure [phone]

[MouseAddams in reply to Concerned-wife]

Yes, heard of MedCure from the hospice my brother in-law was in about 10 years ago. We did fill out basic paperwork. I looked them up at the BBB. They had no active complaints and no closed complaints. Just a few comments. Never heard of Science Cure.