Grey’s Anatomy donates a body to medicine

While studying anatomy, I once spent a day with a cadaver whose stomach — normally located in the abdomen below the rib cage — had migrated up through the diaphragm and was now located behind the ribs. This was not simply a sliding hiatal hernia, but the rolling kind that occurs only about five percent of the time.

The body belonged to a small Asian woman. Her unusual condition may have been uncomfortable in life, but it had not prevented her from living for a very long time.

I wondered what prompted this woman to donate her complete body for use as a medical cadaver. Perhaps it was her unusual condition. By being a cadaver, she could acquaint thousands of students with the possibility of a rolling hiatal hernia. A description in a textbook is much less memorable than seeing the real thing. Of course with modern imaging technology, one almost doesn’t need to see a real cadaver these days.

I thought of this woman recently while watching an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, an extremely popular TV show that’s more soap opera than medical drama. I watch the show after it’s available on DVD, which is why I’m currently viewing last year’s episodes (season six). This was the season in which the young resident surgeon, George O’Malley (played by T.R. Knight), did not return.

Dr. George O’Malley donates his organs

In the season opener, George is hit by a bus in a successful attempt to save a stranger from a similar fate. He is so severely injured that he cannot be identified by his face. It takes some time before the cast learns that this is their beloved George. He communicates his identity to Meredith Grey by drawing characters on her palm, but no one believes her. His ex-wife (and orthopedic surgeon) Callie confirms his identity by a freckle in the shape of Texas on the back of his hand (“I used to tease him about it.”)

By the end of the previous season, George had had intimate relationships with most of the returning female characters. (He was only roommates with Meredith’s half-sister Lexie, but Lexie was in love with George, so I think that counts as a relationship.) Initially the close-knit team of residents considers their fellow surgeon Izzie Stevens too fragile to receive the news about George. She is recovering from the miraculous removal of a brain tumor and has stage four cancer. As George’s death approaches, however, they realize she would never forgive them if they kept it from her.

The question of organ donation comes up. George’s mother asks ex-wife Callie to make the decision. She can’t do it, so she asks Izzie to decide. Izzie, who was responsible for breaking up George’s marriage to Callie, was very close to him. (That hadn’t worked out, and she ended up marrying fellow resident Alex Karev on her (presumed) deathbed.) Izzie decides that George would want all his organs donated.

Soap opera on and off stage

In one of the best scenes of the episode, medical professionals are standing by in the operating room, ready to receive the organs that are about to be removed. Chief Resident Miranda Bailey — my favorite character (played by Chandra Wilson) — is emotionally distraught at the loss of George. She asks for information about the destination of the eyes, the liver, the heart. The details of the organ donations – the benefits they will bring to the particular children and adults who have been waiting and hoping for this opportunity – are quite moving.

In real life, the inspiration for the death of George’s character was the soap opera that played out among cast members. Isaiah Washington, who played Dr. Preston Burke, reputedly made homophobic remarks about T. R. Knight (George), who was in the closet about his sexual orientation at the time. Washington’s contract was not renewed. Knight left due to “trust issues” with the show’s creator (Shonda Rhimes). Meanwhile, after three years of rumors that Katherine Heigl – who played Izzie Stevens — desperately wanted out of her contract, that finally happened earlier this year.

It may be a soap opera – on and off screen – but there are some things the show has going for it: The casting is color blind, the majority of the doctors are women, and two of the major female characters are not model thin.

What to do with your body after you’re gone

Anyway, what got me thinking about all this was a fascinating article at CNN News called “Ten uses for your body after you die.” It begins with the story of a man who already donates his body parts while still alive. J. Nathan Bazzel’s hip joint was damaged from the drugs he takes for HIV. When the joint was replaced, he donated it to the medical museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

Bazzel, who became the college’s communications director two years ago, has already seen the benefits of having real human body parts on display: When high school students come in and see his hips’ deformities, his lecture to them on the importance of safe sex takes on a whole new meaning.

Here are some additional options for putting your body to good use after you die.

You can, of course, donate some or all of your major organs (heart, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas). You can also donate body tissues (bones, ligaments, heart valves, corneas).

You can donate your body to a medical school, where it will become a cadaver for first year medical students. Or, you can donate your body to an institute that provides experienced doctors the opportunity to practice new techniques – better to practice on the dead than the living.

A more unusual idea that may not have occurred to you: You can leave your body to a “body farm.” How do forensic experts determine time of death, especially when the death is not recent? The “body farm” in Tennessee currently has 650 bodies distributed over 2.5 acres. This allows professionals to study how bodies decay. They welcome donations.

Did you know you can volunteer your body to become a crash test cadaver? (Ouch. That might not have occurred to you either.)

You can donate your body to science through a body broker. After your body is used for research, the cremated remains are returned to your family at no charge.

You can have your body plastinated and sent on tour, like the “Body Worlds” exhibit.

In the spirit of Halloween, you can become a skeleton in an anthropology museum.

Finally, like Bazzel, you can donate your body to the museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. They’re interested in both abnormalities – like a woman who called and said she had a 120-degree curvature of the spine – and normal bodies.

Links to more information on all of these options are included in the CNN article.

Happy Halloween!

Resourcess:

Image source: RadioTimes

Elizabeth Cohen, Ten uses for your body after you die, CNN, October 28, 2010