The waiting time doubled in ten years – Victoria tattooed “recycle me” – NRK Nordland

25-year-old Sissel Lorentzen from Bodø discovered by chance that she has cysts on the kidneys.

It may mean that she will need an organ donation in the future.

The message nevertheless made her make an important choice. She wanted to become an organ donor herself.

Now she hopes that more people will do like her.

The Organ Donation Foundation is happy about that. One in three who are positive about donating organs does not let anyone know about it.

Found cysts on the kidneys by chance

– I know that potential dialysis and transplantation are something that can await me in the future, says Sissel Lorentzen.

She thought she had overcome the disease that affected her mother, sister, grandmother and several other family members.

She had no symptoms of the hereditary kidney disease.

But when she was 17, a random health check in connection with an exchange year to the USA showed disturbing findings.

Cysts on the kidneys. Polycystic kidney disease, or ADPKD.

– Many people get sick from waiting

Kidney disease runs in the Lorentzen family.

She herself has lived as a relative of a mother with kidney disease for many years, before she herself received the diagnosis.

Her mother has now received a new kidney.

– Many people get sick from waiting. Many become tired, ill and unable to cope with everyday life as before.

Lorentzen says that when her kidney diseased mother had a new kidney transplanted, it was as if she became a new person.

– She went from being the super sick mum who wanted so badly to be involved in things, but couldn’t, to being given the gift of life again.

It has also meant that Lorentzen himself became an organ donor. She even got a tattoo to show it.

– I chose the words “recycle me”. Recycling the body is perhaps one of the best things you can do.

Twice as many are waiting for a new kidney

In 2013, the average waiting time in Norway was 9 months. Today it is around 20 months, according to Janne Gripheim at Rikshospitalet.

– This is a doubling in the last ten years. It is serious, says Gripheim.

– We do not have access to enough kidneys in relation to how many people need them.

Aleksander Sekowski, head of information at Stiftelsen Organdonasjon, says that eight out of ten Norwegians are positive about organ donation today.

But a third of those who are positive have not done anything about their position.

– Then no one knows that they want to donate their organs, and the organs could potentially be lost instead of saving lives, he says.

One donor saves four lives

– The need for new organs is constantly increasing, but the number of organ donations is not increasing as much. Over 600 Norwegians are waiting for a new life-saving organ today, says Sekowski.

According to the information manager, a donor saves around four lives on average.

But it is difficult to work out how many more donors we need.

– Among other things, because the waiting lists today do not show the real need for organs. Instead, it only reflects how many people can be helped with the current supply of organs.

Sekowski also believes that many people mistakenly believe they cannot agree to donate an organ, for example because they are old.

Sissel Lorentzen also believes that too few people know that they can donate.

– Many may think that they cannot be donors for various reasons. But you just need to decide whether you want to donate or not, she says and points out that it is the doctors who ultimately choose.