Skin Donation For Burn Victims - ThinnerTimes

Groovey kinda Love · 05-03-2007, 08:33 PM

A friend of mine mentioned the other day that she heard that people who have had the wls and have skin removed can donate it to burn victims. Has anyone here heard of this before? Is it something I should bring to my surgeons attention and see what he says? I am allllllllllll for giving anyone my lose skin that wants it

seriously!

MiladyB · 05-03-2007, 08:37 PM

Well Miss Susie, I've been a Burn nurse, in a major Michigan Burn Center, for 30 years. The only skin we use besides the patient's own skin would be cadaver skin. We used to use pigskin but now it is only cadaver and that is only a temporary covering. The body will eventually reject any skin that isn't it's own. I highly doubt as a wls patient we could donate our skin. It just wouldn't be enough to be practical plus the skin that we use in our Burn Center is a very thin layer of skin. It just would be far too costly to use skin from a living individual. Nice thought but I doubt it's true. I think I would know about it if it was.

I did a little hunting and I strongly suspect this is an urban myth. Found some information from the Michigan Skin Bank that makes perfect sense. I know I've dealt with them before when family members have asked about donating the skin of their loved ones that have died and it is a very reputable institution who knows what they are talking about.

http://www.transweb.org/reference/ar..._donation.html

kittens4 · 05-03-2007, 08:39 PM

I've heard talk of a surgeon here that will do PS for free if you donate the skin..I haven't confirmed if it's true or not. I'll let you know if I ever find such a person!

Rachel · 05-03-2007, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kittens4

I've heard talk of a surgeon here that will do PS for free if you donate the skin..I haven't confirmed if it's true or not. I'll let you know if I ever find such a person!

I would go to Reno for PS and gladly donate my skin. If you find out the name of that Doc please PM me.

LisaM · 05-03-2007, 09:14 PM

Could be wrong, but it always seems to be a friend of a friend thing, which is the definition of an urban myth. Oh, and nobody would want my skin, anyway... it's like a balloon that's been blown up a few too many times. Very relaxed.

MiladyB · 05-04-2007, 06:32 AM

Ok, I may have to eat my words here. Apparently skin donation after wls is being done in some places but I know nothing about this organization, so I won't vouch for any of this! I'm still rather skeptical but I did find some information about donating skin after weight loss. Here is a link to see if you would qualify.

http://www.mtfeinformation.org/

I filled out the information and had a message that said I would be contacted within the next 48 hours to let me know "if this service is available in your location" We shall see what they have to say.

lealphachienne · 05-04-2007, 07:42 AM

It's not available here in San Diego. I asked several PS about it....it's just not cost effective....the skin used for burn victims is just the first layer...no fat or any other underlying tisses. Kind of like peeling a carrot....you shave off just the first layer. However, I'm a organ and skin donor...so they can have my pretty tats when I'm dead!

sdgrrl · 05-04-2007, 12:05 PM

Bethie,
You're so sweet that if you had to eat your words, they would cause you to dump!!

badumm dumm. Thank you ladies and gentlemen, I'll be here all week..

Zenomia · 05-04-2007, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdgrrl

Bethie,
You're so sweet that if you had to eat your words, they would cause you to dump!!

badumm dumm. Thank you ladies and gentlemen, I'll be here all week..

That was good!!

aesidwell · 05-04-2007, 12:16 PM

Wow Donna, with gems like that you could play the Vegas lounge set

Try the veal...!

I'm so glad someone brought this up! I had a trainer mention it to me and I thought it was an urban legend too. Thanks for digging up the website Beth!