General Chat

I posted the same reply twice so deleted one of them.

Roxanne, most JWs do accept organ transplants although it is a matter of personal choice. Some may feel that doing so doesn't affect their adherence to the no blood issue whereas there maybe some who feel that it would.

Lyn x

Again there are a lot of people who chose to comment in a manner that is not very nice & they do not know all the facts.
I had a big operation in 2002 and needed a blood transfusion, about 6 pints i think it was, the doctor called my husband at work and he explained that for him to agree and give the go-ahead would not have been something i would have been happy about, I would also have felt that i would no longer have been able to trust him, I asked him to make sure that i did not get blood and he did,
this situation also led to me being treated very,very unkindly in the Intensive Care Unit, my husband was spoken about in a terrible manner to myself by one of the nurses in charge and even asking if he had put me up to this or made me do it(my husband is protestant)but the nurse did not know that nor did she care, I felt i did not want her near me because of her attitude and stressed to her that i was not in Intensive care after trying to commit suicide, I was ill and she should be trying to help me get rest and be less anxious to enable me to get my strength back, I was only there for 3 days ( as her attitude made me determined to get onto an ordinary ward) and i got out of hospital after 5 days in total, I was told i was at deaths door but they still kept giving me tablets for high blood pressure, I heard the doctor asking the nurse on the 3rd day why that was and i also feel that some nurses or anyone for that matter ,no matter what the situation should be, should treat everyone with the care and respect they deserve, (Treat people the way you would like to be treated yourself ) 2 Nurses came down to see me in the ward as they were shocked that i was out of ITU and told me to keep it to myself but that they admired me.
I am not a Jehovah's Witness

I have to say I find it very Interesting talking to them,I always Invite them In when they call.
Only a few months ago some very nice J.W came to my house,I love to find out about others beliefs,we had a very good chat,we agreed to disagree on some things and agreed on others.
Nice people:-))

We had the JWs knocking on doors in our street today. Wonder what kind of reception they got!

Luckily, for them, I was at work. I do try to respect other peoples religions, but don't want them preaching to me.

True Lyn!
I will take another look.
Can I just ask- Is it true that J.W can have organ transplants?

Roxanne

I can tell you honestly it most definitely isn't a JW site. It isn't run by JWs although there are JWs posting on the threads and there are JWs answering any concerns people have regarding nonblood management of their treatment. If you think about it Roxanne, JWs are the only religious group who refuse blood transfusions on religious grounds.

Lyn x

Hi Lyn,I have just had a look at the site,thanks for posting,it made interesting reading.
But I think it is a J.W website,it refers to J.W all the time.
Just an observation.

From www.noblood.org:

I would like to share my story of how I survived with non blood products.

In 1997, I became seriously ill with mononucleosis. In addition to this and as a complication I had Hepatitis A. Which of course caused jaundice and then haemolytic anaemia. I never do things by halves!!

Anyway. As my blood cells were just dissolving, I was encouraged to have e-poetin (erythropoietin) before I became too ill to make a decision ...

... The doctors here in England wanted to give me a blood transfusion as my blood count had gone down to 4.8! They gave me a 10% chance of living that night, and I can assure you that mentally and indeed physically, I fought with all my life that night. They gave me steroid treatment and saline drips. The upshot was that I spent 3 weeks in hospital. The doctors could not understand why I had survived. They then discovered that if they had given me a blood transfusion that I would most certainly have died. I did not have the immune system to cope with it.

I have read with a great deal of interest the comments added on here. As I said earlier my family are all JWs, although I do not attend any more for personal reasons unrelated to any doctorines that JWs have, I still adhere to the basic principles upheld by JWs. My determination to do this almost had an elective surgery cancelled, after meeting with consultants and the anaesthetist (who is the main decision maker during surgery as to whether blood should or should not be administered), my surgery went ahead and I had no need intra or post operatively for a transfusion.

It has been commented that this mother lost her life as a result of haemorrhaging after the birth of her twins. My sister was in the exact same position. Her blood count was down to just over four (where the acceptable norm for transfusion is ten). I described earlier the steps that can be taken to replace the lost volume of blood, this was done for my sister and her life was saved. The whole procedure was dealt with quickly and she made a full recovery. Incidentally there was a new mum in the opposite bed who had the same problem and as she had no religious convictions preventing her she received a blood transfusion. Her recovery was far slower than my sister and she had complications as a result of the transfusion.

I do take exception to comments such as the one from Mick from the Bush who commented that because of their standpoint over blood transfusions that JWs are 'religious lunatics' and Clare's comment that JWs are a 'rubbish religion'. Never would I presume to call down anyone's religion because I don't agree with their beliefs. To say as Pink did that JWs are 'hypocritical because they will eat animal blood' is not true either. JWs will not even use cochineal for food colouring because it contains blood neither will they eat black pudding, exactly the same reason. Certain cuts of meat that are from animals that are not bled properly will not be eaten by JWs.

With regard to comments that they use outdated scripture texts especially those referred to in the Old Testament, these are quoted alongside texts written when Jesus was on earth in the New Testament. The two back up each other, texts in the New Testament were reaffirmed by Jesus when he was on the earth, it showed that the principle hadn't changed just becuase of the passage of time.

Debi refused a blood transfusion for personal reasons, she had looked at the fact that HIV, hepatitis and other problems can result after a transfusion is administered and chose not to have one. That decision didn't make her a lunatic or a person who wanted to sacrifice her life rather than watch her young children grow up rather she stood by the courage of her convictions and thankfully all turned out well. JWs just like Debi don't refuse blood because they don't want to fight death, they do so because it is their right to refuse this treatment.

Please check out www.noblood.org as I have said before, this is a non JW site which lists hospital the length and breadth of USA that have a whole hospital bloodless surgery policy, read how surgeons feel they are more skillful becuase they do not have blood available. Check out the opptions available for patients with many and varied issues and how these are carried out.

Most importantly of all, please do not use this issue as a vehicle to insult people and call them just because they have opinions that differ from yours. I would be interested to hear from anybody who has checked out this web site and found it informative, if you have it would be beneficial to post your comments on this thread.

Lyn x

as numerous people have said on here i think it is a disgrace to let a young women and new mum die like this, i know it is their religion but she could have been saved how selfish is that?
poor little babies, will never know their momxxx

i think its wrong , those poor kids now havet to grow up with out there mum

i dont like there fath
xxx

About 30 years ago my friend (with the JW family) who by this time had divorced her OH had a phone call from her eldest daughter who had been married then for about 3 years - her dau. accused her mother of abandoning her and never wished to see her again - however if she should ever have a serious illness such as a stroke dau. would come and nurse her! About 15 years ago - youngest daug is living with her mother by this time and both daus. work for civil service. Younger daughter moves to the building elder is in and is there about a year - when discussing with a colleague a play they had both seen discovers by chance that elder dau. has informed all of her colleagues and friends that their mother is dead!

Don't start me on religion especially JWS- religion I feel sometimes is a curse - down through the ages there have been more wars and lives lost in the name of religion and it is still ongoing today

how many people have asked not to be resusitated and the hospital has had to adhere to their wishes regardless of religion. This comes down to a person making a choice that they feel is right and in our society we have that right but there is never all this arguement over someone making that decision to die.
I admire people who give blood and that is their right also but we do have to respect others if we are to get along
Janet

Religion set aside for one minute......how devestating for the entire family & my thoughts are with them at this time..........

In 1996 I needed a blood transfusion after an emergency C section , I declined & my husband supported me. I was terrified I would die leaving my baby & small daughter just 5 motherless, but what terrified me more was not just the many articles I'd read about how unclean blood is but how 2 of my friends were no longer with me any more after both having transfusions & contracting HIV.............

This is why the bible states to abstain from blood....... unless cleaned 100% it's dirty, infectious etc etc.....


Much happiness
Debi

It seems a shame that the family of this young mother are having bad press like this when they will be grieving just as much as any other family when a loved one dies,even though J/W's believe in everlasting life it is still devastating to lose someone you love or care about, certain views by the media etc come across to make the girls family look cold hearted and not a loving family, I know it is a sore point when the blood issue is raised,
I myself would not be here if my mother had not had a blood transfusion in 1966 ( 2 yrs before i was born)
however i know for a fact in my heart that if my daughter should be in a situation that requires blood and i was asked to go against her beliefs then i too would not allow them to give her blood, My daughter has a right to choose and i would respect that and would be devastated to have anyone think i dont love her, Jehovah's Witnesses are trying to live their life the best they can by serving their god and preaching the scriptures (which are there for a reason) we are all only human but i would hate if the day ever came when a Doctor was allowed to become Judge and Jury. Some issues that are raised time after time cannot alway's be explained nor accepted straight away and love for god has to come from the heart, sadly there are some who just dont see that, It's a bit like when they preach about Armageddon some say that will never happen, just like they said on the Titanic, makes you think, also it may be the only religion that follows the scriptures on the blood but there are a lot more religions who pick and choose when to follow their scriptures, J/W's stick by theirs.
Take Care xxxx

Just reading about the case in the paper. Apparently the young Mother haemorrhaged very badly after the birth which is one of the risks with non identical twins (two placentas). The family are saying 'why didn't they give her a caesarean but apparently she would have lost even more blood.

I am only adding this because I didn't appreciate the extra risk involved with non identical twins and thought it may be of interest.

Ann
Glos

Not going to air my personal thoughts on this, but.

Listening to the spokesperson for the JW this morning, who quoted the bible verbatum.

The English language and its meanings, has changed so much over the centuries. To take a literal translation of something that was translated hundreds of years ago, and I am sure was misstranscribed, is waiting for heartache to happen.

I do not want to pass judgment on someones beliefs, that is for them to decide, but I only hope that the family of those two babies who will not know the love of a mother, can find adequate words of comfort when they reach the age of understanding.


Kathlyn

When i was nursing,,if we had a JW in for a big op, they could donate their own blood incase they needed a transfusion.
I guess childbirth just isnt an occasion when a woman would be able to do this.

So are we saying that JW's find it acceptable to against this statement

In the bible it clearly says that blood is sacred and belongs to God - and early Christians were forbidden from partaking of anything that contained any type of blood, whether that be animal or human. In fact, if God views mere animal blood as sacred (hence the need to drain its life blood before eating the flesh) then how more so that of a human?

and eat the blood of an animal when they don't NEED to, but they won't accept blood of a human when they DO NEED it?

Hypocritical nonsense!

What a rubbish religion,