The Keep:Ghost Ship

This page is still very much under construction! I'm currently working on a new version in my wiki sandbox. (The original plan was to finish it in the sandbox and then copy it here, but seeing how I've already been working at it for months now and it's nowhere near finished, I'll probably start copying single chapters here first.) One day, this page is supposed to be the wiki guild page for the guild Ghost Ship. Hopefully, some time in the future, it will contain well-structured, informative content with correct links and an aesthetically pleasing layout complete with pictures. (One can dream, right?)

Overview
The guild is about: and any other topics that are either death-related or have something to do with the donation of organs, blood, bone marrow, and other parts of ones own body while still alive.
 * organ donation
 * blood donation and stem cell donation
 * body donation to medical research and education
 * making an advanced health care directive ("living will")
 * making a will or living trust
 * life insurance
 * preparations for one’s own burial/obituary

Organ Donation
This chapter is mainly about making one's organs available for transplantation after death. But if you consider donating an organ or tissue while still alive, that is very brave and altruistic of you, and information about that can probably be found on the same websites where you can register for becoming an organ donor after death.

Organ Donation Challenges
The guild has two challenges about organ donation:
 * Get Disemboweled! - Organ Donation for Pirates (a permanent challenge, a step-by-step guide how to become an organ donor)

In addition, there is also a permanent Tavern challenge [https://habitica.com/#/options/groups/challenges/c143c601-9779-4fce-a07b-8ea9df06754b Become an Organ Donor! (Or get a trophy for already being one!)] that serves as a "pointer challenge", that is, it asks people to look into the Ghost Ship guild and participate in the guild challenges there.
 * ♡ I am an organ donor! ♡ (There are usually several identical challenges with that name. Every organ donor can look for an empty one, join it, click the to-do, and will then be declared winner. People win them all the time, and Cantras creates new copies regularly. That is why there is no link to one of the ♡ I am an organ donor! ♡ challenges here - it would be outdated a few days later.)

All these challenges are run by Cantras.

Organ Donation Links
Becoming an organ donor is often much easier and quicker than people think. In many countries, the registration process can be done online. In countries where you need to carry an organ donor card, you can sometimes download and print it yourself. And in countries where registration for organ donorship can't be done online, there is usually at least an official website with lots of information about how to do it.

So, your first step is usually to go to your country's official organ donation website. You can probably find it easily by googling "organ donor" or "organ donation" in your language (and possibly the name of your country if your language is spoken elsewhere, too). Here is a short list of some of these websites:

(Disclaimer: There are no guarantees about the link list below. Those might not be the only websites for those countries, or the links might be outdated.)
 * Australia: www.donatelife.gov.au/decide or www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/australian-organ-donor-register
 * Brazil: www.abto.org.br/abtov03/default.aspx?mn=477&c=918&s=0&friendly=doacao-de-orgaos-e-tecidos
 * Canada: beadonor.ca
 * Denmark: www.sundhed.dk/borger/min-side/mine-registreringer/organdonation/
 * France: www.france-adot.org/don-organe.html and www.france-adot.org/demande-carte-donneur.html
 * Germany: www.organspende-info.de
 * Netherlands: www.jaofnee.nl
 * Norway: www.organdonasjon.no
 * South Africa: www.odf.org.za
 * Sweden: www.socialstyrelsen.se/donationsregistret
 * UK: www.organdonation.nhs.uk
 * USA: donatelife.net

If you'd like to add or update a link, feel free to edit this wiki page yourself, and/or notify the "Ghost Ship" guild leader, or just mention it in guild chat. (Many thanks to everyone who already added a new link!)

Organ Donation Details
The laws and regulations for organ donation differ from county to country. Your country's official organ donation website probably has lots of information about the details for your country. You can also find more information about organ donation in Wikipedia.

Some examples about important details:


 * Many countries are "opt-in" (you are only an organ donor if you explicitly give your consent), some countries are "opt-out" (you are automatically an organ donor unless you explicitly refuse). Most "opt-in" countries suffer from a severe lack of organ donors. (Some statistics, analysis and studies regarding these differences can be found in the scientific paper Johnson, Eric J.; and Goldstein, Daniel G. "Do defaults save lives?" (PDF). This paper is also quoted and summed up in the New York Times article "Opting in vs. Opting Out".)


 * Many countries require a form of registration to become an organ donor. In others, it is enough to carry an organ donor card. An organ donor card should best be carried in the window part of your wallet or a similar place where it will be found quickly in an emergency. In countries where you can download and print them out yourself, you could also print out several, put them in various places where people are likely to find them, and give one to your next of kin. Even in countries where registration is enough to become an organ donor, and carrying a card is optional, a card that is found quickly can speed up the donation process when you die. Even some opt-out countries (for example, France) encourage citizens to carry an organ donor card for various practical reasons.
 * Countries have different laws and common practices whether your next of kin will be asked and can override your decision to be an organ donor. So it is usually a good idea to talk to your next of kin about your wishes. (It's also easier for them if they know about it in advance.)


 * Countries have different minimum ages at which you can give your consent to become an organ donor. If someone dies at a younger age, usually the parents get to decide whether their kid's organs should be donated or not. (So, if you are under the minimum age, you can still tell your wishes to your parents. If anything lethal happens to you, knowing what you wanted will probably help them decide.)


 * In most countries, there is no upper age limit to being an organ donor. Even very old people (and people with severe health issues) can still have some transplantable organs and/or tissues (Anecdotal example: One of the "Ghost Ship" guild members posted in chat about a deceased relative: "He was an organ/tissue donor -- despite being an 81-y/o ex-smoker, he still had goodies for someone else to use [...].") And often the recipients are old people, too, or have similar health issues. If you are very old and/or have severe health issues, it is better to be a registered organ donor and let the doctors find out after your death whether your organs and tissues can be transplanted, than not to be a registered organ donor and still have one or two organs that could have saved or improved someone else's life.


 * If you have an organ donor registration and an advance healthcare directive ("living will"), in some countries, care must be taken that there is no conflict between the two. (Organ donorship may require some life-prolonging machines to be switched on a little longer until the organs are removed. If your advance healthcare directive states that all such machines should be switched off immediately, this may conflict with organ donation.) Some countries have laws giving priority to your wish to be an organ donor. In others, it is the other way round, and you have to take care yourself that your advance healthcare directive is written properly to avoid such a conflict. For details, see your country's official organ donation website, your country's websites about advance healthcare directives, and this page's chapter on advanced healthcare directives ("living wills").


 * If you are an organ donor and want to donate your body to medical research and education after death, that might lead to conflicts as well. It depends non just on the laws of your country, but also on the institute or organization you want to donate your body to. You should read their small print. Some don't accept registered organ donors. Others have no problems with organ donors at all, and give priority to organ and tissue donation for transplantation, and still accept the rest of the body afterwards. There might be others that accept organ donors only if they died in such a way that their organs could not be donated and weren't removed. In some countries, it might even be legally possible that body donation takes precedence over organ donation. You'll have to check the details in each case. See the chapter on body donation for more information.


 * Organ donation usually does not mean your burial is automatically being paid for and taken care of (though there may be countries where there are such benefits). A good way to get these benefits would be body donation (though that isn't always the case either - you'll have to read the small print to check).

Donation of Other Body Parts: Blood, Stem Cells, Hair
This section is about donating blood, blood plasma, stem cells, bone marrow, hair, and other parts of your body (except organs) while still alive.

Blood Donation Challenges
The guild currently only contains one blood donation challenge: Feel free to create more!
 * Spende Blut! (Deutschland/DRK) Donating Blood in Germany (Red Cross) (a permanent challenge about donating blood in Germany, created by Ryffy)

Sometimes the Tavern also has blood donation challenges (usually short-term challenges that can be won).

The One Blood Guild! guild is also about donation of blood, platelets, plasma, etc., but has been inactive since May 2014.

Blood Donation Links
We don't have a link collection here yet - but they are easy to find. So far, we only have two links for Germany:
 * www.drk-blutspende.de for donating blood
 * www.cslplasma.de/ for donating blood plasma

Blood Donation Details

 * Blood plasma and platelets can be donated more often than whole blood (the body regenerates faster).
 * While blood type O is the best donor type for whole blood, blood type AB is best for plasma donation.

Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Donation Links

 * International: www.bmdw.org (Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide)
 * International: www.wmda.info (World Marrow Donor Association), has a worldwide list of local registries
 * Germany: www.dkms.de (Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei)
 * Germany: www.zkrd.de (Zentrales Knochenmarkspender-Register Deutschland)
 * Sweden: www.tobiasregistret.se (Tobias Registret)
 * US: www.bethematch.org (National Marrow Donor Program/Be the Match)
 * US: www.giftoflife.org (Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation)

Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Donation Details
To become a stem cell donor, several steps are necessary: You can also find more information about stem cell transplantation and donation in Wikipedia.
 * First, you google a local stem cell registry of your choice (for example Be The Match and Gift of Life in the US, or DKMS and ZKRD in Germany) and register there. (The registries cooperate, so your donation will be available for recipients worldwide. But most registries only accept local donors.The World Marrow Donor Association's worldwide list of local registries might help you find one in your country.) At Be The Match, registration works like this: You register online, answer some questions about your health, they send you a test kit consisting basically of a few q-tips, you swab the inside of your mouth with them, and send the test kit back. With other registries, it is usually similar.
 * Then, usually, nothing happens for a long time (often many years) - unless and until someone who matches your HLA typing needs a donation. Then the registry will contact you. You will get a lot of information about the donation procedure. You will have the choice to still refuse. Some tests will be done to make sure that you are really a good match for the recipient, and that you are healthy enough.
 * The actual donation will then be done using one of two methods: either peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation or bone marrow donation. (The links here are to Be The Match, but it is more or less the same with other registries.)

Here are two quotes from posts in guild chat about the topic:


 * "They took my stem cells from my hip bone. The more common method is to take the stem cells from your blood. For this method you have to take medication a couple of days before the donation. Taking the stem cells from the hip bone is a classic surgical intervention under general anaesthetic. I trusted this method more than the other. I understand that most people prefer taking stem cells from their blood because they fear the risks and the struggle of a surgery."


 * "I've been registered as a bone marrow donor for ten years and was contacted last year as a potential match. [...] I said yes to moving forward - it is very, very hard to find someone who matches well enough, which in my reasoning creates a fairly unique obligation to step in when possible, to make a few months of my own life a little less comfortable to prolong someone else's life. In my case, though I was willing they did not go ahead with further screening (and you don't get to know why or know much about the patient at any stage of the process). But I know two people who did donate bone marrow and were very glad they did, and I know quite a few other people who have fought blood cancers, where a marrow transplant is powerful option."

Hair Donation
While not as life-savingly important as other forms of donation, the topic came up several times in guild chat, and fits in well with the guild topics.

Hair Donation Links
You can find local organizations accepting hair donations by googling "hair donation" in your language. (Maybe add the name of your country if your language is spoken elsewhere, too). Or you can look for "sell hair", "buy hair", or similar if you want to sell your hair and donate the money yourself. So far, the list here only contains North American, German and Austrian ones: Since you are sending in your hair by mail, you can also send it in from other countries. (For example, the Canadian Cancer Society also recommends sending it to Pantene Beautiful Lenghts .)
 * Austria: Verein Haarfee (an NGO which produces wigs from donated hair and gives them to children directly)
 * Canada: 360 Hair (a commercial wig producer who also makes wigs for children with cancer for free)
 * Germany: BVZ Rapunzel (an NGO which auctions off the donated hair to wig producers for the highest possible price, then donates the profits to Ronald McDonald House Charities which enables families to stay close to their hospitalized children)
 * Germany: www.haare-verkaufen.de (website of a commercial wig producer who buys hair - it's up to you what you do with the money)
 * Germany: This German article has a good overview over different methods of different hair donation organizations, and their advantages and disadvantages. (Much of the article's content is summarized below.)
 * UK: Brave the Shave (a project of the NGO Macmillan Cancer Support which helps to turn your haircut into a fundraising event for Macmillan Cancer Support, and recommends donating the hair to Little Princess Trust)
 * UK: Little Princess Trust (an NGO which produces wigs from donated hair and gives them to children, and also gives advice how to turn your haircut into a fundraising event for Little Princess Trust)
 * US: Children With Hair Loss
 * US: Locks of Love (but Nonprofit Investor has a very negative report about them)
 * US: Pantene Beautiful Lengths
 * US: Wigs for Kids
 * US: Wigs 4 Kids ("Wigs for Kids" and "Wigs 4 Kids" are two different organizations.)

Hair Donation Details
The real hair market is actually flooded with cheap (but beautiful and high-quality) long black Asian hair, and wigs of different colors are made of it (by bleaching and dying the hair). Much higher prices are paid for hair with different natural colors, and wigs made of it are much more expensive, and are usually bought by people who can afford such a luxury. So selling light hair for a lot of money, buying an inexpensive wig for a patient who can't otherwise afford one, and donating the rest of the money to a cancer organization or another good cause (or even donating all the money to said good cause) can often do more good than making and donating a wig directly. And there is even a difference regarding how the hair is sold: It can be sold at its normal price, without much fanfare, or the sale can be turned into a fund-raising auction and a social event where wig producers usually pay much more than the hair is actually worth. (BVZ Rapunzel does the latter.)The third option is to sell your hair yourself and do with the money whatever you want - for example, donate it to a good cause of your choice. (For example, www.haare-verkaufen.de is a German website where you can sell hair to the wig producer Rieswick & Partner Friseur GmbH.) Even if you'd just spend the money yourself - if more human hair is sold, prices for the hair will probably sink, and real-hair wigs might become cheaper for everyone.All these examples are Austrian or German, but they show the many different options available very well. When donating hair in other countries, try to find out which one the organization you are donating to chooses!
 * Cancer patients aren't the only people without hair. If they recover sufficiently to not need chemotherapy anymore, their hair usually grows back. (In some cases, chemotherapy is given for many years though.) For people with permanent hair loss (for example, alopecia areata patients), the question what to wear on their heads (if anything) is often much more important.
 * The emotional need (or lack of need) for a wig can be very different for different individuals. Some people without hair are perfectly happy with caps, headscarves, etc., or nothing at all if the weather is warm enough, and don't want a wig (not even for free). Others are content with synthetic wigs. Others wouldn't want to miss their real-hair wigs. For cancer patients, the hair question is often the least of their worries. If the person without hair is fit for work, and working or looking for a job, that also plays a role: It might or might not be better for them to wear a wig at work.
 * Various hair-donation organizations have very different methods of letting alopecia and cancer patients and/or other people without hair benefit from the donations. (See this German article.) Basically, there are three methods to donate hair for the benefit of others:You could donate your hair to an organizations that actually makes wigs and gives them to patients directly. (One of those would be Verein Haarfee.)Or you could donate your hair to one of the organizations which sell the hair to wig-makers and donate the profits to a cancer organization (or other good cause) and/or to patients who couldn't otherwise afford a wig. (One of those would be BVZ Rapunzel.)
 * Often it is possible to turn your haircut into a fundraising event. Some NGOs help donors do that (e.g. Brave the Shave and the Little Princess Trust ).
 * Many organizations and producers only accept hair that is no more than 5% grey, even though the hair usually gets dyed when producing the wigs. That is because grey hair doesn't absorb dye at the same rate as other types of hair. (For example, see Pantene's donation requirements.) However, there are exceptions (especially since many older patients already have naturally grey hair before losing it, and some would prefer a wig of similar color). For example, 360 Hair accepts grey hair. When in doubt, google, read, and ask!

Body Donation to Medical Research and Education
[Section header is only a placeholder so far, section text is still to be filled in.]

Advance Healthcare Directives ("Living Wills")
[Section header is only a placeholder so far, section text is still to be filled in.]

[ToDo: Add the other topic chapters here!]

Guild Name
Actually, the guild first got its name Ghost Ship. (Why? Take a look at the guild’s history!) Then, the new guild leader was wondering what to do with the guild – and came up with the idea of death-related topics (especially since she had wanted to create a "Become an Organ Donor!" challenge anyway). Blood and bone marrow donation are closely related to organ donation, so they also became important guild topics. The guild leader hopes the ghost ship theme isn’t too tactless but, rather, raises people’s spirits enough to fearlessly look death in the eye and prepare for it!

Guild Description
The guild's current description is While these are the main topics, you're also welcome to just haunt the ship, rattle your bones here, and carve some eerie messages into the wood! Search terms: organ donation, organ donor, kidney donation, kidney donor, blood donation, blood donor, stem cell donation, stem cell donor, bone marrow donation, bone marrow donor, hair donation, hair donor, wig, volunteering for clinical trials, body donation, body donor, corpse, medical education, medical research, forensic research, death, dying, preparation for death, prepare to die, preparedness, advance healthcare directive, living will, personal directive, advance directive, advance decision, will, testament, intestacy, inheritance, heir, living trust, power of attorney, life insurance, funeral, burial, cremation, obituary, ...''
 * ''(... by now also know as the "organ donor guild".) - This guild was boarded (not created!), taken over, and renamed by Habitican pirates. When we came in, it had zero members. A real ghost ship! The idea of death-related challenges suggested itself - for example, how to become an organ donor. Now the guild chat is all about organ donation, making a will, making an advance healthcare directive, donating your body to medical research & education, blood and bone marrow donation while still alive, etc. Our organ donor challenges work well and we also usually have one or two other challenges about the other topics. But we could always use more - especially step-by-step guide challenges with lots of useful links! If you have enough knowledge about any of these topics, please feel free to create one!

The guild's description in the Guilds Guide is shorter:
 * Do pirate ghost ships support a good cause? They do if they have a "Become an Organ Donor!" challenge and also encourage blood and bone marrow donation (while alive) and body donation to medical research & education (after death). Other topics are making a will, making an advanced health care directive, and generally all death-related things you might want to take care of while still alive.
 * This guild also has its own guild page in the Armory.

Guild Speech Bubble
The guild's current "message from group leader" (also known as "speech bubble") is


 * The guild has its own wiki page (which, sadly, is still very much under construction, but already contains some helpful links).
 * Big thanks to @Cantras who is now in charge of the organ donor challenges - it's a lot of work! Thanks also to @Horacious Moreau for coding the "organ donor counter" for the "♡ I am an organ donor! ♡" challenges!
 * The new guild logo is from George Grie. It is public domain (GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0) and uploaded from Wikimedia Commons. (The old logo from Daniel Sinoca can be admired at Photoshop Creative. We originally found it as a "free wallpaper" on a website that no longer exists, and thought it has no copyright, but it has.)
 * The guild usually contains several identical "♡ I am an organ donor! ♡" challenges but also some other challenges. Please scroll through the whole list of guild challenges to find them!

Guild Logo
As the speech bubble says, the logo is currently "Full Moon Rising" from George Grie's Ghost Ship series. But suggestions for a better one (own art or pictures in the public domain or with a licence that allows commercial use) are welcome!

Guild Members

 * Most important of all are the many guild members who are organ donors (some have even donated an organ while still alive!), bone marrow donors, blood or blood plasma donors, etc., or provide valuable information for others in guild challenges and chat!
 * The current guild leader is Mara the Marine Marauder.
 * But Cantras is the one who keeps the organ donor challenges (and most of the rest of the guild) running, can be contacted about them, and deserves your praise for it!
 * Horacious Moreau coded the "organ donor counter" for the organ donor challenges (and still repairs it whenever necessary).

Guild History
From here on downwards, the page is a mess!

Ummm... to start building the page, I'll just copy in a few already existing bits of text, which I can happily play with later:

Existing challenges at the moment:

Inside the guild:

[https://habitrpg.com/#/options/groups/challenges/298be81f-188d-43e0-8694-af2203d99f35 Get Disemboweled! - Organ Donation for Pirates v0.3]

"♡ I am an organ donor! ♡" (Usually several copies of it. People win them all the time and I set up new ones almost daily. If I gave a link here, it would probably be outdated the next day.)

Pirate's last chest (about life insurance)

... and outside the guild in the Tavern:

[https://habitrpg.com/#/options/groups/challenges/c6839e9a-6e2d-419a-b009-f4466c486647 Become an Organ Donor! (Or get a trophy for already being one!)] (just points to the organ donation challenges inside the guild)

... and completely independent of the guild, but with related topics:

Donate blood! (in the Tavern)

Some topic-related links:

About becoming an organ donor (after death) in:


 * Australia: www.donatelife.gov.au/decide or www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/australian-organ-donor-register
 * Brazil: www.abto.org.br/abtov03/default.aspx?mn=477&c=918&s=0&friendly=doacao-de-orgaos-e-tecidos
 * Canada: beadonor.ca
 * Denmark: www.sundhed.dk/borger/min-side/mine-registreringer/organdonation/
 * France: www.france-adot.org/don-organe.html and www.france-adot.org/demande-carte-donneur.html
 * Germany: www.organspende-info.de
 * Netherlands: www.jaofnee.nl
 * Norway: www.organdonasjon.no
 * South Africa: www.odf.org.za
 * Sweden: www.socialstyrelsen.se/donationsregistret
 * UK: www.organdonation.nhs.uk
 * USA: donatelife.net

About bone marrow/stem cell donation (while alive):
 * http://bethematch.org/Support-the-Cause/Donate-bone-marrow/Donation-process/Donating-bone-marrow/
 * http://www.giftoflife.org/
 * http://www.zkrd.de/ (Germany)
 * http://www.dkms.de (Germany)
 * http://www.tobiasregistret.se/ (Sweden)
 * Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide (BMDW) list of registries

About body donation to medical research and education:

(You'll usually have to google the medical institutes that accept body donation in your country. These are just some very few examples.)
 * wikipedia entry about body donation
 * body donation to forensic science (US)
 * body donation to the university in Berlin (Germany)
 * body donation to the university in Heidelberg (Germany)

About wills (or the lack thereof):


 * willing.com (Helps you to make a valid will - at least within the US - for free.)
 * Intestacy - who inherits if someone dies without a will? (UK-based)
 * Warning: The following two are commercial links. I know nothing about LegalZoom.com, Inc., and I don't want to advertise any commercial services here. But the links came up in guild chat and can at least serve as a starting point to get a feeling for what it looks like when you make your will, living will, power of attorney, etc., with the help of a commercial legal document assistant service.
 * legalzoom.com (for US)
 * legalzoom.co.uk (for UK)

Other (or covering several topics): I'll add more when/if I have time.
 * "Get Your Sh** Together" (Warning: Doesn't contain swearing except for that one word in the title! A whole website about how to prepare your will, living will, life insurance, financial affairs, etc. With checklist. We like!)
 * lifehacker: "One Day, You're Going to Die. Here's How to Prepare for It" (apparently US-centered)
 * "3 main lessons of Psychology" (an article that, among other things, compares organ donation rates in "opt-in" and "opt-out" countries)
 * "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach - Google Books" (an informative book about the use of human corpses in medical science and education and related things (I haven't read it myself yet though))

Informative bits and pieces copied from the guild chat (still totally unsorted):

-a month ago+1 C.
 * @p. It took me a lot longer than it should have to realize that the reason so many people had portrait-studio obit pictures was probably because they deliberately had photos taken for their obits.

-a month ago+1 p.
 * @C., my grandparents just had their obit pictures taken. They got their usual "couples" picture, and one for each of them separately so that when they go, there's something for the newspaper. They're in their 80's, so they think about it more than most probably do.

-a month ago+1 C.
 * Here's a death-related thing that is not organ related, if that's alright: Take a few good pictures of yourself. Keep them somewhere people will find them, and keep them updated. I work for newspapers -- about once a week we run an obituary where the person is making duckface or other ridiculous expression, or the picture is so small/low-res that it's displayed with a "decorative" black border around it because we can't blow it up any further, or any of a number of things that will make you cringe when you look down/up at it from [wherever you will be post-mortem]. "Don't you have any better pictures of me than that???" you'll say, but it will be too late, the obit will already be printed, and your family and friends will cut them out and remember you as a blurry duckface with an embarrassing haircut for the rest of their lives. (Optionally, write your own obit -- but if you find that too morbid or gauche, at least make the picture easy on them.)

...

-a month ago+1 C.
 * I am an organ donor. I have a card which is displayed in the window part of my wallet so that it's the first thing the medics will see if I get hurt in an accident.

...

-2 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * @Y. The challenge is about organ donation after death - so, if you are a registered organ donor, you qualify! You were right to check it off.

-2 months ago+1 Y.
 * So the Organ Donor Challenge... do we actually DONATE an organ or are we getting it only if we're a registered organ donor? I'm a registered Organ Donor, but I have never donated an organ. I'm not sure if I should have checked it off or not.

...

-2 months ago+1 A.
 * I've been registered as a bone marrow donor for ten years and was contacted last year as a potential match. It was a stressful period in my life for me, and I had to take a good look at the materials on donating: the donation process can be stressful and take several months of healing. Nevertheless, I said yes to moving forward--it is very, very hard to find someone who matches well enough, which in my reasoning creates a fairly unique obligation to step in when possible, to make a few months of my own life a little less comfortable to prolong someone else's life. In my case, though I was willing they did not go ahead with further screening (and you don't get to know why or know much about the patient at any stage of the process). But I know two people who did donate bone marrow and were very glad they did, and I know quite a few other people who have fought blood cancers, where a marrow transplant is powerful option. I'll have a bone marrow registry challenge brewing in the back of my mind. :)

...

-2 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * @m. Glad I could be of help! A medical student I knew once described the whole thing and the funeral service to me and it sounded really tasteful and nice (if you can call a funeral service that). - Of course, that was just the description for that one medical university in Germany. - When I looked it up again now, I found there's a minimum age to apply, and I'm a few years too young!

-2 months ago+1 m.
 * @Mara the Marine Marauder Thank you. I will pursue that avenue. Cheered me up actually :smiley:

-2 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * @m. So, body donation for medical research and education is different from organ donation. There's usually a term somewhere in the application conditions for body donation that if you are also an organ donor, that takes precedence. But if for some reason, your organs can't be used for donation (and, depending on cause of death and how long it takes to get you to a hospital, that is often the case), then the body gets donated. (As with organ donation, it's different from country to country though and it's useful to read the small print.)

-2 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * @m. If you want your body to automatically get buried without cost, you can/must make a so-called "body donation" which basically means medical students can practice with it so they'll once become good surgeons. :) - I asked about that once and heard they actually have waiting lists because it's a such a good way to get one's burial organized for free. But that might not be the same everywhere.

-2 months ago+1 m.
 * Hmm I just confirmed with the NHS in the UK that they can reject your body. I thought when signing up for organ donation I kinda got rid of myself. My kids will not have a lot of funeral costs because of me I wrongly assumed

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-2 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * @F. I've read some German articles about how your Advanced Health Care Directive (German: Patientenverfügung) and your organ donor card (German: Organspenderausweis) can clash and what you can do to avoid it. (If you google both terms together, a lot of such articles pop up.) In short: If you're braindead and an organ donor, they'll keep your heart pumping until they've removed the organs. If you specify in your Advanced Health Care Directive that you don't want any medical measures to prolong your life once you're braindead, you practically forbid that. So you'd have to add some clause that it's ok if and as long as it's necessary for organ donation. (No, I don't have a link yet for a template/example Advanced Health Care Directive... but if you write one, you'll probably do some research anyway and you'll find one.)

-2 months ago+1 F.
 * In addition to wills, don't forget to appoint a Medical Power of Attorney (for medical decisions) and a Durable Power of Attorney (financial decisions). Fill out an Advanced Care Directive and give a copy to your MPoA knows where it is. Talk to your family and MPoA about what sort of end-of-life interventions you want. We all want to die at the age of 102 in our sleep with a smile on our face, but unfortunately, that's not how it usually happens.

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-2 months ago+2 W.
 * Make sure you inform your family of your wish of being an organ donor: few medical people are going to override a close family member who says 'No, absolutely not!' and makes a big fuss about it. ED and hospital personnel are notoriously gun-shy when it comes to possible litigation.

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-2 months ago+2 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * Also, if anyone wants to do create a blood donor challenge, or a bone marrow donor challenge, or anything like that, feel free to do so! I won't because I'm lacking the experience in that field. But you can create challenges in a guild without being guild leader. You don't even need gems for it. You can make the challenge here, or you can make it in the tavern, or you can make it over in the "One Blood Guild!" guild (where they still don't have a challenge and haven't said anything for the past 3 months). Or you can do a combination of "pointer challenge" in the tavern and real challenge in one of the guilds. You can do it alone or create it together with someone. If you want some piraty remarks and rewards with it, I can help you with that! ;-} (It's always easier to find piraty remarks and songs with the words "blood" and "bones" than with, say, "Maxwell's equations" or "crocheting tournament".) - Just want to say, if you like the idea and you want there to be a challenge, don't be shy!

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-2 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * About the plan to make a challenge where you make your will: I've looked into it and it's soooo complicated! (Among other things, I found out that if there is no will, every heir has to pay a very high fee - in Germany, that is - to get the so-called "certificate of heirship" to prove that they inherit, whereas, if there is a will basically letting the same people inherit, you don't have to pay that fee. That fee alone is reason enough to make a will.) - I won't do this alone. Any experts out there who would like to help, or make the challenge themselves?

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 * They took my stem cells from my hip bone. The more common method is to take the stem cells from your blood. For this method you have to take medication a couple of days before the donor. Taking the stem cells from the hip bone is a classic surgical intervention under general anaesthetic. I trusted this method more than the other. I understand that the most people prefere taking stem cells from their blood because they fear the risks and the struggle of a surgery. There are different organisations around the world where you can register to become a stem cell donor. Have a look here

-2 months ago+2 K.

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 * @i. I think it's ok but there is already a whole guild explicitly dedicated to blood donation - the "One Blood Guild". I just looked into it - they don't even have a single challenge! Maybe a challenge there plus a pointer challenge in the tavern would be a good idea?

-2 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * @Mara the Marine Marauder Actually, I had another challenge-making idea I wanted to ask you about. I've been inspired by your organ donor challenge to make a "donate blood" challenge - with a suitable title, do you think that's grisly enough to fit under the ghost ship remit? Or is it insufficiently death-related (in which case, I'll just make it as a tavern challenge & not put one here)?

-2 months ago+2 i.
 * @i. Yes, I'm aware of that... But at least I should be able to give one or two links like the one you posted, and I haven't even googled these yet! (Plus I think there are laws here that you can't completely disinherit some of your next of kin (which, of course, also differs from country to country), and I should be able to give one or two links to that, too. - By the way, if you and/or @ohai and/or anyone else would like to make such a challenge, I'd be happy - feel free! (The only ideas I already have besides the ones I posted are about the gamification - things like "Prepare to die!" or "I leave you this treasure map..." or some fitting lines from the "15 men on a dead man's chest" lyrics, etc... I'll happily help you out with those if you even want that!)

-2 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * @Mara the Marine Marauder Extra complication for your will challenge: some of the legal stuff regarding wills may vary from country to country. Rather than trying to cover all possible cases yourself, maybe it's better if you include some of the "research questions" in the challenge's To-Dos, such that each participant does the research for the particular area where they live (e.g. trying to find out who inherits if I die without a will takes me to this page on the UK Government website - where the first question asked is to do with which part of the UK I live in, so presumably the rules are different in different areas!)

-2 months ago+1i.
 * For the will challenge, I guess I have to look up a lot of legal things myself first - like "When is a will valid?" and "What's the link to a website where I can find out who inherits if I don't write a will?" and "Does it make sense to write a will that says: 'Do everything as if there was no will!', just so that people don't look for a will in vain, and is there an example text for one?" The rest, like "Store it in a place where it's easy to find", "Tell your next of kin", "What are objects your heirs might quarrel about?", "Which objects of emotional value do you want to give to which person?", "What should happen to your pets?" etc. aren't that difficult, I guess. (Probably they are and I just don't have a clue.)

-2 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder

A copy of the beginnings of the guild chat (because one day I want to tell the story how the guild came into being):


 * ... ah, found the download! Thanks again! Looks great as a logo! *sings along with "Ship of the Dead" which, again, I can only find for free in Bilgemunky's Halloween podcast (time 0:34:34, right after "Zombie Pirates in Love")*

-3 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * @Tony Whitney The ghost ship picture is beautiful but I can't download it! It says "Click the download button" but there is none... I suspect some browser security settings, will see what I can do. - By "tattoo" I meant the "See Ya, Seahorse!" challenge you won.

-3 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * seahorse tatoo?

-3 months ago+1Tony Whitney
 * http://blackdreamer.com/ghost-ship-wallpaper-12-free-desktop.html

-3 months ago+1Tony Whitney
 * @Wunderkind Oooh a mermaid on a kraken! I think you're in the right guild here. :)

-3 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * Read about your exploits in stag guild and I just had to check it out. Nice ship you've got here.

-3 months ago+1Wunderkind
 * Hey @Tony Whitney where did you get your new seahorse tattoo? Didn't see it before! (Looks nice though.)

-3 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * ... got a good ghost ship picture or jolly roger to upload maybe?

-3 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * ... I don't know what changed, but I am the guild leader now! @Tony Whitney Sorry - beat you to it by a hair's breadth! Sooooo - wanna help me redesign it?

-3 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * No gems here to rob... but a ghost ship guild is still a nice thing to be on in. Here's a link to Hucklescary Finn's "Ghost Ship" (at time 1:10:25 - again, Bilgemunky was the only place I found it for free) - the lyrics are appropriate. :) - Maybe we can duel jaragon?

-3 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * @Alys said in the Tavern: " @Mara the Marine Marauder : That guild does still have a leader even though that person isn't part of a guild. Their name is jaragon and they are still active in HabitRPG; their last log in date was today. It's not possible for me to tell you how you can contact them, but perhaps they drop into the Tavern sometimes."

-3 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * (We could duel nonetheless in case we get bored otherwise...)

-3 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * I knew you'd show up here, Tony! Good pirate! :) Sadly, it looks like we don't automatically become guild leaders by joining an empty guild. (Trying to find out the technical details.)

-3 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder
 * Shall we duel for guild leadership?

-3 months ago+2Tony Whitney
 * A ghost guild with zero members? (It was before I joined.)

-3 months ago+1 Mara the Marine Marauder

Some more data about the guild before we joined it:

It was a Hearthstone fandom guild (I actually forgot the title) which jaragon probably abandoned because another one already existed. We probably found it empty because we joined in the time between jaragon leaving the guild and the next database update (which would have deleted the empty guild).

... that's enough guild page writing for today. :-}