Cellular memory maybe a far fetched hypothesis but to completely disregard and mock it is not scientific at all. Surely its worth investigating.

I wonder how that works when surgeons doing transplants have been failing to connect up all those special ‘memory’ neurons.

I suspect my buffoonery is not quite yet proven.

Anyway, Andy, that potential news story fragment is superb! Thanks for those laughs. I used to work at an art college. And Jeanette Winterson lives too damn close to here for my sanity.

Some people that believe in cellular memory may believe in “cellular souls” but to profess all believe it is beyond reductionist. Its a fallacy.

Also, I’m in agreement with the commenter who said extrapolating from personal experience and applying it to a whole is a dangerous and completely unproductive process.

now I can’t speak much for this, but im sure there aren’t a lot of people who are donors who had one of the above to a extreme degree.

(drunk drivers, druggies, accidental death, suicide, possible murder, *NEED NOT APPLY*)

point is, there may be very few (1of billions) that would be of the right circumstances for this to occur, both the donor and the recipient need to be “compatible” and accepting to the “transfer”
so even if this IS possible, is rare that it would occur & and be noticed. and if you are against it , it won’t occur.

The last time I checked UNOS stats, generally 75% of heart recipients (not true of other organs) are males, 25% are female. In addition, most of the transplant cardiologists and surgeons are men. I have found that men are uncomfortable with the idea of accepting someone else (heart, spirit or piece of meat- however you view your donor heart) into their bodies and their being. Simpler put: receptivity is not easy for men. So it does not surprise me that so many male recipients are vocal in their ridicule of what makes them feel vulnerable and uncomfortable by its nature. Moreover, I have found that when I speak with male recipients alone and not surrounded by men in the support groups (which are dominated by men because of the percentages in the heart tx world), I hear very different comments. I consider this buckling to peer pressure similar to a locker room effect.

Extrapolating from your single experience to all heart recipients is meaningless, yet this often happens relative to this topic. I rarely, for example, take immuno-suppressant meds (I am 15 years out from transplant). Should I generalize from my experience and tell you that you should also quit taking yours? And ridicule you for taking them or for not having a similar experience to mine?

Lastly, I heard one female recipient, whom I think was from Arizona, make similar comments to yours, but I have heard many men across three transplant centers succumb to the peer pressure I described above and go into hiding about their feelings and about many of the personal, social, financial and spiritual aspects of living this life. Particularly the level of depression that characterizes life for many recipients.

All you can conclude is that you have no changes (personality, food preference, etc.) since your transplant that you cannot account for. That fact that you can’t play piano — before or since — lends nothing to the overall discussion except to diminish others’ experiences, Michael.

It occurs to me that the female recipient I once heard speak with a similar dismissive tone about this topic used the same phrase you have to trivialize others’ experiences — i.e., “attempting to claim their fifteen minutes of fame…”

Try a new thought and open your heart in the process.

Catherine Beckman
Colorado Springs, CO, 10/3/2007

michael thomas
http//my-heart-transplant-blog.blogspot.com