For Wilshire Baptist Church
There’s a lot I can do to help people and a lot I can’t do; a lot that I like to do, and a lot that I don’t like to do. Among the few things I can and will do that hits the sweet spot on the graph of those possibilities is donating blood.
During my adult lifetime, I’ve given almost nine gallons of blood. That sounds like a lot but there are folks who have given much more. The top donor in the Guinness Book of World Records has given more than 25 gallons over the past 60 years. The majority of my donations have been through Wilshire’s periodic blood drives. I’ve done it because the need is evident, it’s easy to do — you just lay on your back and relax for 30 to 40 minutes — and when you’re done you get some snacks and a free pass for a lazy afternoon nap. You also get the satisfaction of knowing you’ve helped people in real need in a very tangible and personal way.
According to Carter BloodCare’s records, I first gave in 1991 and I last gave in February of this year. I haven’t given since then because nobody wants blood that may be tainted with cancer cells or the chemicals used to destroy them. Instead, I’ve become one of those people you hear about when Carter or the Red Cross are recruiting donors: a recipient in need.
I was in the 11th week of chemotherapy and the fourth week of radiation when the blood lab tests they do before each infusion showed my platelets were seriously depleted. In case you don’t know, platelets are cell fragments in the bloodstream that clot and prevent uncontrolled bleeding when we cut, nick or scrape ourselves. The normal count for platelets in the blood is 150,000 to 450,000 per microliter. My count was down to 11,000, which is next to nothing; at that level, it’s possible to bleed for no apparent reason. It was serious enough that my radiation oncologist said, “Take care of yourself,” and he suggested I shouldn’t shave until my count was up again. He wasn’t kidding, and neither was my medical oncologist, who sent me hiking to another building at Medical City Dallas for a transfusion.
Here’s another “in case you don’t know” and it’s one I didn’t know myself: while platelets are separated out of donated blood, they don’t look like blood at all; they look like apple sauce. They’re yellowish and sort of thick, but you don’t eat or drink them. Instead, a transfusion bag is hung above you and the platelets drip down a tube through a pump that controls the flow into a vein in your arm. It takes about an hour with the nurse watching closely for any negative reactions.
I got along fine and went home feeling no different but with the peace of mind that I had some backup help in my body while my bone marrow manufactured more platelets. A week later my platelet count was up to 51,000, and a week after that 255,000. Platelets only survive for about three days in the bloodstream, but that was plenty of time for my bone marrow to recover and produce what I needed.
The Carter BloodCare mobile donation bus will be in Wilshire’s north parking lot next Wednesday, August 30, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. I want to thank in advance all who have already signed up and encourage others to do the same. It costs nothing, takes an hour at most, and your donations give real help to patients undergoing surgery, victims of accidents and cancer patients who are depleted from their treatments. You can give a pint of whole blood, which is separated later in a lab into red blood cells, plasma and platelets, or you can volunteer for the apheresis machine, which allows you to give two units of red blood cells by separating them out while you wait and returning your plasma and platelets to your body.
Give now if you can, and I’ll join you in the mobile unit in about a year when I’m eligible to donate again. And I’ll do it with a fresh perspective: They aren’t kidding when they say a blood donation is a gift of life.