Give the gift of life

“Excuse me, sir. I just want to say thank you,” said the woman lying in the maroon recliner with a plastic tube dangling from her arm. I was headed to the restroom after my 90-minute nap at Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center. “My grandson is being treated for cancer and he has been receiving a lot of platelets from people like you,” she explained. “Thank you.”

The drops of blood on the pad are unusual, really.

I have been donating blood since I was 18 with a handful of interruptions after tattoos. In 31 years I have never come face to face with a stranger whose life was touched by my “gift.” Sure, I know folks who have have fought cancer, and I know they appreciate blood donors. But it was something special and humbling to receive that thank you.

Let’s get this straight. This is not about me. I don't thrive on kudos and public accolades or recognition. We all like to feel appreciated, but I am not looking for congratulations or plaudits. If you want to pat me on the back, do this: go and give. If you cannot, then recruit someone as your proxy.

Jean and I chatted later at the snack table and she explained that 6-year-old Gabe was diagnosed at age 5 with kidney cancer. The troubled organ and a massive tumor were removed and he's been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment at St. Jude’s Peoria affiliate. She asked about the plateletpheresis process.
 
“So they take it out like whole blood and keep the ‘gold’?” she said, chuckling and drawing sympathetic laughs from me and Donna, the donor coordinator at MVRBC. “Well, it is like liquid gold.”

Indeed. The accumulated platelets are a golden hue.

Plateletpheresis is the process of removing whole blood from a donor, separating the blood into its components, keeping the platelets, and then returning the remaining blood components to the donor. The major components of whole blood are red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma. (www.universityhealthsystem.com) 

Jean’s grandson has been receiving gobs of platelet transfusions over the past four days, she said. “It’s what's keeping him alive,” she said.

Take that in. Blood donors save lives. I don’t know if Gabe has received my platelets from previous donations. But somebody has. And when I have given whole blood, my pints have been pumped into accident victims and surgery patients.

And here’s the deal: It costs you nothing but a little time. Whole blood donations take about 30 minutes start to finish, plateletpheresis takes two to three hours. The first 10 to 15 minutes is spent filling out a medical history questionnaire. A number of factors determine the time required for platelet donation. I typically do a double, which takes 90 minutes or more. I nap or read or watch Food Network TV, interspersing conversation with the staff.

The result: You help save a human life. You give somebody a fighting chance. it truly is the gift of life.