Third Time a Charm

I am blessed to be part of a special blood donation program called Apheresis. It is an option for donors who donate whole blood but just takes a little extra time to donate and also requires a trip into the city as the donation locations are limited. Basically, rather than take a donation of whole blood they draw some blood, put it through a centrifuge to spin out the platelets, add a little anti-coagulant and give the rest of it back to me. This process repeats a number of times over about a 45 min timeframe.

The reason this program close to my heart is that when I receive a phone call, I've been a direct match for someone who requires platelets immediately. Within hours of the donation being made it is already being given to the person I was matched with. This may be somone with a blood disorder, leukemia or a burn victim. Yesterday afternoon I received a call to go in and make a donation today. The weather and traffic were awful this morning and a normal 40 min. drive took 2 1/4 hours. I was stressed to say the least and my blood pressure was through the roof to prove it!

The reason I called this post 'third time a charm' is that my arms would just not cooperate today and it took one (pinchy but not painful) first attempt by 2 nurses that eventually found a vein but then I clotted the needle before they could get the machine started as my platelets are really high. That's a great thing for these donations but once I clot it the needle has to be removed immediately. Stink! A prod in my other arm confirmed once again that it does not have a single useable vein and then finally she made a very precarious but successful second attempt in my left arm. Roxy (the nurse in the picture above) kept telling me jokingly to stop moving as I'd make the machine beep each time I moved my arm the slightest bit. Eventually it got to the point that when my machine beeped again I'd just call out 'Sorry Roxy' and she'd yell back, 'sit still!' (She's also teased that if she wasn't successful the 2nd time she tried my left arm she was going for my neck! Heh....nope!! Sure am glad she found that one! ;o)

The people that participate in this process get to know one another really well, both the donors and nurses. When someone is quite ill there may only be a handful of people who are a good match for them so they go in often. Frances was the guy in the chair next to me and we spent the entire time laughing and joking with the nurses. You can see his platelet donation hanging on his stand. Yup...the pull out red blood, put red blood back and somehow spin out yellowish platelets. Modern science is wonderful!

I hadn't been in to the city to make a platelet donation for a few years but a couple of recent events changed that for me this time. A friend contracted an extremely rare blood disease just weeks ago and owes her life to platelet donations (she's doing great now and her bloodwork was called 'pristine' yesterday! Praise the Lord!) and also, a friend knows of a little 5 yo girl who was diagnosed with leukemia just days ago. Knowing that I was a match for someone meant I 'had' to go in and do whatever I could. I'm praying for the man who quite possibly has already received my donation. I don't need to know his name for God to know exactly who I'm praying for. Cool!!

If you have a opportunity to be a blood donor, please do. None of us will ever know if/when we might need a blood or platelet transfusion and it could be the generosity of a complete stranger that saves your life.