Well it’s that time of year, for giving, gratitude, and doing good. So, in light of this season, it seems perfectly appropriate to make a request for the one of the best types of giving possible. The giving of life, a future to others in need. No need to buy anything or send in a check, all that I request is a little bit of your time, and possibly some of your, you know, spare blood.
No worries, you probably have plenty of it circulating around through your body at this very moment. So if you’re able to donate blood and are not excluded by any of the eligibility criteria, I would like to strongly encourage you to donate blood. If you think that your donation of blood won’t make a difference, because hey, you’re only one person, so no big deal if you choose not to! Consider the impact of your voluntary donation. Human blood is produced only by the human body and cannot be synthesized, currently. Only blood donation can meet the needs of patients with blood loss due to major accidents, diseases, or surgery. Every time you donate, you can have the personal satisfaction of knowing that you are helping another person, if not possibly saving their life. And that is a very powerful thing for which as a recipient of blood products, I am very thankful for! Just think, your blood could possibly be helping me!
Quick facts:
-The need for blood is constant, every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood.
-More than 41,000 blood donations are needed EVERY DAY.
-A total of 30 million blood components are transfused each year in the U.S.
-Type O negative blood is the universal donor and can be transfused to patients of all blood types. It is always in great demand and often in short supply.
-With typical blood (or whole blood) donation, you have the potential to help three people via it’s transfusable components: red cells, platelets, and cryoprecipitated AHF (plasma).
While I’m on the topic of donating and all, another important but EVEN EASIER thing to do, is to join the Be the Match Registry, as you could be a possible match for a patient in need of a bone marrow transplant. While a bone marrow transplant is something that I fortunately am looking like I will not be in need of, getting register is something that I really encourage anyone between the ages of 18-44 and in good health to consider doing. You can register online here or find a local drive (typically also with a blood drive, how convenient!). What basically happens, is they will take a giant Q-tip to swab the inside of your cheek, yes, it’s really that simple. While, I do understand that this is not for everyone, if you are not restricted due to medical reasons this is an incredibly unselfish gift that you could give to save someone’s life. By registering you are taking the first step towards possibly being a cure for patients with blood cancers and other marrow disease (such as Aplastic Anemia).
Quick Facts:
-1 in every 540 registry members in the U.S. will go on to donate bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells to (PBSC) a patient.
-Every 10 minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer.
-70% of all patients who need a transplant don’t have a matched donor in their family.
-There are two methods of donation: PBSC, which is a nonsurgical procedure and the most common way to donate, and bone marrow donation, which is a surgical and usually outpatient procedure.
So, this is me standing on my little soap box asking you just to give this a little bit of thought. If you can donate, awesome. But please at least give it some thought, because you never know who you could help in the process. After donating blood a few times myself, it's kind of funny to be a recipient, so I never take it lightly. Every time I have a transfusion, I am grateful for each person who decided, "Yes, I think I'll donate!" and hope that I can reciprocate the donations some day down the road.
No worries, you probably have plenty of it circulating around through your body at this very moment. So if you’re able to donate blood and are not excluded by any of the eligibility criteria, I would like to strongly encourage you to donate blood. If you think that your donation of blood won’t make a difference, because hey, you’re only one person, so no big deal if you choose not to! Consider the impact of your voluntary donation. Human blood is produced only by the human body and cannot be synthesized, currently. Only blood donation can meet the needs of patients with blood loss due to major accidents, diseases, or surgery. Every time you donate, you can have the personal satisfaction of knowing that you are helping another person, if not possibly saving their life. And that is a very powerful thing for which as a recipient of blood products, I am very thankful for! Just think, your blood could possibly be helping me!
Quick facts:
-The need for blood is constant, every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood.
-More than 41,000 blood donations are needed EVERY DAY.
-A total of 30 million blood components are transfused each year in the U.S.
-Type O negative blood is the universal donor and can be transfused to patients of all blood types. It is always in great demand and often in short supply.
-With typical blood (or whole blood) donation, you have the potential to help three people via it’s transfusable components: red cells, platelets, and cryoprecipitated AHF (plasma).
While I’m on the topic of donating and all, another important but EVEN EASIER thing to do, is to join the Be the Match Registry, as you could be a possible match for a patient in need of a bone marrow transplant. While a bone marrow transplant is something that I fortunately am looking like I will not be in need of, getting register is something that I really encourage anyone between the ages of 18-44 and in good health to consider doing. You can register online here or find a local drive (typically also with a blood drive, how convenient!). What basically happens, is they will take a giant Q-tip to swab the inside of your cheek, yes, it’s really that simple. While, I do understand that this is not for everyone, if you are not restricted due to medical reasons this is an incredibly unselfish gift that you could give to save someone’s life. By registering you are taking the first step towards possibly being a cure for patients with blood cancers and other marrow disease (such as Aplastic Anemia).
Quick Facts:
-1 in every 540 registry members in the U.S. will go on to donate bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells to (PBSC) a patient.
-Every 10 minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer.
-70% of all patients who need a transplant don’t have a matched donor in their family.
-There are two methods of donation: PBSC, which is a nonsurgical procedure and the most common way to donate, and bone marrow donation, which is a surgical and usually outpatient procedure.
So, this is me standing on my little soap box asking you just to give this a little bit of thought. If you can donate, awesome. But please at least give it some thought, because you never know who you could help in the process. After donating blood a few times myself, it's kind of funny to be a recipient, so I never take it lightly. Every time I have a transfusion, I am grateful for each person who decided, "Yes, I think I'll donate!" and hope that I can reciprocate the donations some day down the road.
RSS Feed
