universal blood donor

A few years ago, I worked almost next door to one of the main offices of the New York Blood Services. I kept thinking that I should take the time to give someone the gift of life by donating my blood. For a few years I couldn’t donate blood because I was slightly anemic. That problem was later solved, but I kept avoiding the very easy opportunity to donate blood by walking two blocks down the street.

After the annual blood drive at my former place of employment, I decided to walk down the street to donate another pint of blood. They asked me if I would consider donating platelets and red cells. If memory serves, platelets help an open wound to stop bleeding. Cancer patients, among others, may need several pints of platelets a day. Red cells carry oxygen and are often transfused during surgery or in the emergency room after an accident.

Donating platelets requires about two hours. I didn’t have time to donate that day, but I scheduled an appointment to donate platelets after enough had passed after the whole blood donation I made that day. Like many blood donors, I too had the feeling that I was making a difference to someone. I went back on a semi–regular basis for a couple of years to donate double platelets. The last I checked, you can donate platelets every 72 hours up to something like 24 donations per year. However, the folk at the blood center that I have gone to say that a more typical pattern is to donate every couple of weeks. We can donate red cells every 56 days. So, I would donate red cells and double platelets if the requisite 56 days had passed since my last donation. When I left the job that was down the street from the main office of the NY blood services, I found another center a few miles from my house. Sometime last summer, I got my “gallon card”, meaning that I had donated one gallon of blood.

I am embarrassed to say that I haven’t donated blood in ten months. With the exception of the times I had colds and the other times when I was talking aspirin products, I had no good excuse for not donating blood. The blood services kept after me, and with each reminder, I felt suitably guilty and promised to do something tomorrow. Only tomorrow came and I would have some reason why I did not make the appointment.

A few days ago, I got a card from the blood services, reminding me I have type O blood, making me a universal donor. I put it on my desk where I would see it every time I sat down. This went on for a couple of days. My current excuse of “I can’t afford to take two hours out of my day plus drive time to the nearest blood center” didn’t hold water any more. What is two hours out of my life every two to four weeks to give someone life saving blood products? In addition, it is the middle of the summer in a major heat wave. The supply of blood at the blood banks will be short, and I have heard that blood drives have been cancelled because of the heat. The kicker was knowing yet another person who is living with cancer. So, I knew that it was time to get off my you know what and make an appointment.

There are many of you who can not give blood for good reasons. If you can, won’t you consider doing so? It doesn’t have to be platelets. Donating whole blood takes only about 20 to 30 minutes. For the location of a blood drive close to where you live and/or work, contact your local blood services.