Blood & Platelets Tomorrow

Got my counts checked today, and, as expected, they are in the tank. The white count was 100 - normal is 8,000. They normally read these counts with a machine, but when they are so low they literally count the cells one by one on a slide under a microscope. But the low white count is not unusual. It's been down that low countless times before. But, with a low white count one has little ability to fight off an infection, so I'm on all sorts of antibiotics, anti-fungal, and anti-viral meds. Just par for the course.

The red counts are headed down as is typical with this chemo cocktail. Hence, the need for blood and platelets tomorrow. Hemoglobin was 8.0 and platelets were down to 17,000. Normal hemoglobin is 14 and platelets 200,000+. Hemoglobin is the red blood component that carries oxygen through the body, so when it's low the heart works that much harder to pump enough oxygen, potentially over taxing the heart. Platelets are the glue that makes you stop bleeding if you cut yourself. If that number gets below 10,000 you start bleeding spontaneously, usually through the nose or even erupting through the skin. You don't want to be in an accident with real low platelets. BTW, a bag of platelets has the color of wood glue, sort of funny since it's the "glue" in your blood system.

I didn't go through that to gross everyone out. But I wanted to stress the importance of blood and platelet donations. Jim had asked in the comments about donations of platelets designated specifically for me. Because of the quick turn around usually required for transfusions, it's not practical to donate blood and platelets to a specific person. Plus they have a fairly short shelf life. So, thank you, Jim, for the offer. But please continue to donate every chance you get.

I have to confess to not being a big blood donor in the past. But, as it has turned out, there may be a number of people who are better off because I didn't donate. Regardless (btw, there is no such word as irregardless), I feel guilty having benefited from many people's kindness with their blood product donations. So please participate in all the Red Cross Blood drives that you can. If you have a fairly rare blood type, call them - they need you.

Oddly, becoming a bone marrow donor is somewhat more complicated. But, it's not painful. In fact the preliminary DNA test is just a mouth swab. Later on they might ask for a vial of blood for full DNA matching. If you were to be a perfect DNA match for someone they would harvest the bone marrow stem cells from the arm, just like giving blood. There is no surgery. No fuss, no muss, no bother.

One problem with becoming a bone marrow donor is finding them - the bone marrow organization that is. They are not like the Red Cross. Plus they charge $52 to donate your own DNA sample. That sounds strange until you find out that the marrow organization has few ways of recouping their costs. The Red Cross apparently recoups some of their costs by charging the hospitals and insurance companies for some of their costs. The marrow organization has no ability to charge for their costs. But how in the world are they going to expand their database if donors have to pay $52 bucks? There are only about 5 and a half million people in the U.S. database of bone marrow donors out of a population of almost 300 million. Europe also has a bone marrow database. In fact, the donor for my first transplant is from Europe.

I talked to someone from the bone marrow organization last year about doing a drive at church, so that's how I happened upon this information. I did find out that last spring they had a drive in May for a couple of weeks where they didn't charge potential donors. They plan to do that again this year, so I'll try it again. If you feel so compelled please try to line one up for your church or organization. The best way to contact them is through www. marrow.org. The gift of bone marrow stem cells literally saves someone's life. When you find yourself in need of a bone marrow stem cell transplant you have few other options left. SO, PLEASE SIGN UP.

Sorry to get so long winded - thought you might want to know.