Perspective

One of the things in this life that brings me greatest joy is donating platelets. Individuals are allowed to donate platelets as often as every 8 days, but I have a routine in place where I donate once every three weeks. During the time of the year when I am teaching, I go in as soon as I am done with work. I arrive at the Mayo Clinic Blood Donor Center in the Hilton Building at about 12:45 and start by checking in and filling out the mandatory questionnaire on a laptop. Then a phlebotomist takes me back to weigh me and ask a couple more questions. She does a finger prick to check my hemoglobin and then checks my vitals: blood pressure, temperature, and pulse. If all requirements are met, I sign a form saying all my answers have been honest, grab a delicious snack (the cookies are amazing), and head back to the bed. The techs take such good care of me (and all the donors)! One of the best things about donating platelets, besides the cookies and the phlebotomists, is the delightful heating pad that rests on my arm while I donate. It’s so cozy! With a platelets donation, the apheresis machine takes my whole blood, spins out the platelets, and then sends the red cells back to me. I am typically hooked up to the machine for around an hour and a half – sometimes less, sometimes more.

December, 2016

Most of the time, the whole process is uneventful. While I wait for the machine to do its work, I watch some HGTV, which is a treat for me since we gave up cable a while back. Today marked my 65^th donation. I know many folks who have a bigger number than that, but I like to think I’m doing pretty well – especially since I didn’t really start donating until I was 50. My first donation, which was whole blood, was back in college. I passed out immediately after that and didn’t donate again until I turned 50. That’s when it became a regular occurrence for me, so that’s when I consider that I started donating. I had decided to do five random acts of kindness in honor of my five decades on earth, and donating blood was one of them. I wish I would have started earlier, but I am happy that I started at all. I donated whole blood for a few years but have switched over to platelets only at this point.

There have been a few donations that stand out over the past 8+ years. I donated for a couple of years before heading to Cambodia on a three-week mission trip. That took me out of the donor pool for a year. My first donation after that suspension was so wonderful. I loved being back. Once, I remember when  one of the phlebotomists told me that not all platelets were as pretty as mine. What a compliment! She showed me the “golden swirls” (her words) that were my platelets. I loved the time, just this past November, when I got to donate next to my brother Jon, who was making his 100^th donation. I hope to make the 100^th donation milestone myself in a few years. I also enjoyed donating at the same time as my son David. I think I even donated at the same time as my husband once in the way-back days when I was donating whole blood. (R.J. donates whole blood only, and he is well over 100 donations.) There have been times when I have known friends or acquaintances who needed platelets. That’s when I feel the most reward in donating. It’s not that I expect that my friends will receive my platelets, but rather that the importance of my donation is impressed upon me by their need. Currently I know of a young boy who is receiving platelets every few days as he fights Hepatitis Associated Aplastic Anemia. I pray for him all the time. I often pray for the person who will receive my donation (though I will never know who that will be).

David and me, in September, 2016

Jon's 100th donation, in November, 2017

There are many things that can take a person out of the donation pool: low hemoglobin, poor health, medications, travel, getting a tattoo or piercing, chronic conditions – and the list goes on! I feel blessed to be able to donate, and to be able to do it as often as I do. I know it’s a privilege, and I know that unexpected life events could end my ability to donate. For now, I will savor every opportunity I get to participate in such a tangible and relatively easy way to save lives. When the world seems out of control, I know that every twenty-one days, I will spend an afternoon doing something bigger than me. I will be forever grateful for the perspective that blood donation lends to my life.