It seems like every time someone sends a letter, email or calls me on the phone, they want to know how they can help. Well today I found a real way people can help, if you're interested. I require platelets, the part of blood that helps clotting, on a regular basis as long as I am on chemo. If you like, you can donate platelets here at Roswell Park. The process takes about two hours from soup to nuts, and the good news is if you are an eligible donor, your platelets would be assigned to me for up to 2.5 days. If it turns out I didn't need any platelets during that time, the donated platelets would be given to another cancer patient. No platelets will be wasted, as they only have a shelf life of 5 days altogether, and they are a precious commodity especially here at the cancer center.
The donation does require that you visit Roswell; you cannot donate back home and have the platelets transferred here. However, you can be pre-screened by calling or emailing Patrick McGuinness, donor recruiter here at Roswell. His phone number is 716-845-8282 and you can email him at patrickmcguinness@roswellpark.org
Otherwise today was kind of a wierd day. I had a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) this morning. That left me feeling kind of headachy and lethargic most of the day. The good news is they are 95% sure there is no lukemia in my central nervous system. This was a concern because of the headaches and the blurry vision I have had. All signs point to good things, however, so I am happy about that.
Anyway, thanks everyone for your emails and phone calls and letters, and I look forward to talking to you soon.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment