The thought of giving blood never entered my mind until I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1968 during the Vietnam War. While in basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, the call went out for volunteers to give blood. The thought of a needle poked into my vein gave me the willies; however, to save face, I stepped forward to volunteer. As fate would have it, I was assigned to some minor but necessary duty during the blood drive, so I was excused and my appointment was canceled. I gave a sigh of relief, but I never forgave myself for that small act of cowardice.
Fifteen years went by — I served a year in Vietnam, got married, reenlisted for another four years, left the service to return to Hawaii with my wife and baby daughter, attended and graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and held several jobs — before I again considered giving blood. This time, my company supported the Blood Bank of Hawaii by forming a Lifesaver Club for employees. The two most active employee-donors were polar opposites: one was a tall, strapping African American male, and the other was a petite Japanese American female. I figured, if they can do it, then so can I. They inspired me to visit the Blood Bank and give my first pint of whole blood. As for the pain of the needle poke, it was like a pinch, lasting only for a second and then forgotten.
Over the years, I gave 44 pints of whole blood, until my wife’s coworker challenged me to consider donating platelets. It’s a different collection system – a machine takes the blood from my arm and mechanically separates the platelets from the plasma and red blood cells. The machine stores the platelets in a bag and returns the plasma and red blood cells to my body. The upside is that the machine collects about five times the amount of platelets available in a pint of whole blood, meaning that up to five times more people can be helped. To date, I have donated 49 units of platelets.
I returned to donating whole blood and my new total is 46 pints. I started hesitantly years ago, but am now a committed donor who gives not to be rewarded, but to just do my part in making a difference in my life.
0 Responses to “About Mr. O-Positive”