Things are Relative

This morning I heard on the radio that it was 9 below zero at Saranac Lake, New York. I also heard that it was 18 degrees in Worcester. So as cold as it was today, it could have been a lot colder. And just think about how much warmer 27 degrees feels when it is 50 in one place but 77 in another!

I donated platelets today. The process is called pheresis and involves a typical blood donation needle in one arm and an IV in the other. The larger needle never bothers me, but the IV can give me trouble since my veins tend to roll when they try to insert it. That happened again today, so they had to change arms and stick me a second time. Trust me, that is not fun. BUT, I felt that I had no room to complain because my little bit of pain resulted in two units of platelets that very well may mean that someone (or maybe more than one) will not die. That is not overstating the case, blood is truly the gift of life. Things are definitely relative, my pain was completely insignificant in comparison to the pain of the person who needs my platelets.

I remember the story a mother of a child I knew who needed platelets to live told me. She said that they sometimes would be en route to the hospital for a transfusion and get a call saying that they need not come in because there were no platelets. One time she need a transfusion Christmas week...and there were platelets available! Someone took time out of the hustle and bustle to give a gift that saved a life.

Donating today may not make me a hero, but it sure made me feel good. So good that I'm going to do it again before Christmas. I would love to also give the gift of a referral. Perhaps you would be willing to try pheresis, check it out here.