Goodbye, Sweet Platelets...

I gave whole blood for many years at various mobile MGH facilities. It doesn't take long, and I am a good candidate, as I have type O positive blood, which is the universal blood type. About four years ago, I got a letter from MGH that went a little something like this:

Thank you for donating at one of our mobile units. That was great, but you can do something even better. It turns out that you are a fabulous candidate for this little thing called platelet apheresis. This is a process by which your blood is removed from your body, the platelets are removed, and then your blood is returned to you, minus your sweet, sweet platelets.

The reason why you are such a good candidate is because you have the universal blood type and you are negative for Cytomegalovirus. CMV is a virus that is present in the blood of most people, and it causes them no harm. However, there are people, like cancer patients and premature babies, who can not receive blood that is positive for CMV.

In sum, cancer patients and preemies need your blood. If you don't care about helping cancer patients and preemies, don't worry about responding to this letter. If you do, please come do platelet apheresis at our donor center.

What could I do? I did the apheresis, but only once. It was a little scary, compounded by the fact that during the process of hooking me up to the machine, they discovered a faulty tube. It wasn't clamped where it should have been, and the resultant blood bath (literally, my blood sprayed everywhere, all over me, the nurse, the chair, the pillow my arm was resting on, and the tv screen) was a bit of a turnoff.

Just recently I started thinking about it again, though. I don't know if I am still CMV negative. I could have picked up the virus by now. But if I am, who am I to keep my sweet platelets from finding a new home among the sick and the brand-y new? Plus, I haven't paid much good into the karma-meter lately. Here I am in the catbird seat: sweet, healthy baby; kind, handsome husband; a nice house in the suburbs; a secure job; plenty of food to eat, etc. etc. etc.

So, I talked to my boss about taking some time off during the summer to find my platelets new homes. Unlike whole blood donation, you can donate platelets 24 times a year. She was kind enough to donate the time that gives me the ability to donate platelets 8 times this summer, and tomorrow will be my first donation.

I'll catch the early train and arrive at the donor center. I'll check in, and they'll screen me. Then they'll hook me up to a machine that sucks the blood out one arm, spins it through a machine, and replaces it in the other arm. All the while (about an hour and a half), I'll be sitting in this cool, comfy chair that has a tv screen that pulls down in front of it. I can watch tv or a movie. I'm a little nervous, but I figure it's the least I can do.