It's the same day as my mom's birthday Blood Drive- but since my being done with cancer WAY outranks her birthday- we changed the name of her annual birthday blood drive to Katherine's After-Cancer Blood Drive.
Actually- this party is all about birthdays- for her, sure, but for me too- as everyone who has had cancer and everyone who has known someone with cancer- birthdays matter!
I get to have more of them- because I beat cancer...because my doctors and nurses made the right decisions all along the way... because people gave of themselves and donated blood so that I may live when my body wasn't able to make enough blood to keep me healthy and alive!
Seriously, I know Mom was joking when she called me her little vampire, mostly because I was so pale when I was undergoing treatment- but I needed 8 blood transfusions to survive during my two years on chemotherapy, and without it I would not have made it. One of my very favorite cancer friends, now a survivor, needed 27 units!!
So, we are going to host another birthday blood drive- an After-Cancer Blood Drive. Mom set the bar pretty high and wants to get 100 donors! 100 donors? Geez! The first year was 40, the second 80, and this year 100. We know that summertime is a time when the blood supply at blood banks is dangerously low. So, we are hosting this blood drive as a gift back to our community for all of the support we received and all of the prayers said for me during the last two and a half years.
Alone, we can only donate three bags of blood- and that's if Mom is really good and eats all of her spinach all month long- her hemoglobin runs low and she typically doesn't qualify to donate - she wasn't able to donate the past two years. Dad, he's good for a double! Thanks Dad!
So, that's where you come in- we need donors to make our gift substantial and meet our goal. Please consider donating. Please come out and join us. Please bring a friend. If you can't donate- talk it up and encourage someone to come who can donate blood. Mom is going to decorate the American Legion hall and we will have food and cookies. Come join the fun!
Plus, the BE THE MATCH people will be there again this year- they collect data from people who want to be on the bone marrow registry- talk about the opportunity to save a life! Not everyone gets called to be a bone marrow donor- but if your DNA matches that of someone in need- this is the opportunity of a lifetime- two lifetimes!
We are pretty excited about the day- less than a month away now. You can just walk in and donate, but Mom is trying to get people to sign up on-line or with her appointment schedule so that there is good flow and not a lot of waiting to donate. The whole process takes about an hour- but if you want to hang with me for a bit- you may be there a little longer.
Yes- Mom says I can come this year to the party!! So put this on your calendar and plan to party with me and my family! June 6, 2016.
Thank you for your prayers, your kind hearts and giving of yourself. Hope to see you there!
Here I am at Childrens Hospital of Wisconsin today at the Herma Heart Center- getting my post treatment ECHO. Some chemotherapy is really tough on the heart, and we were just checking to make sure that mine is fine. We will know more soon.
This is me and my dear nurse practitioner hanging up my blood drive poster! Mom needs 100 donors... Even remote donors count! If you donate in a separate location for this event- tell my mom and she'll tally your donation!! Thank you!!
The first donor?!? My nurse! She donated on Monday. I was a bit grumpy in this pic- sorry.
Please donate and let us know! You can save three lives with each donation! Hope to see you June 6, 2016!
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