Through my Dad’s 5-year journey with Multiple Myeloma, we have seen how critical it is for cancer patients to maintain their platelet levels to keep them safe and strong. While sitting in the waiting room for Dad’s treatments, I hear other families saying they are there for platelet infusions. Due to cancer treatments and sometimes the cancer itself, patients are not always able to maintain their platelets in a safe range. I used to donate whole blood with the Red Cross, but now my priority is platelet donations since it benefits cancer patients and is in constant demand since it needs to be used within a very short period of time. I hope to encourage more people to donate platelets before the end of the year. If you have donated in the past, I hope you’ll consider donating again soon.

Platelet Donations – What to expect: The donation takes much longer than a regular blood donation. I am usually at the Red Cross for about 3 hours total. For nearly all of that time, I am sitting in a reclined position that has its own TV monitor and headset so I can watch a movie or TV series on Netflix or other streaming app. I need to keep both arms still for the full donation since the process involves giving whole blood from one arm, which then goes through a special machine to remove the platelets. All other parts of the blood are returned to me in my other arm. Sitting with your arms still can be challenging, but it didn’t take long to get used to it. Since they give back most of your blood parts, you’ll be less tired and depleted after donating platelets, compared with whole blood. For most of us, our body restores our platelets within about a week. FYI- I usually get cold during the donation, so have learned to wear a vest over my short-sleeved shirt, a cozy (not itchy) scarf, and sometimes a knit hat and gloves. My donation center provides warm blankets which feel great. I often get tingly lips during the donation, which is fairly common. They have Tums on hand to give you to help resolve that issue. I usually ask to take them before the donation starts which has worked very well.

I love that Red Cross keeps me posted after the donation about my donation’s journey. They even share the name of the hospital/health center where the platelets were used. It feels great to see that in exchange for 3 hours of my time, 2 to 4 different patients have benefited across our region.

If you don’t have the time or worry you won’t be able to tolerate sitting relatively still for nearly 3 hours, then please consider donating whole blood or a Power Red donation. There is a constant need for those products for trauma patients, surgery recovery, and treatments for other diseases.