Blood and Guts
Fancy schmancy... Last night, Geoff and I made an appearance at an awards ceremony and reception at the Lieutenant Governor's house. Geoff was being honoured for reaching a very impressive milestone this past year: his 100th blood donation. It sounds dorky, but I was really, really proud of him.It was one of those formal social situations where you want to giggle, just because you know that you shouldn't. Our entrance was so choreographed, and we were ushered from room to room until we reached The Room - where we gave our names to a man in a funny coat. The man then turned, and yelled our names at (insert proper royalese title here) John Harvard and his wife before we were permitted to approach and shake their hands. Funny stuff.
The ceremony itself was kind of inspiring. Everyone there had reached either 100 or 200 donations, which is really cool because each donation helps an average of 3 people. When you do the math... That's a lot of good deeds.
One other person was honoured last night. He was one of two Manitobans to donate bone marrow last year. Kind of insane, to think that someone could be brave enough to undergo painful surgery for a stranger. He's actually getting to meet the recipient next week - a now ten year old cancer survivor from California.
In the light of everything in the news this week, it was so cool to meet these people who give of themselves to others, and to honour their bravery and dedication. To see that there's a little good left in the world.
posted by Lindsay @ 7:49 AM
7 Comments:
This comment has been removed by the author.
Way to go Geoff. I'm not a big fan of the blood giving. I'm not a big fan of needles, and apparently that's still the best way to get it out of a person.
And you know my infamous story of taking Corina to meet George Strait? Well, envision the same pomp and circumstance garbage, but then insert my friend GUSHING and talking a MILE A MINUTE to him. And complimenting him on his tan... :)
Lin - I am proud of your bf and I have never met him. I am a blood giver as well, as often as they come to my humble town, and am going this Tuesday to have my blood drawn for the Bone Marrow Registry. My thoughts are, I have gone through a lot of useless pain in my life, why not try useful pain if I can....
(Sorry about the deleted comment above, decided it was maybe not best to post my home town, keep down the stalkers you know)
Wow! That IS impressive. I've only donated blood once and kept meaning to go back, but never have. Time to get back on that horse.
Well, I felt a little silly being there because I have NEVER donated blood. They don't want mine. Seriously. In fact, my doctor told me to not even bother trying in my lifetime. Which makes me even more grateful for the people who do it.
Gloria, that's really cool. I know the chances of you actually being a match for someone aren't huge - but can you imagine?! That would be so amazing. Some of the people there were talking about a new procedure that is much less invasive and doesn't require surgery at all. If they do that, I think lots more people would be willing to sign up as potential bone marrow donors.
Something I learned yesterday is that red blood cell donations are only usable for 45 days, and platelets for only 5 (and those first two days are reserved for testing and stuff)... Which makes you think about how important it is to keep going back. For some reason, I thought they could stock up and store them for a long time. One of the nurses was saying that it's sometimes really tight for platelets after a busy long weekend.
Geoff does platelets, and he gets a call if he hasn't been to donate in a couple of weeks. That's one way to make yourself feel popular :)
I'm very impressed with Geoff. It's people like him and the other ones who got recognized that make a HUGE difference. It's because of people like him that I'm still here. So tell him thank you for being so generous and willing to sacrifice time and blood. In the last couple of years I'm finally able to give blood and it's on my list of things to do. I think it'll be especially emotional to me, knowing that I can give back to someone the way someone gave to me.
wow!! that really is imressive!!!
i'm so glad they honoured him...sounds like a great evening!!!
Post a Comment
<< Home