PLEASE DONATE BLOOD AND PLATELETS

If you are in LA area please consider donating blood and platelets.
Reginas counts are slowly declining and in about 5 days she will need platelets.
Reginas blood type is B positive. And it only matter when donating blood. It does not matter what type you have when you donate platelets.
I also add you a link with CHLA blood donor center.
http://www.childrenshospitalla.org/body.cfm?id=51&action=detail&ref=50


Following information is from Eric David's MySpace page. Hope it helps you to understand why donating is so important.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=114817476&MyToken=da9e1314-01d3-4ec4-8f4d-c0cee9037545

Platelets:
These bad boys are in charge of blood clotting. Doctors need these for open heart surgery, to support cancer therapy, treatment of blood disorders, and for organ transplants. Platelets must also be transfuses (used in one of the above examples) in 5 days. It has a short shelf life, so the suply must always be replenished. A single donor can donate platelets up to 24 times per year. Any more then that amont is generally not recommended.

Red Blood Cells:
As you know from medical school (or maybe grades school that red blood cells carry oxygen to all parts of the body. Typically they are most needed after a loss of blood through trauma, surgery or anemia. These too have a shelf life of 5 days, so the need for donors is constant. This donation can be made about every 8-16 weeks, depending on the donation type.

Plasma:
This is the liquid part of the blood, and it contains critical clotting factors. Plasma generally treats patients with certain bleeding disorders and is used for plasma exchanges. Plasma can be given up to twice a week or even every 4 weeks for some programs. Check with a local bank for their specific plasma donation program.

How much blood does one of these medical procedures take?

This is where the data gets real interesting. Check this out:

So everytime you donate blood you would get:

1 red blood cell unit
1 unit of platelet
1 unit of plasma

…follow me? So here is how many each takes:

Automobile Accident
- up to 50 Units of Red Blood Cells

Organ Transplant Recipient- up to 40 units of RBC
- 30 of Platelet
- 25 of Plasma

Bone Marrow Transplant Recipient
- 20 of RBC
-120 of Platelets!

Cancer Patient
-up to 8 units of Platelets every week!

Heart Surgery Patient
-6 of RBC
-6 of Platelets

Sickle Cell Anemia Patient
up to 4 units of Red Blood Cells per treatment.

…whoa! now you know Why blood donation is so important!