platelet donation

Ryan had such a big heart for helping others, especially children.  Most people did not know this about Ryan, but he took time every year to research and decide which charities our family would contribute to through the CFC.  He usually chose things like Doctors Without Borders or a charity that aided children in some way.

Ryan was so very humble and he never did things for "credit" or "recognition."  He rarely chose the "popular" choice.  He always did things because they were the right things to do.  Because of that, I imagine most people also do not realize that Ryan donated blood platelets as often as he could.  He rarely told anyone, he would just disappear for an "appointment" twice a month.  And not just a normal blood donation, but a platelet donation.  This is where the donation center hooks a person up to a machine that pumps small amounts of their blood slowly out of the body, extracts the platelets (yellowy goo) into a separate bag, and then returns the rest of the blood (plasma, red cells, and white cells) back inside the body.  The process takes at least two hours but during that time, the donation center can collect more platelets than would normally have resulted from five regular blood draw donations.  And one platelet donation can yield enough platelets to help several different patients.

Living in San Antonio and donating at JBSA, Ryan told me he knew his donation was mostly being used for the military children fighting leukemia and other forms of cancer there locally at SAMMC.  SAMMC is also the place that took such good care of me when I had my back surgery.  We were blessed to live near the largest military medical center in the entire department of defense and that is where a majority (if not all) military families are assigned to when a military member or their dependent is diagnosed with cancer.  Ryan said he would gladly give up a few hours of his week, hooked up to a machine, to help children with cancer.  A person can give platelets as often as every seven days and up to a max of 24 times a year.  Ryan donated platelets just about every two weeks, sometimes more often if the center was running low.  And he was also very vocal in his squadron to recruit others on days that the donation center was in danger of not meeting their daily needed platelet quota.

In Ryan's memory, since this was a cause so near and dear to Ryan's heart, I wanted to share a few facts about platelet donation.  Platelets are in constant demand by hospitals, as they only have a shelf life of about five days.  Most donations are immediately shipped and transfused into patients in need within three days of the donation.  So new donors are needed every single day.  Platelets are most frequently transfused to cancer patients, people who usually suffer a very low platelet count and risk life-threatening bleeding without the platelets their blood needs to clot.  Outside of cancer patients, platelets can also be used to help those undergoing major surgeries, suffering serious injuries, or who have blood disorders and need additional platelets to keep them alive.

If you are in San Antonio, you can donate at the JBSA-Lackland Blood Donor Center - a place where Ryan spent a lot of time during our year in Texas.  They are open for donations Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 2pm and interested donors can call (210) 292-8100 to schedule an appointment or find out about blood drives.

Anyone else can contact their local American Red Cross Center to donate.  I know Ryan would encourage everyone who can to please go donate.  And, like he would often say, you are saving lives while getting out of work for two hours to simply sit in a comfy arm chair, watch a movie on the monitor, and you usually get a cookie afterwards.  :)   Here is a link for more information on how you can contribute to a cause that was always on Ryan's heart:  Platelet Donation

And civilians can also donate platelets to be specifically used for military members, their families, and their children by contacting a Armed Services Blood Program