BLOOD: Truly, a gift of life

Tuesday was a good day. The sun was out and I felt good enough to stand in the sun for a few minutes and enjoy the spring flowers. All thanks to wonderful people I have never met. They gave blood to the blood bank.

I have been fighting cancer since September 2012. I am 61 years young and until last year I was a working productive person. I am in my last leg of treatment and my blood cells started dropping. I sleep a lot and go to appointments is all I am able to do. The previous Tuesday I had two units of platelets at Valley Hospital and then on Saturday I had two units of blood. The platelets kept dropping, so I had to do one more round of two units of platelets. For the first time in many, many, weeks I felt good.

I am a long way from the cure and over the fatigue that plagues me. If you are interested in giving blood to someone, the Spokane, Coeur d’Alene and Lewiston blood banks are all connected by a program that you can donate in someone else’s name. You don’t have to be a match in blood types to donate. This will help defray their cost and possibly save their life.

Inland Northwest Blood Center is located on 405 Neider Ave. Ste 102 off Highway 95. You can go online or call (800) 423-0151 or (208) 667-5461.

SANDRA DAVIS

Coeur d’Alene