A Letter to Blood Donors
I am an active 43 year old woman with a strong love for life. I am living with terminal breast cancer and acute leukemia (AML). As a result, I am transfusion dependent and now receive blood and platelets on a weekly basis.
Donor Stories
Blood Drive Birthday Bash
At a blood donor recognition event last year, Janet Silberman, a 150-time donor, sat in the audience and listened to Larry Frederick, a retired police officer, thank each and every individual in the room for saving his life. Many years earlier, he experienced a life-threatening event that required immediate blood transfusions. His story could have been terribly tragic. But instead, the blood was available and it saved his life. He now rides his bicycle across the country setting up blood drives and personally thanking the donors.
Grateful Recipient
By Dimone Gabler, recipient of blood products & champion of blood donors
I thought people who received blood either had surgery, a transfusion for a particular condition, or had been in a serious accident. I found out there are other reasons one might need blood. A few years ago, I thought I had a bad flu bug. After two to three days of not being able to keep anything down, my husband insisted I go to the doctor. I was so weak I was barely able to stand. After the doctor's examination, he sent me to the emergency room at Good Samaritan Hospital.
Donating Blood Gives Life And Hope
I looked at the date of my last plasma/platelet donation: March 7, 2011. It was August now I realized and as I blinked at the date, it seemed impossible to remember what life was like just those few short months ago there seemed to be such a gaping hole in reality and time. Within weeks of that donation in March, my Mom and I, together with the love of her life Alec, would celebrate her 60th birthday in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit waiting for her operation to repair a heart valve and to replace 2 artificial ones.
Father & Daughter Bonded by Blood Donation
My name is Gary Davis and I would like to share my experiences donating blood with my daughter Katie.
Inspired By the 9/11 Tragedy: A Young Blood Donor’s Journey to 200 Donations
Daniel Paepcke first started giving blood in January, 2003. Eight and a half years and 199 donations later, Daniel paid his regular visit to the Campus Center and made his 200th donation. Quite an accomplishment for the young man who at age 27, is one of our youngest donors to reach this milestone.
The Power of Two
Hello Stanford Blood Center donors and friends! My name is Isabel Stenzel Byrnes and I'm a social worker and health educator, currently working for the Lucile Packard Pediatric Weight Control Program. I have a twin sister named Anabel, who is a genetic counselor at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. We'd like to share our personal story with you in this blog.
The Buddy System
On Dec. 29, 2010, Linda Johnson became the first woman to make 500 donations at Stanford Blood Center. It was more than 20 years ago when Linda's friend and Stanford Blood Center platelet donor, Stan Jensen, urged her to check if she would make a good platelet donor. Linda was a perfect candidate with good veins and a high platelet count.
Weekend Engineering: Blood Donation
By Phillip King, long-time Stanford Blood Center platelet donor Above, Phillip is donating platelets after being the very first donor to try out our new software system for the registration process. Today’s entry is one of those gimmicky pieces...
Small Fears and Big Deals
By Dr. Duff Howell, 277-time blood donor and counting One of my finer enduring gifts was a conversation about donating blood that I had 15 or 20 years ago. I’d said, “I never look when they put the needle in....