What Comes Around Goes Around.
I started giving blood while I was in the Army in the 1970's. It wasn't altruism at first. In the Army, if you gave blood, you got the day off. Our unit gave blood on Fridays, which meant that giving blood got you a three-day weekend.
But sometimes things that begin selfishly become altruistic. I found that liked the feeling of donating blood. You knew you were doing something good that would help others and you got treats too. I always enjoyed that cookie and juice, even though I could easily have just gone and bought my own.
It felt good enough that I continued doing it after I left the service. For 30 years I stopped at the blood bank or the mobile van five or six times a year and gave my donation, and enjoyed my cookie and juice. Over the years apple juice gave way to cranberry, but the cookie of choice was always oatmeal.
In the mid-2000's though, I started to have an issue. When the technician would poke my finger and squeeze out the drop of blood for testing, the drop often showed a shortage of red blood cells. They would wrap my finger in a warm cloth or tell me to take a couple brisk laps around the van, and the next poke would be good enough for donation.
2006 was the year where we tried three times and my red blood count didn't become high enough, or perhaps they weren't desperate for blood enough, to take my donation. The technician said "you should go see your doctor. Something's going on with your blood.
Six months and a barrage of tests later, in 2007, an oncologist gave me the news. "You have MGuS, a precursor to Multiple Myeloma."
She explained that eventually it would probably be the cause of my death. But we had caught it very early, and there was every chance I would make it to my mid-80's. We would be watching my blood periodically, and some lifestyle changes were in order.
I'll write more about that later.
Something that began selfishly and became altruistic came full circle. If I hadn't been giving blood regularly I might not have found out about my cancer until it was too late. This happens to some people with MM. By the time they have an event that bursts through their everyday life, treatment has to be sudden and radical, and sometimes it's too late.
I can no longer donate blood. Multiple Myeloma is a blood disorder and its cause is still unknown. I'm sad about that. Now I have to find my own reasons for a cookie and juice, and I no longer feel that I'm helping someone who needs a pint of A+.
You can donate blood though. It might come around and help you in the end, or it might just be a nice service you do for others. And a cookie and juice never hurt anyone.
