WXII12 Winter Days of Giving Blood Drive 2011 from Pattie Curran on Vimeo.
Showing posts with label Blood Drive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blood Drive. Show all posts
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Winter Days of Giving 2011 Blood Drive
Sean and Joseph were interviewed for a Red Cross commercial. They didn't use any of their interview, but did use their pictures and talked about them. We hope and pray that it increases blood donations this Christmas season!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
30 days of Giving and Thanks - Giving Blood and Marrow
November is rolling right along, isn't it? I've been trying to do extra deeds of giving and thanks, though we typically do this year-round. I've been able to do my normal activities and add a little here and there. We often bring meals, food and other items to friends.
The boys will be featured in a Winter Days of Giving commercial that airs in our local area all December long. We shot the commercial last month-- we hope it will encourage others to donate blood. This time of year is when they REALLY need blood donors. I'm continuing with the challenge, but won't write about all of the extra things I've done. Somethings are better left unsaid, right?
I'm hoping that others will give blood this Christmas Season, this is what I'd like to write about right now. Blood and bone marrow donors save lives. Having two boys with Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome, a bone marrow failure syndrome, we realize the need for blood and blood products. We have many friends whose lives were saved by generous blood donors. Sean and Joseph received IgG (a blood product made from blood plasma) for over 9 years. Joseph has been off of IgG for a few months and we are hoping he will continue to do well lke his brother, Sean, who has been off of IgG for 2 years.
Joseph almost went to transplant back in 2006-early 2007. The doctors felt it was a real possibility-- so much so that they did a preliminary search of the bone marrow donor and cord blood registries registries (6.5 million registered donors) in preparation. We found out that Joseph doesn't have a match. Our family was retyped (HLA typing was also done back in 2000 when they felt the boys wold be going to transplant) -- it confirmed that Matthew is a perfect 10/10 match for Sean and not a match for Joseph.
We lost a SDS friend last year because he developed leukemia and did not have a match. He died waiting to receive a bone marrow transplant. There are many people who are waiting for life saving bone marrow. If you are interested in how to become a donor, please visit www.marrow.org
The boys will be featured in a Winter Days of Giving commercial that airs in our local area all December long. We shot the commercial last month-- we hope it will encourage others to donate blood. This time of year is when they REALLY need blood donors. I'm continuing with the challenge, but won't write about all of the extra things I've done. Somethings are better left unsaid, right?
I'm hoping that others will give blood this Christmas Season, this is what I'd like to write about right now. Blood and bone marrow donors save lives. Having two boys with Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome, a bone marrow failure syndrome, we realize the need for blood and blood products. We have many friends whose lives were saved by generous blood donors. Sean and Joseph received IgG (a blood product made from blood plasma) for over 9 years. Joseph has been off of IgG for a few months and we are hoping he will continue to do well lke his brother, Sean, who has been off of IgG for 2 years.
Joseph almost went to transplant back in 2006-early 2007. The doctors felt it was a real possibility-- so much so that they did a preliminary search of the bone marrow donor and cord blood registries registries (6.5 million registered donors) in preparation. We found out that Joseph doesn't have a match. Our family was retyped (HLA typing was also done back in 2000 when they felt the boys wold be going to transplant) -- it confirmed that Matthew is a perfect 10/10 match for Sean and not a match for Joseph.
We lost a SDS friend last year because he developed leukemia and did not have a match. He died waiting to receive a bone marrow transplant. There are many people who are waiting for life saving bone marrow. If you are interested in how to become a donor, please visit www.marrow.org
Friday, April 1, 2011
Blood Drive Update and Mito Walk
The Blood drive collected 44 pints of blood! Absolutely amazing. The Red Cross told us that 30 pints would be considered a good drive.
Our family is also participating in the Energy for Life Walk to benefit United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation on October 15, 2011. We've named our team Currans for a Cure. I started a Facebook Page, for those of you on FB who would like to follow our progress. I contacted the UMDF and was told we could register our team in the next few weeks. I am really excited!
I am hoping to host a "Stamp out Mito" event soon..... I am going to see if I can host it here at the house AND allow people to order items on-line to benefit UMDF.
We've spent a lot of time at the hospital with friends this last week. One of our Mito friends from TN (met them in Cincy) had her daughter transported here to Brenner when her daughter's gut shut down. She is now TPN dependent. A few days ago, our local Mito friend's daughter landed in the hospital. So, we've been visiting and helping out. Mito isn't fun.
Our lives continue on as usual-- pain, sleep issues, fatigue.... but we are thankful for each day and try to enjoy life in spite of the constant reminders that SDS and Mito are part of our lives.
Our family is also participating in the Energy for Life Walk to benefit United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation on October 15, 2011. We've named our team Currans for a Cure. I started a Facebook Page, for those of you on FB who would like to follow our progress. I contacted the UMDF and was told we could register our team in the next few weeks. I am really excited!
I am hoping to host a "Stamp out Mito" event soon..... I am going to see if I can host it here at the house AND allow people to order items on-line to benefit UMDF.
We've spent a lot of time at the hospital with friends this last week. One of our Mito friends from TN (met them in Cincy) had her daughter transported here to Brenner when her daughter's gut shut down. She is now TPN dependent. A few days ago, our local Mito friend's daughter landed in the hospital. So, we've been visiting and helping out. Mito isn't fun.
Our lives continue on as usual-- pain, sleep issues, fatigue.... but we are thankful for each day and try to enjoy life in spite of the constant reminders that SDS and Mito are part of our lives.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Blood Drive Sunday!
Holy Cross Catholic Church is hosting a blood drive Sunday, March 27, 2011 from 9am - 2pm. To make an appointment, call 996-5109 ext 12 Walk ins are welcome. They encourage making an appointment so that you won't have to wait. The Goal it to get 39 pints of blood collected.
Holy Cross Catholic Church
There will be door prizes given away every 15 minutes and cookies to eat. Here is an example of one of the cards I'm donating for the door prizes (I've made 10 of them):
Holy Cross Catholic Church
616 S. Cherry St.
Kernersville, NC 27284
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Blood Drive Interview
On March 27, 2011 our church is having a blood drive. Today, the newspaper interviewed Sean and Joseph to get the word out. The reporter wanted to interview folks who use blood products. Because we are so thankful for those who donate blood, platelets and plasma, we are always willing to help get the word out about any sort of blood drives! Melanie, from parish care at Holy Cross, set up the interview and is putting the drive together with other volunteers. They are asking that people make appointments to donate blood and are hoping to get 38 pints donated on March 27, 2011. If you want more informatrion about the blood drive or you would like to make an appointment, email parish care: parishcareholycross@triadbiz.rr.com
Ryan (the reporter) asked the boys several questions. The one that most stands out to me is when he asked how having Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome affected their lives. Joseph quickly replied, "It doesn't really affect my life, I mean, other than we go to the hospital a lot.'"
WOW. My kids continually amaze me. Between the two of them, they have been under anesthesia over 50 times... not including all of the procedures, MRIs and treatments that they have had without anesthesia. Joseph has had neurosurgery and other surgeries and then developed infections afterward that landed him back in the hospital. He also performs certain medical procedures several times a day (every 4 hours) and takes about 40 pills a day, plus other meds..... and he can says it doesn;t affect his life!? Absoulutely amazing.
The article will be in tomorrow's paper along with an article about Matthew. Matthew was interviewed last week for an article. Here are some pictures from the interview today along with a picture of IgG from my fridge, just in case you'd like to know what IgG, a blood product, looks like.
Ryan (the reporter) asked the boys several questions. The one that most stands out to me is when he asked how having Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome affected their lives. Joseph quickly replied, "It doesn't really affect my life, I mean, other than we go to the hospital a lot.'"
WOW. My kids continually amaze me. Between the two of them, they have been under anesthesia over 50 times... not including all of the procedures, MRIs and treatments that they have had without anesthesia. Joseph has had neurosurgery and other surgeries and then developed infections afterward that landed him back in the hospital. He also performs certain medical procedures several times a day (every 4 hours) and takes about 40 pills a day, plus other meds..... and he can says it doesn;t affect his life!? Absoulutely amazing.
The article will be in tomorrow's paper along with an article about Matthew. Matthew was interviewed last week for an article. Here are some pictures from the interview today along with a picture of IgG from my fridge, just in case you'd like to know what IgG, a blood product, looks like.
