Group Project

We're in the thick of it now.  Annie gets a dose of chemo at noon and another at 10 PM.  She sleeps a lot and shuffles to the bathroom every two hours.  She hasn't eaten for two days.  Just before each chemo session there has been a little window where we can engage her but mostly she's subdued.

As Annie's immune system gets killed-off her body becomes completely dependent on others sharing some of their blood until, hopefully, her donor's cells can repopulate her body. The fact that she has become a living "group project" is an overwhelming thought.  Her blood and platelet donors provide the building blocks and she, in turn, becomes a biological mosaic of her community.

To that end, the donor center at City of Hope in Duarte, California has asked anyone able to donate blood or platelets for Annie to contact them at 626-471-7171 and to say it's for "Annie."  The criteria for eligibility can be found at this link Donor Eligibility (or the web address below).  There is no way the donations Tom and I make can ever fully repay those she has taken out of the system and we are indebted to those who have helped share this burden.

City of Hope is an amazing place filled with people doing extraordinary things.  If you come out to donate be sure to walk the gardens and sculpture paths that flow between the 21st century research facilities.  We are fortunate to live near by as most people must upend their lives, all over the world, and move into bungalows on the campus in order to avail themselves of this top facility.  We have gotten to know a surprising number of people in our town whose lives have been restored to them by the people of this complex.  Blood donors are an indispensable part of that process and we can't do enough to thank these unsung heroes
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http://www.cityofhope.org/patient_care/medical-facilities/blood-donor-center/Pages/donation-qualifications.aspx