May 20th I spent the entire afternoon at the blood bank giving a platelet donation. Four weeks later they called, “we need AB+ at Children’s Hospital”.
Today I spent another three hours strapped down while my blood was drawn out of one arm and pumped back into the other. The worst part, my nose itched. You cannot move your hands or arms.
I know you remember all about platelet donation from my last blog on the subject, but here are a couple of reminders.
A single platelet donation can yield enough platelets for two or three therapeutic doses. By contrast, it takes four to six whole blood donations to produce a single therapeutic dose.
One platelet donation can be worth from 12 to 18 whole blood donations.”
Here is a link to the Red Cross – http://goo.gl/VQgV2
They have Netflix movies available. I wanted the longest movie possible. If you finish a movie in less than two hours, you lay there bored and itchy.
My choice was a double winner, Hemingway and Gellhorn is two and a half hours long. I had no down time. It is an incredible story about Martha Gellhorn and Ernest Hemingway. They were married from 1940 to 1945 when Gellhorn left to cover the Allied Landings in Normandy. Lacking press credentials she impersonated a stretcher bearer. She was one of the first correspondents to reach and report from the Dachau Concentration Camp.
I found Gellhorn the more interesting. Some say she was the best of 20th Century War Correspondents. She traveled with Hemingway to cover the Spanish Civil War.
Having read almost everything Hemingway wrote, I’m now anxious to read the works of this heroic woman who made such an impression on his life.
Today was the first and only time that I’ve enjoyed donating. Thank you Martha Gellhorn.
Great way to spend an afternoon, George. As always, you inspire me. Not only are you a passionate writer and a well-rounded reader, you are a feminist at heart. We need more men like you in this world.