Why do kids undergoing cancer treatment need Blood?

  When you donate blood it’s broken down into 3 components. Blood is a vital fluid in our bodies that consists of red blood cells, with transport oxygen; white blood cells, responsible for the immune system; platelets, crucial for clotting; and plasma, a liquid carrying nutrients, hormones, and waste products. Together, these components support various functions, including oxygen delivery, defense against infections, and wound healing. Blood is primarily made in the bone marrow, a spongy tissue inside our bones.

How can your Blood donation make a difference?

    Blood transfusions from donors provide childhood cancer patients with healthy red blood cells and platelets, helping them to combat the side effects of cancer treatments and give them the life saving blood products their bodies require to survive.   

What are some signs that a child undergoing treatment might need a transfusion?

Signs often seen in children undergoing cancer treatment that may indicate the need for a blood transfusion include fatigue, weakness, pale skin or shortness of breath. Symptoms can result from conditions like anemia (not having enough healthy red blood cells, like hemoglobin), prompting the need for additional blood to improve oxygen transport in the body to avoid negative impacts to organs like the spleen and kidneys.

Low platelets, known as thrombocytopenia, means there are fewer blood-clotting platelets than normal. Signs may include easy bruising, frequent nosebleeds, prolonged bleeding from small cuts, and petechiae (small red or purple dots on the skin). This condition can impact the body’s ability to stop bleeding, and an infusion of platelets is needed.

    “In little more than a year from when this photo was taken of Kalina playing dress-up she was diagnosed with Wilms tumor (kidney) cancer.”

[Link HERE to learn more about Wilms tumor.]

Her mom, Amy Meinch, a Director, on the Board of Elevate shares, “She went from pretending to be the one aiding a patient to the patient desperately needing platelets. Her need for them became weekly at one point and, on many occasions, one ‘bag of platelets’ wasn’t enough and she would need multiple transfusions in a row.

   Since then I have met many families that have been in similar situations. A major difference that some have experienced is the lack of availability of these blood products. I have had friends whose doctors have had to literally call around to other facilities to access these life saving blood donations for their childhood cancer patients. This is terrifying for families. There is no choice whether or not to give chemotherapy to your child who has cancer, which in turn will eliminate their healthy blood counts, and will lead to needing blood products.

    How can families and physicians be expected to eradicate cancer with these current options if there are no blood products available to keep them alive long enough to survive the treatments themselves?” 

How long does a Blood transfusion take for childhood cancer patients?

The duration of a blood transfusion can vary, but it typically takes about 1 to 4 hours. The exact time depends on factors like the type of blood product being transfused, the patients condition, and the specific medical circumstances. During the infusion process of these life saving transfusions, drugs to prevent fever and allergic reactions are often necessary and monitoring by medical staff is required. Clinic visits typically last much longer than this, however, so even a ‘simple‘ infusion day can be many more added hours waiting for the infusion to begin for childhood cancer patients.

 I want to help but…can you tell me more about donating?

YES!

Cancer patients use nearly 1/4 of the blood supply–more than patients fighting any other disease- but only 3% of Americans donate blood in a given year.

Once set up, red blood donations only take about 10 minutes! 

How can I make the Blood donation process more comfortable?

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