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Show The Daily Utah Chronicle- - Page Seven Wednesday, February 6,1991 Auntie thinks about meaning of a 'good' friend Dear Marilyn, I got to thinking about all the things I should have said to you or should have done for you before your illness finally took you from us, but didn't. That didn't feel too good, and I wondered how I could make it up to you. This wasn't going to be easy, seeing as how What constitutes being a friend, anyway? How can you be a good one or a bad needed, someone who knows thought about that and decided that a good friend was someone who loved you, warts and all someone who defended you when others you and someone who told you off when you were being a jerk. A friend is someone who goes out of hisher way when have I been? (I then had to chuckle Auntie Arlene Calkins had an interesting experience this past weekend a real slice of life. I went to your funeral. Normally, I don't do funerals, but seeing as how you are the mother of one of my dearest friends, well, how could I refuse? It was really weird, though, hearing people say nice things about you and not being able to talk to you about it over a bowl of rice pudding. I Chronicle Feature Columnist and what kind of friend I've been to them. They're all still alive, for the most part, so it's not too late to examine my track record with them and make sure I'm still in the running for the position of you're in a place I can't even hope to get close to. On the drive home, I began to think of all the friends I have left "friend." when to say "no." What kind of friend am I then, I wondered? What kind of friend one? I bad-mouth- when visions of three spirits popped into my head, along with a tiny kid on a crutch and a ghost with chains wrapped around him.) When I was a kid, having friends was probably the most important thing in life. If you didn't have a see "Auntie"on page nine ed Feature TWBHS Stereotypes don't fit plasma donors now By Dave extra cash on their own. Mike McDonald has been selling his plasma for 15 years now. He is not a transient and he is not unemployed, but a Macfarlane Chronicle Feature Writer little extra cash helps supplement his income from In the past, plasma centers have not had the best reputation. Mention them to someone and they conjure up images of bums lying in the streets outside an inner-cit- y American Nutrition ,in Ogden. "I come in five or six times a month," McDonald said. "Whenever I need the money." for the McDonald is only one of center, waiting plasma doors to open so they can. give many people who go to the plasma center on a regular up a pint to buy another fifth. ' basis. The center While people's refers to them as tor reasons new "Whenever a return donors. their selling this "At plasma may be center is built, the have we the different, facility area is looked at idea that only bums sell it for booze money) is completely inaccurate. true that people aren't driving their It is BMWs and Jaguars to donor centers to earn gas money. "There's rich no people coming in here," said Jeff Reading, regional manger for Sera-Te- c, very carefully' Jeff Reading, the regional manager for Sera-Tesaid. "If I wanted to set up a plasma center next to a pawn shop and a liquor store it wouldn't work. No one would buy the plasma "from the facility. c, 55 to 60 donors," Reading said. "They donate twice a week on average." Not all those to who go plasma centers do so simply for more have idealogical for nationwide including the one at "The people that come in here are mostly poorer people, for need this plasma medication. Besides, it helps me out with an extra few dollars, and it makes me feel unemployed," Reading said. Poorer and often unemployed maybe, but these people are not The need for a little extra cash extends well beyond those in jobs. As all centers Salt Palace employee. "People 609 S. State. So what kind of people do go to plasma centers? lower income, and often bums and beggars. Basically, most people use the plasma center as a means ofsubsidizing their income. It is a means of coming up with some better." low-inco- - students know, the situation often arises in college when extra money comes in very handy. Bee "plasma" on page eight Donating bone Mng blood not painful By Linnea Lundgren Chronicle Feature Writer Dracula once said, "I vant yur bluud." The U. Blood Donor Center wants your blood, too. Although they don't say it with the accent. The center, located in the University Medical Center, needs to keep a certain blood supply level available for the hospital's patients. For every unit of blood used for transfusion, the donor center must collect another unit. However, the hospital's donor program unfortunately can't always meet the blood needs of the hospital. Donation of blood serves many needs, from accident victims to hemophiliacs. One additional benefit that comes from the donation of one's blood is the potential to become a bone marrow donor as well. John Bernhardt, a University of Utah Management instructor, has taken a personal interest in the problems of bone marrow, transplants. Bernhardt said that after seeing an episode of "Inside Edition" which focused on the information as problem, he determined to collect as much ne could on the subject. Contrary to many people's beliefs, Bernhardt said, being donor is not a typed as a potential bone marrow need complicated or painful procedure. Doctors no longer of a to tap into the bone itself to determine the nature person's marrow. All that is required, he said, is "acanvery be simple blood test . . . it's perfectly safe." The test One-thir- d of the blood used at the hospital is from units collected at the donor center. Most of the blood donated is from the university community mma&TOw By Robert M. Rowan Chronicle Feature Writer Boone J. Chen Tamra Hamilton gives blood at the University Medical Center, a process which takes between six and 20 minutes, and should be painless, except for the initial needle prick. the cash. Others giving. I know l m doing something good," said Joseph Trujillo, a owns 26 plasma CHRONICLE PHOTO percent of the people that come in who are return reasons . a company that approximately which is a "very generous but small group." The other comes from blood two-thir- ds suppliers such as LDS Hospital. Ellen Fisher, supervisor of the blood donor center, said the U. hospital would like to supply the hospital with more of its collected blood in order to help cut costs. In order to do so the center needs more donors. Donating blood is a relatively simple, painless and quick procedure. The process begins with a brief questioning about the potential donor's medical history and some demographic information. All interviews are confidential, Fisher said. Based on the results of the interview, those who qualify will be given a quick physical. The physical includes a temperature, blood pressure and pulse check, a weight check and an evaluation of the vein that will be used to draw blood. After the brief check-up- , donors sit back in a reclining chair and relax. A technician will first surgically scrub the area from which the blood will be withdrawn. The technician will then insert as painlessly as possible a sterile, disposable, one-us- e only needle into the donor's arm. Since the needle is sterile and disposed of after use there is no reason to fear catching AIDS from donating blood, Fisher noted. The donation procedure takes six to 20 minutes and approximately one pint of blood is removed. This is an eight to 12 percent change in blood volume. Due to this change, a donor must remain in the chair for another see "blood" on page eight involves doing blood done while one is donating blood, and is usually performed free of charge. The U. blood donor center, in the U. medical center, reported that the test requires screening, like for a donation of blood, to ensure the health of the potential donor. Once the test has been performed, the person's marrow type is put into the marrow donor bank and matched with those needing a transplant. Simply having the test done is not a guarantee that one will get to donate marrow, Bernhardt said, as the odds of finding a match outside a person's family are roughly one in 6,500. Seven antigens (an enzyme, toxin, or other to which the body reacts by producing antibodies) in the blood must match in order for the transplant to work, although the blood itself does not need to be the same type. Blood transfusions have become a way of life for Provo High freshman Shawn Stoneman. He was diagnosed last year as having a plastic anemia, which means that his bone marrow is unable to produce blood cells. He is in need of a bone marrow transplant. substance ld test According to Tom Lowery, family friend and press contact, the Stoneman family and a large network of volunteers are soliciting donations of money to help defray the cost of the $250,000 operation. In addition, though, the family has requested donations of whole blood for transfusions to keep Stoneman alive until his operation. So far, Stoneman has received $30,000 in donations, as well as gifts at Christmas and items to be sold in a benefit auction later this month, many of which were given anonymously. Stoneman needs transfusions at least once a week, Lowery said. A catheter has been inserted into his heart to speed the transfusions. Blood donations can be made at area hospitals in the name of "Robert Shawn Stoneman at Primary Children's Hospital." Stoneman is still in need of a compatible marrow donor, and until one is located the operation cannot take place. His odds of surviving without the transplant are 15 percent. Persons interested in making contributions to the Stoneman fund can send them to Robert Shawn Stoneman Trust Fund, P.O. Box 1734, Orem, UT 84059-1734. |
