The Power of a Great Network

Good Afternoon,

Sorry for the delay in post. I have entered the "black cloud" part of the chemo treatments where a couple days after the injection you feel pretty tired. So this morning I slept in,relaxed and decided that I would write this post this afternoon. I apologize to the morning readers, I will not make a habit of this ;) Also, I had a surprise visit from one of my good friends from high school that I hadn't seen in years. It was very nice to catch up and chat. Our discussions even inspired two reflections that I will post about in the coming days and weeks I am sure :)

Today I wanted to I wanted to send out a bunch of thank yous. First, I wanted to thank everyone who has signed up for the One Match donation bank. The outpouring of people signing up for this has been astronomical. I use the term astronomical because it is in line with the metaphor I used in my very first post, The Big Bang. (If you haven't read it, the calendar to the right has all my old posts :) ) But this is how I had hoped my journey through cancer would develop. My diagnosis would be the catalyst that started the "big bang" and everything would grow from there. (Hence, the symbol of the blog with my initials in the middle of the big bang expanding ;) )

Well on Friday, there was another example of the ever-expanding influence our network has. Maple Leaf held a One Match and blood donation Registration event. From all the feedback I hear, the event went amazing. From the event there were 84 people who signed up for the One Match Donor list and all the blood donation spots at the next Blood Clinic were filled. I wanted to extend a huge thank you to everyone that signed up and all the volunteers that made the event so successful.

I have not been tracking all the people who have signed up for One Match but I know we as a network are well over 100, easily. It is an amazing to think that we can have such a positive impact on so many people's lives. I hope that many of you get the opportunity to give. I have gone through a very similar procedure (where the marrow and stem cells are drawn out of my hips) and the worst part is when they draw out the bone marrow. Lucky for all of you, you get to sleep through it ;) I on the other hand get to feel it :(

The other thing I wanted to touch on was how the Blood Challenges were going. First, in the "Greatest Influencer" we have two people tied in the lead with each influencing two others to give blood. I think this contest has the possibility of really heating up so get your influencing in early to get a lead :)

Second, the original blood drive challenge is doing amazing. As of last Thursday we as a network have officially paid back all the blood that was transfused into me during my stay in the hospital. This is an amazing feat and one that I am extremely proud of.

With the two challenges combined there has been 14 blood donations this month. That means that we have given "life" to 42 different people. It is amazing to think that many people are going to get life saving transfusions thanks to all of your generosity. A huge thanks to everyone that has gone out to give blood!

For those that haven't given blood but still intend to, there is still plenty of time left. We haven't hit the 56 day cycle yet so the leaders are still only at 1 donation. Get in and book your appointment soon so that you are still on the first cycle of donations :) And for those that can't give blood due to past illness, travelling constraints, or any of the other long list of reasons that restrict donations. Remember what I talked about in the paying it forward post; when we can't do, we can influence. The greatest influencer challenge is a perfect place to start. Just get everyone you know to give blood in your place. When someone you know gives blood, post their name and date in the appropriate place and I will list you as the influencer.

Over the past week I have given some thought to these challenges and I realized that I have made it difficult for everyone to take part because of need for a Facebook account. Today I am amending the rules. Now you can leave a comment when you or someone you influences on the Blood Donation Page of this blog or continue to use the Facebook way. I will watch both places and continue to keep track.

Now let's get out there and give some more blood. For all those O+ donors, who knows it might be your blood that is given to me in my future transfusions :)

I hope you all have a great day !

Aaron