Donating Platelets After Cancer Treatment
Platelets are the tiny cells in your blood that help to form clots and stop bleeding. The blood’s ability to clot prevents all of us from bleeding out too much from an injury. When an individual’s platelets are low, it can lead to severe or life-threatening issues. Low platelets are a particular concern for those who are dealing with cancer.
Overall, platelet donation is in high demand. Every 15 seconds, someone is in need of platelets. Platelet donation is also time-dependent as platelets must be used within five days of collection. Many cancer patients require platelet transfusions as part of their cancer treatment, specifically those receiving organ or bone marrow transplants.
As a cancer survivor yourself, it’s only natural that you would want to give back in the same manner that you were saved. However, the guidelines for platelet donors are similar to blood donation guidelines. Cancer survivors of solid tumor cancers are eligible to donate platelets 12 months after completing treatment and receiving a clean bill of health. Cancer survivors of blood cancers are ineligible to donate platelets due to the nature of their disease.
What Led You To The Red Cross
I knew my father had some experience with the Red Cross when he was in the Korean War. When I was fire chief and dealt with fires, we would call the Red Cross to assist the residents. That was probably my first real experience with them.
And in 2011 my home flooded during hurricane season and the Red Cross had emergency response vehicles parked in front of my house for a month and a half, feeding residents and my community in Pennsylvania. I had five feet of water on my first floor, so I was out of my housefor four months. I had to get it all gutted and rebuilt and the Red Cross was out there.
How Will Treatment Affect My Libido
Prostate cancer may dampen your sex drive. Knowing that you have cancer and going through treatment can both cause you to feel too anxious to have sex.
Hormone therapy used to treat prostate cancer can also affect your libido. This treatment slows prostate cancer growth by lowering testosterone levels in your body. You need testosterone to have a healthy sex drive. Hormone therapy can also affect your self-esteem and sex drive by making you gain weight or causing your breast tissue to enlarge. If your hormone levels are low, your doctor may be able to prescribe testosterone replacement therapy to bring them back up to normal. This depends on your overall cancer treatment plan.
2013 study , about 3 percent of participants reported that they had a reduced penis size after radical prostatectomy or radiation plus hormone therapy. The men said their smaller penis affected their relationships and their satisfaction with life.
For men who do experience this, the change in size is generally half an inch or less. This decrease in size may be due to tissues shrinking in the penis. These tissues may shrink because of nerve and blood vessel damage.
If youre concerned about this side effect, ask your doctor about taking a drug for an erectile dysfunction , such as Cialis or Viagra. The increased blood flow from these drugs may help prevent your penis from getting smaller. Theyll also help with acquiring and maintaining an erection.
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Additional Guidelines For Bone Marrow Donation
Aside from a history of cancer, there are other guidelines for donating bone marrow. These guidelines are different from the guidelines for donating blood.
There are several factors that could make you ineligible for bone marrow donation. Typically, a potential bone marrow donor:
- Must be between 18 and 60 years of age. Often, registries will automatically remove donors on their 61st birthday. Bone marrow from people between the ages of 18 and 44 is used more often and is in higher demand. There is a slight increase in complications for donors who are 60 or older. And patients who receive bone marrow from younger donors often have a more successful recovery.
- Cannot be pregnant at the time of donation. Pregnant women may be on the registry, but would need to postpone donation until they are recovered from childbirth.
What Happens After A Prostate Biopsy
Your recovery process will vary depending on the type of anesthesia that isused. If you were given general anesthesia, you will be taken to a recoveryroom for observation. Once your blood pressure, pulse, and breathing arestable and you are alert, you will be taken to your hospital room ordischarged to your home.
If local anesthetic was used, you may go back to your normal activities anddiet unless otherwise instructed. You may feel the urge to urinate or havea bowel movement after the biopsy. This feeling should pass after a fewhours.
There may be blood in your urine or stool for a few days after the biopsy.This is common. Blood, either red or reddish brown, may also be in yourejaculate for a few weeks after the biopsy. This, too, is normal.
The biopsy site may be tender or sore for several days after the biopsy.Take a pain reliever for soreness as recommended by your healthcareprovider. Aspirin or certain other pain medicines may increase the chanceof bleeding, so be sure to take only recommended medicines.
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Increase in the amount of blood in your urine or stool
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Belly or pelvic pain
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Changes in the way your urine looks or smells or burning with urination
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Fever and/or chills
Your healthcare provider may give you other instruction, depending on yoursituation.
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Organ Or Tissue Transplant
If you have received human tissues, such as bone , ligaments, tendons, skin and corneas, you may be allowed to donate, depending on the reason for the procedure.
If you received any of the following types of transplants you will not be able to donate:
- Human organs such as heart, lung, liver or kidney
Please Give Now To Overcome A #bloodemergency
The Red Cross continues to have an emergency need for blood and platelet donors of all blood types to give now and help save patient lives. Blood and platelet donations are currently being distributed to hospitals as fast as donations are coming in, and more donations are needed now, especially type O, to replenish the blood supply.
For more information or to make appointment to give, use the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org, or call 1?800?RED CROSS .
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How Often Can I Donate Blood
Donating blood requires a waiting period between donations. If you donate:
- Whole blood– you may donate 56 days after your last whole blood donation.
- Double Red Cells- you may donate 112 days after your last double red cell donation. Double red cell donors must meet certain weight, height, and hemoglobin requirements.
- Platelets- you may donate 7 days after your last platelet donation, with a maximum of 24 donations per year.
- Plasma- you may donate 28 days after your last plasma donation.
- 16-18-year-old males 56 or 112 days, depending on donation given
- 16-18-year-old females 112 days
Recent Findings About Regaining Potency After Radical Prostatectomy
It is important to remember that regaining erectile function takes time after radical robotic prostatectomy. Most studies in the literature use endpoints of 18-36 months after prostate cancer surgery. Nerve tissue can be easily damaged during robotic prostatectomy, regardless of the skill of the surgeon, and takes a long time to regenerate. It is believed that early postoperative medical therapy can aid an earlier return to potency.
Dr. Ahlering, a physician with UC Irvine Medical in Orange County, CA. has pioneered the use of electrocautery-free preservation of the neurovascular bundles which are essential for the return of potency after prostate surgery. A recent study by Dr. Patrick Walsh and associates at John Hopkins has shown that mono and bipolar cautery near the potency nerves severely impact the erectile function of dogs. Mono and bipolar cautery are routinely used by many institutions to limit the bleeding during surgery by heat-sealing or cauterizing the bleeding vessels.
The nerves for potency are intertwined with a bundle of blood vessels, which must be controlled during prostate cancer surgery to prevent large blood losses. Thus to preserve the nerves of potency, a surgeon also must prevent the bleeding of these vessels also. Cautery is considered a standard method of sealing the blood vessels, allowing the nerve bundles to now be properly visualized.
For comparison we show the standard data on open prostatectomy potency :
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When Blood Donation Is Ok
It’s important to note that eligibility to donate blood can vary depending upon the cancer center or blood donation organization. For people who have had cancer, the donation center may require a letter from your oncologist indicating that it is safe for you to donate blood. In general, cancer survivors can donate blood in the United States if:
- You meet the basic criteria above,
- You had a solid tumor and it has been at least 12 months since the completion of cancer treatment, and you currently are cancer-free . That said, some centers require five years, and others 10 years after the completion of successful cancer treatment.
- You are childhood leukemia or lymphoma survivor and it has been at least 10 years since being deemed cancer-free.
- If you had a very early cancer in which surgery is curative . With these very early cancers, survivors can donate blood as soon as they are healed from surgery.
- People who have precancerous lesions are usually able to donate blood as soon as any treatment to remove the cells has taken place.
Which Dogs Are Most At Risk
No male dog is immune to prostate disease. By far and away the most common cause is a hormonally fed enlargement of the prostate called benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH . The chances of BPH increase with age, until we reach that figure of 80% by eight years of age. However, this doesnt mean all dogs show signs at this age. That enlarged prostate may not cause an obvious problem until the dog is in his teens.
Unfortunately, prostate cancer can and does occur albeit rarely. This is slightly more likely to happen in neutered dogs than entire, and is again the territory of the older dog, usually over the age of ten years.
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When Blood Donation Is Not Allowed
People with cancer who are not eligible to donate blood in the United States include:
- Those in active cancer treatment
- Those who have a cancer that is progressing
- Those who have a cancer that has recurred following remission
- Those who have had blood-related cancers as an adult, such as leukemia, lymphomas including Hodgkin disease, multiple myeloma, or polycythemia rubra vera
- Those who have had cancers such as Kaposi’s sarcoma or mycoses fungoides. A history of Kaposi sarcoma, in particular, prohibits blood donation in the future.
- Those who have had treatment with some particular chemotherapy medications, or certain treatments for cancer such as an organ transplant or a splenectomy
Those who have had blood-related cancers may never donate blood.
What Kind Of Treatment Will I Need
There are many ways to treat prostate cancer. The main kinds of treatment are observation, active surveillance, surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, and chemo. Sometimes more than one kind of treatment is used.
The treatment thats best for you will depend on:
- Your age
- Any other health problems you might have
- The stage and grade of the cancer
- Your feelings about the need to treat the cancer
- The chance that treatment will cure the cancer or help in some way
- Your feelings about the side effects that might come with treatment
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Straining To Pass Feces
Think of this problem like putting your foot on a hosepipe: The pressure on the hosepipe stops water flowing. Only in this case, the rectum is the hose and the prostate in the foot. The lack of space with the pelvis means an enlarged prostate pushes up on the rectum and makes it difficult for the dog to pass feces.
These dogs typically squat for ages, and perhaps walk around in a squat as they try to do their business. They may even produce some liquid from the anus, followed by a hard stool.
What Would You Tell People To Convince Them To Donate Blood
If theyre afraid of needles I usually tell them to think of someone they know who has cancer. That person may need blood and you could be the one thats going to save their life. Its not as hard to give as some people believe. Yeah you get a little prick in your arm and the first time you may feel a little different about it, but it gets easier every time you give. You never know when you need it and you never know when its going to be your blood that saves that person. It could be one of your relatives.
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What Does A Digital Rectal Exam Do
In a digital rectal exam , the doctor inserts a gloved finger into your rectum to feel for irregularities of the prostate. Its a common part of a mans routine physical examination.
Your doctor might perform a DRE alone or with a PSA test for routine screening. Its a quick and simple test. Although a DRE can signal a problem, such as an enlarged prostate, it cannot determine if its due to prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is diagnosed 15 to 25 percent of the time when abnormal findings on a DRE lead to biopsy.
Do You Have More Questions
If you have more questions regarding donation eligibility after cancer or cancer questions in general, feel free to contact us today. At Compass Oncology, we know that facing a returning to “normal” after cancer treatments are complete can be frightening. The good news is that you don’t have to go through this experience alone. We will be there to help you.
Resources:
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What Cancer Patients May Donate Blood And When
Doru Paul, MD, is triple board-certified in medical oncology, hematology, and internal medicine. He is an associate professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and attending physician in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at the New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Cancer survivors may sometimes be able to donate blood if they are more than a year out from therapy. Yet there are situations, such as with leukemias and lymphomas and more, where donating at any time after treatment isn’t considered safe for those who would receive the blood.
It’s important to note that individual blood donation organizations, as well as different countries, have different requirements, and it can take a little research to know if you are eligible. When can people who have had cancer donate blood, when can they not, and what are the reasons behind this?
What Is A Prostate Ultrasound And Biopsy And Why Would You Need One
The prostate is the part of your body that makes fluid for semen, which is the fluid that carries sperm. The gland surrounds part of your urethra, which is the tube that carries urine and sperm outside of the body. The prostate has muscles that move the sperm out of the body.
If you are having problems with your prostate, you might be having difficulties related to pushing urine or sperm out of your urethra and penis. Your healthcare provider may ask you to have a prostate ultrasound and biopsy to check for prostate cancer.
A prostate ultrasound probe is inserted into the rectum and uses sound waves to produce images inside the rectum to help image the prostate and guide the doctor in taking a biopsy of the prostate gland. Prostate ultrasound and biopsy are used to diagnose prostate cancer or to find the reason for other problems. A doctor may require this test if a patient has high levels of prostate-specific antigen found in a blood test, or has an abnormal prostate exam both suggesting that the patient may have a high risk for prostate cancer.
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How Will Treatment Affect My Ability To Orgasm Or My Fertility
Surgery for prostate cancer can affect both your orgasms and your ability to have children. The prostate gland normally adds a fluid called semen to sperm to nourish and protect it. Youll no longer make semen after surgery, which means your orgasms will be dry. Radiation therapy can also reduce the amount of fluid you ejaculate. Without semen, you wont be able to father children. If youre concerned about fertility, you can bank your sperm before your surgery.
After surgery, orgasms will also feel different. You wont have that normal buildup of sensation before you have an orgasm. Youll still be able to feel pleasure, though.
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