Ride Cat, Ride!

I’ve always felt a little bummed about being positive. O positive, that is. In the US, O+ is the most prevalent blood type (thank you Wikipedia) at more than 37% of the population with A+ being the next most prevalent around 35% of the population. It’s all so ordinary… O negative would have been much cooler. Then I could have been really valuable – a universal donor!

Yes, I am a nerd. I think about these things.

So when I opened my email today and found a message from the Community Blood Center of the Carolinas, the organization through which I donate blood, I wasn’t expecting anything interesting from the subject line, “Special Blood Donation”. I expected they meant a special event or something, nothing more. Opening up the email, I found that as it turns out, I am special! Or more specifically, my blood is special.

My everyday, blood-next-door ordinary O+ blood is special because they ran a panel on it and found that I am CMV-.

Why must everything related to blood involve pluses and minuses and acronyms?

Apparently, up to 80% of Americans are infected with the Cytomegalovirus (CMV) during their lifetime – thank you again, Wikipedia! By the time you reach 80, 90.8% of the population has been infected with this mild virus, which is actually classified more specifically as a type of herpes virus. No, not that type of herpes.

Still, Wikipedia says that most of y’all have herpes! (Hehehe – sorry, the 12 year old boy in me is laughing…)

The reason it’s interesting that it’s a herpes virus is that the classic sign of such a virus is that it remains latent in the body over a long period of time. So, you can get CMV and not even know it.

Anyway, enough about all you CMV+ folks… Back to me, the special non-latent herpes infected one…

Turns out, two classes of people are in dire need of CMV- blood: newborns and preemies, and immunocompromised patients, including cancer patients, and specifically leukemia patients.

Here’s what the email said:

CMV Status Details – As a CMV- donor, your whole blood donations may be dedicated for use in the treatment of premature and newborns, as well as young children in our community. It is also a key requirement for platelet demands which are critical in the treatment of cancer, leukemia and cardiac patients of all ages.

CMV (cytomegalovirus) negative simply means that through testing, it has been determined that you do not carry the CMV antibody.  CMV is a common flu like virus that many people are exposed to during their lives.  For most of us, it is harmless, but for a newborn or infant whose immune system is not fully developed or a cancer patient with a fragile immune system exposure can be dangerous or life threatening.

To maximize their donations, CMV- donors can consider rotating their whole blood donation with platelet donation.  Rotating their donation type allows the donor to give every 28 days.   Platelets are critical in the treatment of cancer, leukemia and cardiac patients.

So, I’m going to become a platelet donor, as well as a whole blood donor, specifically for these two programs. I’m really excited about this, as only a nerd can be, because giving blood is so stinking easy and hey – free cookies!

See if you’re special too: Sign up and donate!

One thing that bothers me this year is that I haven’t been able to post as much here as I did last year.

As a mentor, my first priority when I feel that “writing bug” hit is to write to my team. Each week I try to put something together that I hope they’ll find relevant and helpful to their training and fundraising.

I had a tough week this past week on our ride to Crowders Mountain. I was so stinking proud of my last experiences at Crowders, both the first ride and the second ride, that I was raring to go on this one! I ate a phenomenal breakfast. I carbed up the night before. I was rested and ready.

Unfortunately, my bike fit was off, and the high pollen count and other issues triggered a new issue for me: asthma.

I thought about writing about my ride here, but then I realized that everyone might enjoy reading part of the “Mentor Email” I sent out to all the fantastic TNT folks who did this ride with me. I learned some lessons yesterday that I shared with them. I want to also share them with you.

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Hello Team!

Those of you who came out with us to conquer Crowders Mountain had quite a ride yesterday! A couple of us had to turn back and leave those last hills for another day, but that’s how cycling is sometimes. Some days you’re the windshield, other days you’re the bug. Those of you who were able to finish had quite the ride. One of the toughest hills out there is that last major one after fifty-some-odd miles. You have to dig deep to tackle it, and I’m glad you did. I’m proud of all of you who came out yesterday.

Sometimes I feel like my lot in life is to serve as a warning for others. Yesterday was a mixed bag on that front. There are a couple of lessons I took away from Crowders yesterday that I want to share with you. One is a good lesson, while the last two are lessons in what NOT to do.

1. Know When to Say When
   Bowing out to the 40 mile loop hurt, not just because of how I was feeling, but because Crowders is one of my favorite rides. I looked down at the names on my bike for the last 20 miles yesterday feeling guilty, as if I was letting all of my honored heroes down. Did you all have gym teachers who said, “No pain, no gain?” Because I did. I ended up on crutches the first time I tried to run as an adult, because I kept pushing through the sharp pain in my ankles, repeating in my head “No pain, no gain.” All that “pain” ended up being stress fractures. My gym teacher was an idiot. And I wasn’t too bright myself.Long distance cycling, like so many other endurance sports, is a suffer fest. It’s not supposed to always feel great. But if you feel sharp pains in any part of your body where you don’t expect sharp pains, sit up and take notice. If you can’t catch your breath, ask yourself if it’s your normal “out of breath” or something different. Listen to your body and learn to tell the difference between its cries of discomfort from the toll that endurance takes, and its cries of pain from when it’s telling you that you might be injuring yourself.

   Cutting short an event to stave off injury isn’t letting anyone down. It’s making the right choice. So if you ever get to that point, be the good, responsible athlete that you know you are and step back. Recognize that giving up the thrill for the short term means you’ll come back and be better in the long term.
   
   

2. Don’t Make Major Adjustments Before Long Rides!
   (If something doesn’t feel right, chances are high it’s the bike – NOT YOU.)
   See? Told you I mostly serve as a warning for others. I got a new saddle last week. I watched as the woman at the bike shop carefully measured my old saddle and replaced it with the new one. I even rode the bike once for a 23 mile out-and-back to Waxhaw. Didn’t feel great, but I was able to manage it. I should have ridden on it more and really paid attention to my body positioning. If I had, I would have known something was wrong.I was stupid. I ignored some basic issues that I should have paid attention to. I couldn’t manage to get my leg over the saddle, it was so high. When I was pedaling on the downstroke, I could barely reach the pedal at the bottom. I took the bike in today to one of my favorite bike adjusters and oh yeah, my saddle was way out of whack. In fact, he lowered it a centimeter more than it had been prior to the saddle switch-out. I had thought the saddle felt a little high all season, and when I told him I thought it was all in my head he cautioned me with this line: If something feels different or not quite right about your bike, it’s almost NEVER you, but it’s almost always the bike. Bring it in.
   
   
3. Don’t Ignore Your Body’s Subtle Signals
   If you aren’t feeling your normal self for multiple rides, go get it checked out. Again, it’s about listening to your body openly and paying attention to the subtle signs. Don’t try to dismiss what your body is telling you. This season’s been worse for me than last season. Lots of things have been “off” on the bike with my breathing. Meanwhile, off the bike I started coughing persistently during the night about five months ago. Just the day prior to our ride I woke myself up with a coughing fit at 4AM. Turns out, that’s a very early symptom of asthma. And what I’ve been feeling on the bike this year has been that asthma, that I didn’t even know I had, being triggered. When in doubt, go see a doctor. It’s almost never all in your head.

Right after yesterday’s ride, I considered it a “bust” for me personally, but I did learn three great lessons. They’re lessons I already knew, but it was time for me to learn them all over again. In that way, yesterday’s ride was a great one. Learn from my mistakes and listen to your body. Observe how it’s feeling on and off the bike. Great athletes are in tune with themselves. They have to be in order to perform at their peak.

I consider you all great athletes. Listen to your body.

I work for a great company that makes it easy for me to donate blood. Every couple of months, we receive an email from one of our floor admins with a link to our local blood donation site. They let us know that on a given day for a given set of hours within the workday, a Red Cross sponsored “Blood Mobile” will be on site for folks willing to donate blood that is used for local Carolina residents.

I signed up a week ago to donate blood today. I’ve donated before, but not since late 2008. And as you can imagine, I felt somewhat guilty about that.

There are so many ways we can give to the causes we support. I only ask that my friends reading this explore one or two of those ways. You don’t have to give cash to a cause. You can give something else if you’d prefer: Your time, your sweat equity, your blood donation.

I am asking for help raising money for my cause but if you don’t have cash to spare right now, then consider giving something different. Lend your expertise in whatever you’re good at to your local LLS chapter, or anything else you can think of. Can you type fast, file documents, take photos or manage a project? Contact your local LLS chapter to see if they need any of your unique talents.

Be creative. We all have causes that resonate deep within our hearts. But we don’t always have the funds. So explore all the facets of “giving” available to you. You have talents. You have passion. You have love. How can you use those amazing, special qualities to give back?

I worked from home today, because it’s the main “Spring Break” week this year. No one seems to be at the office, so I’ve mostly spent the week at my home office desk. I scheduled my donation appointment at noon. I drove into the office, which is actually close to my home, for my donation. And you know what? I had a freaking blast making my donation! I’m not kidding. Not at all. When I showed up, there was only one other person getting blood drawn, out of four stations. At first it felt like an obligation to go, but by the time I left that bus, I was grateful for the chance to have so much fun for 30 minutes, for a good cause.

I filled out the forms and one of the technicians named Lisa came in to discuss them with me. As we looked out the window at the gray skies I said, “I sure hope it rains today.” She said, “Do you think it will?” I responded, “I’ve heard it’s going to rain like a …….” I tried to find a non-offensive word, since I had 3 or 4 really offensive ones in my mind. “…MONSTER.” was the lame word that left my lips. She saw the entire process going through my head and cackled like it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. “Yeah! …. MONSTER, that’s it!” She laughed so hard she forgot what she was doing.

That set the tone for the rest of my visit, where the three female techs and I laughed long, and laughed hard. At one point, when I commented that I was “bringin’ sexy back” after she put the super lame blue wraparound dressing over my blood draw site, she said, “Dang woman you need to come work with us!” Apparently laughter and good hydration makes you bleed fast, because within four minutes she was back at my arm shutting everything down. “Wait? What are you doing? I’m not done already, don’t make this process go slower.” I said. She said, “Nah you’re done. You’re a quick one!” As she was bagging everything up, and while I waited with my soda and Lorna Doones for ten minutes before I left the Blood Mobile, she pointed to my donation and told her funny coworkers, “Four minutes! Not bad. Usually only the guys get that!”

When I left the Blood Mobile, I headed toward my car. Lisa leaned out and said, “No! I told you – you’ve GOT to try that loaded baked potato soup in the cafeteria! Go get some!” She had mentioned the spectacular soup being offered in our office cafeteria, which I almost never frequent, when I told her I was going to pick up some lunch on the way home.

Duly chastised, I laughed and went into my office building for the soup. I brought it home for lunch and Lisa was right, it was damn good for $3.

You can give in so many ways. We all can. I’m not going to lie – I would love it if you donated to my cause, to Team Jazz.

But you know what? If you can’t donate money, I’d love it if you could donate blood, or give of yourself in another way.

Do you want to help someone with leukemia, lymphoma or another blood cancer? Truly? Then by all means donate your healthy blood. It could save them. Just check out Ben’s story. Ben was diagnosed Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. Throughout his treatment he received 40 transfusions from more than 111 donors. Ben’s words stick with me:

“I don’t think people understand what life they are saving …It is harder to see the need [for blood] when it doesn’t really affect you.”

Ben, who has completed a metric century (100k) on the bike, and participated in a duathlon since going into remission puts it best here:

“I couldn’t run one more step without all of the blood donors who helped save my life.”

Give.

However you can.

Thanks.

Find a blood drive near you.