Donating blood at RUPP

I am a huge supporter of donating blood. This is because I see so many kids with cancer at work who continuously are getting different types of blood products. Quick biology lesson: Chemotherapy kills cancer which we all know, but it also has major impact on the rest of the body too. The chemo also kills red blood cells which are found in your blood. Red blood cells are the transporters of oxygen around your body. If you have low blood counts then you will typically show signs of fatigue or be tired more often. So, 3 years ago when I started working on the Hematology/Oncology side of the children's hospital I made a commitment to myself that I would also donate if I was able to. This is because these kids are in a daily battle for their life and the least I could do would be to go get a little bit of my blood taken so that they could be better prepared for their fight with cancer. Every 2 months I head over to the donation center and give a pint of my O+ blood. Besides the benefit of knowing that I helped someone with my donation there are also a few perks that go with it too! Every year they do a blood drive at RUPP Arena and the perk is that you get to take a couple shots out on the court where many Kentucky legends have played. The past three years I have taken advantage of this awesome event and have even taken Jennifer and the kids along. This year we had some additional help to watch the kids so Grandma and Grandpa watched them while Jennifer and I donated.

The kids playing on the court. They were running around and acting like they had never been out of the house. 

I helped both of the kids make lay ups. If only I was a little bit lot taller I could help them dunk. Maybe one day they will be able to jump up there by themselves.

All of the adults taking their shots. Nobody hit on their first attempt! I tried out all the shots from the This or That challenge that they do at the halftime of each UK basketball game. I made the lay up and the 3-pointer, but missed the free throw and half court shot.

Donating blood! I am proud to say that I am currently working on my 3rd gallon that I have donated.

Jennifer just after she finished donating. She was a little nervous because this was her first time ever donating. They will probably be calling her often to donate because she is the universal donor blood type.

You can't walk out on the court and not pretend to be in front of 24,000 screaming fans. It would be a very intimidating arena to play for both the home and away team. Since I have used up all of my college eligibility I will never be able to play for the wildcats, so my next option to get in front of that huge crowd would be to complete the spelling of Kentucky by being the Y! Not sure that will ever happen, but a man can always dream. I guess I would need to do something that would make myself famous first or only a handful of people in the arena would know who I was.

So, I guess that I will just have to keep training the kids in hopes that one day they can be the Y.

Landon as the Y.

My little wildcat family. I am so glad that they are being raised to love the BBN.

Grandma and Grandpa even got in on the dream of being the Y. They went in together to each complete a half.

Here are a couple snapshots from the previous couple of years going down to RUPP with Jennifer and the kids. It is so crazy to see how they have grown.

Even without the benefit of getting to shoot around at RUPP, I would still be donating blood. I would also encourage everyone one that I know to do the same. You never know who you could help and one day it could even be you or one of your family members that are in need. So, get out there and donate! Save lives! Thanks for reading and God bless!