Taft Resolution 

Meet three grateful Recipients:

Monique
George
Connor

Four-year-old Connor Malone kissed away his mother's tears as the oncology specialist described Connor's tumor and the 44-week course of chemotherapy and radiation treatments he faced. "I already knew I had cancer,"  the solemn-eyed boy said in response to his father's gentle explanation of what lay ahead. Connor had figured it out when he underwent his first CAT Scan at Children's Hospital. How did someone so young understand so much? Because his grandfather had undergone a CAT Scan the previous summer and young Connor remembered the term.

For a little boy to know so much, so young, is heart-wrenching, indeed. However, thanks in part to the selfless volunteers who donate their platelets through the apheresis process, Connor will beat the tumor that has caused so much turmoil.

Nothing more than a tummy ache was suspected when Connor first complained about his "belly button hurting." Then thoughts of appendicitis were entertained as Connor's parents took him to the Children's Hospital Emergency Department for an explanation of their son's continued discomfort.

The CAT Scan revealed what might be a ruptured appendix. Subsequent surgery confirmed a much more grim diagnosis: tumors clutched the small boy's bladder and bowel. Instead of removing a ruptured appendix, the surgeons put in a catheter for chemotherapy, which was begun almost immediately.

Connor is an optimist and has come up with an original way to deal with hair loss caused by radiation and chemotherapy treatments - he just "waters his hair" to make it grow! Throughout the course of his treatment, however, Connor lost more than his hair - he also lost life-saving platelets, which were destroyed by the 14 rounds of chemotherapy and five weeks of radiation he received.

Thanks to volunteers who took the time to donate their platelets through apheresis, Connor was spared complications from bleeding problems.

Is Connor grateful? Well, he's a little preoccupied with pizza and air hockey to consider the sacrifices of others, but his parents and 7-year-brother say "thank you for helping to give Connor a second chance."

Please continue to help patients like 4-year-old Connor. Contact a blood bank near you and schedule your next life-saving appointment. Giving Blood Saves Lives.