Dec. 25, 2010

The message of giving during the holiday season is every where, whether it's the Salvation Army and the red buckets at every mall in the country, or countless number of youth groups doing service work throughout their community.

At LMU, giving is a part of the University's mission towards developing the whole person. For LMU men's water polo coach John Loughran, the message of giving this holiday season is a personal one.

A year ago this Christmas, Loughran was prepared to spend another traditional Christmas morning with his family. Instead, it quickly turned into a trip to the emergency room and a new path in his life began.

Loughran was diagnosed that Christmas Day, 2009, with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL), a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. He was admitted to UCLA's Ronald Reagan Hospital and began an aggressive chemotherapy.

Throughout the months that followed, Loughran was confined to the hospital and as the very aggressive treatments to recovery began, his life depended on the donation of blood and blood platelets.

Thanks in large part to those donations, in late July of 2010, the doctors declared Loughran in complete remission. Then in August, Loughran was back on the pool deck for the Lions, leading them to their eighth conference championship in 10 years and eighth trip to the NCAA tournament.

And as Christmas Day 2010 arrives, Loughran finds himself working towards the goal of "final remission," which is a two-year treatment process that when complete in the Summer of 2012, will leave him with just a three-percent chance of the APL returning.

It was all made possible through giving.

"The only reason I was able to become in complete remission was from the support of so many people, many of whom I don't even know. If it wasn't for their donations of blood and blood platelets, I might not be here," said Loughran. "As my recovery moves forward and I continue to remain in remission, it is so important to me, my family and to the LMU water polo program, to continue to raise awareness on why it is so important to donate blood. There is a great need, and if we continue to team-up, so many will be helped."

For more information on how and where to donate, visit the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center Website.

Donating has been made easy through the following facilities, all of which helped treat Loughran:

Ackerman Union Donor Center located on UCLA Campus
UCLA's satellite Ackerman Union Donor Center is located at the Ackerman Union on UCLA's campus in order to make it more convenient for UCLA staff, faculty and students to donate blood.

Approximately 100,000 units of blood are needed every year at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital. Blood transfusions help patients suffering trauma such as accidents or burns, patients undergoing surgery, women experiencing complications during childbirth, newborns and premature babies, and patients receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or other diseases.

Thousands of generous faculty, staff and students regularly donate blood to help meet these needs. Still, only 65 percent of what UCLA patients need is collected through donations, and the need for blood continues to grow.

The new 1,500-square-foot space accommodates eight donor beds. Of these, six beds will be used to collect what is referred to as "whole blood," the process most donors are familiar with. Whole blood, after its collection, is separated into its component parts - red blood cells, plasma, platelets and cryoprecipatitated AHF (antihemophilic factor) - and used in separate transfusions to help save lives. Between filling out forms, getting screened and actually giving blood, it takes about one hour to make a whole blood donation.

Two of the donor beds will be used for donations of blood platelets, the part of the blood that aids in clotting - important for emergencies - and helps patients with cancer, leukemia, transplants and blood disorders. In a process called platelet apheresis, whole blood is drawn, selected component parts are separated out, and the rest of the blood is safely returned to the donor. Since platelet donations can take up to two hours, donors sit in ergonomically designed contoured chairs, with access to computers with Internet access and a choice of movies to watch.

Patient's lives depend on blood donors. Because donated blood has a limited shelf life, supplies must constantly be replenished.

To donate blood, or for additional information, call (310) 825-0888, Ext. 2, or e-mail gotblood@ucla.edu. Drop-ins without appointments are also welcome at both centers.

The Gayley center is located at 1045 Gayley Avenue, between Kinross and Weyburn avenues.You'll need an appointment in order to donate platelets, please call (310) 206-6187 to schedule.