Peak Living - Winter 2012 - (Page 13)

oted has an old newspaper article from the 1970s that shows him doing what he’s still doing more than 35 years later— giving blood. He held the yellowed newspaper clipping and quipped: “This is like parchment. It came out of the tombs.” Valorose started giving blood in the late 1960s, when he was president of his high school senior class in Connecticut. He continued the practice when he went to college at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Conn. “The dormitory had blood competitions, and the floor that gave the most blood during the semester got pizza. I was into pizza,” Valorose said. His floor won a few of the competitions. After college, he continued to donate, but the prize was much better than pizza. Her name: Paula. “The gal who I’ve now been married to for 36 years, her brother-in-law worked at the Red Cross in Connecticut and asked me if I would give blood. So, to impress the woman that I had just met, I gave blood,” Valorose said. Valorose, who moved to Colorado Springs to work for a computer company, has been coming to the Blood Donor Center at Memorial Health System once a month since Dec. 10, 1987. Valorose, who has rare AB positive blood, does pheresis, a process in which his blood is separated into red cells, white cells, platelets or plasma. Only the parts of the blood that are needed are kept—the remaining blood is given back to him. ichard Valorose “It’s really relaxing. It doesn’t hurt. There’s zero pain. Even when I know the needle is going in, there’s zero pain—really,” Valorose said. “I typically relax by reading. There’s no sense in worrying about the outside world because you’re not going anywhere.” Valorose said he knows that giving blood is a valuable community service that helps people in their hour of need. “I’m convinced that it is helping someone somewhere,” he said. “I don’t give much thought to it, because they’re really in worse shape than me, and I wish them well.” Valorose even sets his appointments a year in advance. “It just became part of my normal lifestyle; it is part of my life now,” he said. “If you ask me why I keep coming back, there is the community service piece but, really, it’s the staff here that keeps me coming back.” Though he has done pheresis more than 250 times at Memorial, he said the staff does not take him for granted. “They’re appreciative, they’re helpful, they say thank you,” Valorose said. “If you got treated like another number, you wouldn’t be so likely to want to go back. If they weren’t so professional, I may still be doing this, but I might be doing it someplace else. “They deserve a lot of credit. They work hard. I just sit here and bleed.” What Happens When You Donate Blood? RR You sit or recline in a comfortable, specially designed chair. RR Your arm is scrubbed to sterilize it. RR needle is placed in your A vein. Usually, there is just a little pinch. RRBlood collection begins and usually takes eight to 12 minutes. RR Afterward, you rest for about 10 minutes, and receive refreshments and follow-up instructions. RR Your blood is stored in the blood bank lab until a patient needs a transfusion. RR You leave knowing you have helped someone in need. Donate toDay Call the Memorial Health System Blood Donor Center at 719-365-5411 to ask questions or to schedule an appointment to donate blood. No Pain, All Gain “I’ll admit, when I started, I wasn’t a fan,” he said. “Like everybody else, I didn’t like needles. But fate just kept steering me toward this destiny, I guess.” Now, coming to the Blood Donor Center at Memorial is a bit of a respite. For about 90 minutes—no longer—Valorose can relax by reading a book or watching a movie. W I N T E R 2 0 1 2 | 13

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Peak Living - Winter 2012

Peak Living - Winter 2012
Contents
HealthBeat
Q & A
Savoring Sucess
Trauma Training
One Devoted Donor
Focus on Food
Community Calendar

Peak Living - Winter 2012