John Norman: 160 Platelet Donations (Pt 1)

My project manager, Katrina. She and I when we would run into a problem that we needed to solve, or I would say, I'm going.

For a walk.

She and I were walking this time along the Milwaukee River. I was telling her about my platelet donation. I said, you know, they called me up and I went in and I was just telling her. I thought it was really cool that they took the blood out and grabbed the platelets and put it back.

And she stopped.

She looked at me, and she says, you know, if it wasn't for blood products and platelets, I probably wouldn't have survived childhood leukemia and I wouldn't be here. So there right in front of me was somebody who was a recipient of something that I have the ability to give. And that was sort of my light bulb moment, saying, maybe you should go back in two weeks when you're eligible and.

Do it again. So I did, and I started.

That's kind of what started my I call it now, I call it my grateful habit, because it's a habit.

Now, Welcome to an army of normal votes. I'm Bill Courtney. I'm a normal guy. I'm a husband, I'm a father, I'm an entrepreneur, and I've been a football coach an inner city Memphis, and the last part somehow led to an oscar for the film they made about our football team. It's called Undefeated. I believe our country's problems will never be solved by a bunch of fancy people in nice suits using big words that nobody ever uses on CNN

Just north of Milwaukee about fifteen to twenty miles.

Does that make you a Brewers fan and a Packers fan? Packers fan for sure, Yeah, and a Brewers fan. I don't watch a lot of baseball, but it's a fun game. I got it at Bucks Basketball.

Bucks for sure.

Bucks and six, although not the last couple of years we just got knocked out.

Well, you got a superstar up there. Sounds like he's not real happy to be up there anymore.

They've got their things going on. I also don't pay much attention to the Bucks unless they're unless they're winning. I'm not a fair Weather fan. But I grew up in Colorado and we did not at the time have a We had a basketball we didn't have a baseball team, so I never got into baseball right And I was born in New Mexico and went to Alaska. No baseball teams there either, so baseball was not a thing.

Let me throw one on you a Denver basketball Frian. One of my favorite players was Keiky Vandaway. You remember that name at all?

That sounds familiar.

Oh wow, he was. That was eighties he was. He was a really good shooter. Anyway, not why you're here, John, but thanks for thanks for flying down from Port Washington and visiting with us. Alex, how do we find John? You found us, I know, tell us about it. Alex the producer will tell us how we found John.

He emailed us one day. Yes, this email wasn't boring. His email wasn't born, so we responded to him, think, sure you should say it was in the email, John, it's better coming from you.

I do remember sending this email because I'd kind of discovered you guys, and I was donating platelets one day and I'm like, this is pretty much a normal person kind of thing to do, and anybody can do it, almost anybody. So I sent you a quick email just saying just part of your part of your army, our army.

I guess, well, there's more to your story too, which I can't wait to get into. And it's cool that we are now organically getting a lot of our guests, which is why I want to tell a story, because before even start, I want to remind everybody that at the end of all of these things, we beg folks. To send us ideas for shop dogs, beg folks to send us stories of people they know, And you're living

I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to be part of that army and doing one thing at a time.

Well you are.

But first, I think I gave you the actual email, don't I?

Bill, What's that?

Isn't the email in your prep email the email that John sent us originally?

Well, I don't know. Maybe I think it's I don't think it is. Really, Yeah, you didn't do your job this time, Alex. I mean I always brag on how good a job you do prepping me. Now I will say that I watched the whole YouTube video. So that's that was really nice that you spent the ten seconds to attach that. Thank you. Okay, So John, sorry, alex Is just sit in a corner. Hey, Passius, could we get like a curtain like at the Wizard of Oz and just pull it across his area so I don't

I worked at a life science company at the time in Milwaukee, and I don't know so this this company at the time, this is the part that I was involved in. They worked with pharmaceutical companies and helped them with things like their helpline. If you've got a drug and you got questions about it, you can call up and learn more about it.

We had people on staff there that would that were.

Trained to answer those questions and at least triage them and if if they didn't know the answer, could send them to somebody that knew more. And I was only working there because it was it was an IT job that I could do. They offered a blood drive for the entire company. They said, We're going to bring in a blood center Wisconsin and set up in our lobby and you're welcome to take time off of your day and donate blood. So I think this is an easy one.

Place where they offered it get blood.

Probably no I was the adult forcing our kids somebody to get blood. I'm like, I'll go if you go. But that was years before, and before that, maybe in high school, I had donated once or twice. So I went and it was took twenty minutes and I was back at work. And a week later I got a phone call from the blood center and They said, you know, you've got a really high platelet count and your blood type is one that we would normally lead you in

I'm like, all right, that's cool. So when can I do this?

How early can it because I need to come to work afterwards. So I set up an appointment to go into the blood center. I had to wait a while because I had given blood and you have to wait eight weeks after giving whole blood.

So I went in.

I set up an appointment at six o'clock in the morning, and I walked in and I'm signing into their sheet and one of the questions on the.

Signing sheet was have you donated before?

And I answered no, And the person behind the counter said, well, why did you just check the noebox? I said, well, I've never donated platelets before. This is a new thing for me. You said you'd explain it.

When I came from scouting, and one of the twelve things has to be something to do with honest.

I think that was probably one of the ones I missed.

Got a boy, Okay, go ahead.

Actually I don't think honesty is in there. It's kind of implied before.

You drop this line. I want to divert real quick. You're there signing in and they're like, why are you checking? And you check. No, we'll pick up back there in just a moment. I had a guest on that gave me some demographics or some data, not demographics, some data around blood donors, and it made Alex co give blood. It was John that was the data was from John.

I pulled the data online.

You pulled the data after John's okay, so it was you pulled the data, all right. The data, to me is what was so opening, And we're going to get to it because I think there's going to be some data about the next thing we're going to talk about. But I want to remind our listeners what that data is and I'm going to screw it up, So correct me, all right, but I'm going to go for it.

You probably know better than I do, Alex. Alex should remember I don't feel in any details with me.

Please quite referring to the man in the corner. So the data I think that is right is that only three percent of the population donates blood. And okay, I am sure there are low percentages of people in the population. They do lots of stuff that should be done. But here's where it really kind of was eye opening to me. If you're in a car wreck and go to the yar, you need blood. If you're a cancer patient, you need blood. If you have any kind of surgery, you need blood.

For sure.

One hundred and only three. So there's three out of one hundred people in the world in the world are supporting the entire medical community.

And it's actually less than well, I'm gonna I'm going to back up on that a little bit. It might be less than that because only sixty five percent of the population are eligible to donate. Because what if you already had cancer, or if you've got some blood or whatever, your your high blood pressure, got a heart condition.

Only two out of every three people hand right, and then only three percent of who came.

I don't know if that, Yeah, it might be a lot less either way, it's a really small number.

Right, let me move the sheet back just a second, Okay, Alex, you can speak now. Is that data about, right? Is the adult population is the way they that's fair absently adult population. But still it's nothing. It's nothing. And when Alex did the data and we were talking to you on the shop talk and your information, I think you you went and gave blood like the next week, didn't you know?

I mean it was almost a providence providancial thing. My church just happened to be having a mobile you know thing in the next week. So it's honestly, I can't give myself too much credit. Like it literally was in my backyard in the next week.

Really, yeah, Well it was easy, wasn't it.

It was? Yeah? And I gave blood about two and a half weeks ago because I said I was going to deals. Yes, tell you that nice big deal. All right, And now a few messages from our general sponsors. But first, our next live interview in Memphis will be on June twelfth with Father Mark Hannah. Father Mark and a team of four other civilians saved over fifty lives on nine to eleven and the rest of his team died while trying to save more people. After nine to eleven, Mark

Minutes, maybe half an hour times.

And to be honest with you, I felt great after I gave blood, Like I don't know, I was like lost weight or something. I know that sounds stupid, but that's exactly how I felt.

With blood. They take it, they don't give it back to you.

So you're missing a paint stuff right right, and your body feels it and your.

Body start doing more. I don't know why it feels good afterwards, but I really feel good.

Not like maybe because I did a thing physically.

I actually felt lighter. It was weird, I.

Think, so, well, you probably felt lightheaded. I mean, you're missing it.

I don't know what I felt, but it was great and I'm going to continue to do it. And Alex is too.

I think I heard somebody else on your podcast, to your podcast that you had, the woman from Box. She was saying that she had donated and she said it's also kind of a health thing because you lose calories when you're donating blood.

Yeah, there you go. So everybody listen. If you're thinking, what can I hold it just one second? Cassius, have you given blood? Yeah, Alice, Cassius is not giving blood.

Well he didn't hear our Shop Talk episode, so.

Well you heard it now, Alex. I mean, Cassius, what you're going to do? Casius? Everybody, it's a challenge. This is a twenty minute thing. And honestly, this is how I reconcile it with me. I or someone of my family is going to need blood. And my father in laws had opened our surgery he had to have blood. My son Max coated after a football accident. His spleen blew up and they put seven units in him. Seven. He bled out he'd be dead if somebody had neggaive blood.

I checked no, yep, I've never been here to give plate No. Why'd you check that box? I've never been here. So and again I'm like, you guys are going to explain this to me when I got here. So I'm just trying to follow the rules here too. And they're like, but you've donated before. I said, no, I never haven't it. Ten fifteen seconds later, my twin brother walked in the door.

That's pretty that's very cool. And the same kind of reason was you gave blood. They said your plate look count was high and they looked good.

He's got the same blood type I do.

And your blood type is only what nine percent of the people in the world have. Your blood, that's what I understand be positive is and so yours is pretty valuable. And so he did it, and you do it. You bounce into each other and you're both giving platelets. Now that's an interesting thing. That was cool.

So it kind of freaked.

There's actually a phlebottomus there who when we were both there, she had she had an aversion, not an aversion, but unconscious fear of twins.

And whenever we were there, she left.

Are you kidding? There's a phobia? There's a twin? Is it really?

She was? She was super nice and whenever it was just me, no problem.

That is so weird that some kind of vampire with a phobia. That's weird. Okay, So let's talk about platelets, because I didn't know anything about him until I did a little research after knowing I was going to meet with you. But blood can be stored. I think blood can even be frozen, can't It not true?

I know it can be stored.

For a fairly significant period of time. Platelets can't. And I'll let you explain it before we go any further so that people understand what the world platelets is and why it takes two hours instead of twenty minutes. But just ninth grade biology, I remember that platelets are what helps your blood. I think it's coagulate. Yep. Is that right?

Yeah, so you hit the high point of platelets. Platelets are the part of your blood that coagulate and and heal your wounds. If you get a scratch or a cut, that's what helps stop the bleeding at that point. And that's because if you don't call out coagulate you just just keep bleeding, right, So it's super important. And and like you said, if you're in surgery, then it's blood.

So platelets are so if you're if you're going through chemo and god forbid, you get a car wreck or something else happens where you need share of surgery. If the chemo knocks down your platelet clown, they can't even do the surgery on you because.

That might be the case.

Yeah, wait out.

Or if you've got cancer and I hope I don't say this wrong because I haven't I don't really know all the answers to this, but if you're getting this treatment, it'll knock your platelet counts down to the point where they won't be able to give you other treatments because your body can't recover. So the platelets for cancer patients are are really really important.

I mean blood is too.

Most cancer patients will need both. Some cancer, depending on the treatment, you might not need platelets is a cancer patient, but most of them do. And the ones that I end up running into because I'm donating platelets and telling stories about them, those are the people that I've connected with. But it's super important for that. But platelets are just one part of your blood product.

But it's not easy.

You can't just sit there for twenty minutes and drop it in a bag. It's something that takes a little bit longer.

Tell me about the process.

So the process, it's very.

Similar to giving blood. You sit in a chair and they put a needle in your arm. This needle, though,

That's interesting. Yeah, I thought that was the coolest thing, sifting the platelets out. Yeah, and then.

That's weird that aunt bunch of little chipmunks in there going.

There's one it's like a magnet for platelets or something like that. So it's collecting platelets. And but why's it doing. Why don't they just take the blood out of you? You know why they do that? So they used to do that.

They used to use the machine.

They would take the blood out and then they would separate it into their number. There's plasma and there's blood cells and platelets, and they used.

To separate it out all in one shot.

In fact, if you look at some of the pictures, you'll see multiple bags hanging from the from the rack while I'm donating.

Now the only two.

Bags get filled with the platelets. But they used to also pull plasma and blood at the same time. The technologies get just gotten better. They they'll do whole blood. They'll do a double red is very similar, where they'll hook you up to a machine and take and through the technical process.

They'll pull out more red blood cells.

So if you donate double reds, you'll have a twelve or sixteen week waiting process.

So you can donate again. It takes your body more time to build what new blood cells than it does to do platelets.

Oh, well that makes sense. So when they're putting the blood back in you, it allows you to give platelets more often because your body.

Is Yeah, exactly, it's exactly it.

Why does it take two hours, It's.

Just the process of extracting it from your blood.

Does it feel different you mean when it comes back? No, when you're sitting there, the two hours that you're sitting there is a sensation any different.

It does get a little different.

Listen, we're challenging people to go give plate lifts. Well, a lot of people have a fear of needles, a reasonable fear of going and sitting in a chair and talking to a vampire who has a twin phobia. Who's going to them problem.

Just to be clear that I don't think most full bottomists have that particular issue.

They're just straight vampires.

Oh are they just straight vampires? Okay, this is anyway. But they're going to do this and and I mean, if I'm considering giving to play, let's I think it's valuable to know what the process is and how it feels.

Absolutely, it does feel different in it, so that you're going to get a little bit of pain when the needle goes in and it's it's weird. You can feel the blood being drawn out because it's under pressure. In fact, there's a little there's a little screen where you can you can kind of see the pressure as it draws the blood out, and then the bottomus the vampire will stay there with you until the first time it gets returned,

A little that we're going to get to. But I mean, just go ahead.

If you want to know what it feels like, just pinch your arm for a couple of seconds.

It was either on a video or maybe in the prep. You said, sometimes you're you can feel your lips.

Yeah, they put some sort of I don't know if it's a starch or some sort of material in the return, just to help keep things flowing.

Well, like, that's how I understand it.

Anyway.

I don't know whether it's like it, but but that will give your lips sort of a tingly feeling. Some people get that make metallic taste in their mouth, and that's why some people say I just can't do it.

I can't stand that.

But again, and that's personal, right, But yeah, it feels a little different. And sitting there for two hours, isn't it? It's two hours total. It's usually maybe an hour and a half for me. I have a friend, though it totally depends on your body weight, your your heart rate and other things.

He's done in an hour. For me it takes an hour. And okay, but yes, it's different.

What do you feel like when it's over? I mean, don't need to do anything?

No, they well, I use this to my advantage.

They tell you not to over exert yourself during the day and like lift weights and lift heavy things and stuff like that.

So you're happy to go sit on the couch.

That's why I do it a Friday, and my wife will say that I'm worthless on Friday nights. I totally use this as my excuse to just I donate a platelests to day. I saved three lives, so I'm just going to sit and relax, and.

They told me not to exert myself.

Something else about platelets is they can't It's not like blood. They only last what three.

Four five days, five days, five days, So you got to use it when you got them, and if you need them, you need them.

So that makes platelets even even more important to donate because you can't store them and just keep them on the shelf for a while.

I think about Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital here in Memphis and all those children that have answer and research. I've gotta believe they're constantly backing for the platelets. With a hospital full of huldren, I would think so, I would think.

So.

I know our blood center provides, We're they've got a five state system, but all the blood essentially goes local us. It's really a need that's near enough they can get to. You kind of have to got to have a good organization to logistically handle getting all that stuff around.

So it's cool. But there's this there's this weird synergy that happened in your world is you get platelets and then a face gets put on your giving for you. Yep, we'll be right back. So that I think it's interesting how a name gets a face gets put to your I mean, look, you're giving platelets, you're giving blood. Clearly your brother's doing it. That's awesome. But something happens it kind of changes it.

So that was the first time that I donate platelets when I ran into my brother there at work, my project manager, Katrina, she and I when we would run into a problem that we needed to solve, or just kind of run into a roadblock mentally for something I was working on, I would I would say I'm going for a walk, and she would come with me.

Every once in a while we'd go get a cup of coffee or whatever.

But our our in our office literally took up a city block, so sometimes it was just walking around the block.

A few times she and I were walking this time along the Milwaukee.

River, which is very close to where we were, and I was telling her about my platelet donation.

I said, you know, they called me up and I went in and I was just telling her.

I thought it was really cool that they took the blood out and grabbed the platelets and put it back. And it was and it took a while, but it was it was really kind of a neat experience.

And she stopped.

She looked at me, and she says, you know, if it wasn't for blood products and platelets, I probably wouldn't have survived childhood leukemia and I wouldn't be here. And I'd been working with her for a while. I cared about her quite a bit, and I so there right in front of he was somebody who was a recipient of something that I have the ability to give. And that was sort of my light bulb moment, saying, maybe you should go back in two weeks when you're eligible

Now. I think, well, Alex has very lately provided something that I think is very interesting. Every two seconds, someone in the US needs blood and or platelets. Approximately twenty nine thousand units of red blood cells are needed every day, every day, twenty nine thousand, and only three percent of our population is providing it. And I do know that in a mass housery event, they almost always run out of blood and the last folks of the hospital die

Yeah, and you can only have so much on hand and well and have enough.

Nearly five thousand units of platelets and sixty five hundred units of plasma are needed every day when they pull it out of you. How many units is that? You know? How many units you give per time?

So when I donate generally, they'll they'll they'll call it a triple. And so to me, I think that's three. It can be used by three different people. It's enough to be used by three people.

That means if five thousand units of platelets are needed for use a triple, that means we need about seventeen hundred donors a day just to meet current demand. That's a lot. That's a lot. A single car accident, victim, chemical workuire as many as a hundred units of blood. Blood and platelets cannot be manufactured. They can only come from donors. That's stark if you really think about that and understand that you or someone you love will be in that position one day. So it puts a face

Yeah, and that kind of get I would say retriggered. That's I've got these books on the on the table. I don't know whether it was I think it was early on in my platelet donating process. This is this is before COVID that I started, but just poking around and I don't know what it was that made me see it. Just stumbled up on this on a Facebook page or something. This woman Gracelynn in California and her

And Melody Lomboy, Melody Lomboy Low and Graceland Bateman yep. And it's words of advice for thriving and it's lots of stories, small story, small stories with big pictures of cancer survivors right.

Yep, exactly. And this is these are just people in their neighborhood, I mean, and around where they live in California.

So so this I thought it was a cool idea. Then I also read what is it?

What is the purpose bond that book?

Behind that book?

The purpose behind that book is like, if you're going through cancer, it's it's going to change it alone, it's going to change your life. You're not alone, It's exactly it. And it's worth celebrating that you're in remission. Not everybody gets to that point. Or maybe they do and cancer comes back. You should celebrate that you're that you're at that point.

You should, but it's okay to hurt too. You're not alone. Other people are going through the same thing that you are.

So you thought it was a cool I thought it was a cool idea, and just it was just a little trigger saying maybe I could tell some stories too, But it was really it kind of started more going in. Initially, I'm like, Okay, somebody else is out there that's going to this stuff, and I started trying to find a specific person that I could sit there in the chair, pray about, think about and focus on the fact that they might need what I've got to give, knowing that

But somebody while you're sitting there, while I'm sitting there, so now, why you're giving platelets.

I'm using one hand to type my story. I should have thought.

About that, think about maybe somebody you're focusing on actually who you might could be helping exactly.

It's my motivation, motivation and reminder to keep going in. Sometimes I go in though and I got to tell you it's it's hard sometimes because I might not have the energy.

But that's why I'm glad. It's a habit too.

And you'll see if you read through my posts every once in a while, you'll find one that's like, you know what, I don't have a story to but I'm still here because somebody needs these things. But over time I started to get connected to people that I knew that were directly it let people I worked with, but also through people like Graceland and Elodie who I've never met personally but we're connected and still chat a lot. They connected me to other people who had cancer. I mean,

I watch my dad and my mother and I'll go through it.

And I don't know that I fully appreciated at the time the amount of work that was for them, and for my mom and for Michelle's dad and these people and their families. It completely changes your life, and I want to spend a little Instagram limits the number of characters you can put in right, so I can spend a little bit of time honoring their journey at the time while still being there in the chair and trying to do something worthwhile.

Go ahead, I'm sorry.

I was just gonna say.

My other goal though, is to use that story to maybe have somebody say, wow, I'm going through that too, or I know somebody who's going through cancer. But the main goal is, or the end goal is maybe I should try and donate too and give it a try like you guys you've tried the first time. Now after finding out about it, I'm hoping that there's a whole bunch of people out there who said I'll do that.

I can do that. So you talk to people first and hear about their stories, and then just say I give platelets. I father out of cancer, my father, I'm all ot of cancer. I have very close friends who had childhood leukemia that survived cancer, and I want to respectfully put your story out there to encourage other people to both fight through cancer and those who don't have cancer to give.

That's pretty much. Yet I don't.

One thing that I consciously don't do is try and put myself in the I know what you're going through mode, because I don't know what they're going through. But I always I never share somebody's story without talking to them first, or messaging or whatever.

So do you have this community now?

I do? Now?

I think am up to maybe it's been eight years and I've counted somewhere ninety to one hundred different people that I've connected to because of these stories, all over the country, all over the world. You know people in New Zealand and England and other places that talk back

So reading back through those.

I'm like, oh, I wonder how Steve's doing, and I look back and Steve died two years ago, and it made me cry because I don't I wish I could keep track of and keeping contact with everyone. Some I'm I'm really super close to it and spend a lot of time messaging back and forth, sometimes late at night, which which Michelle is like, just go to bed, but it's so Yeah, it's like a second family to me. And I've connected with some really amazing people who are inspiring the way that they handle.

This year, and the followers of family and all of that creates kind of this thing you've got online too.

Yeah, I think so too. I mean it's it's organic. I don't go I haven't gone out shouting to the world or anything. Look what I'm doing. I just try and share it and try to make it about them, and it ends up being about me just by default because I'm sharing my page. But that's not what I wanted to want it to be about them and about the need for for people to come in and do this.

And that concludes part one of my conversations with John Norman, and you don't want to miss part two that's not available to listen to together. Guys, We can change this country, but it starts with you. I'll see you in Part two.