Nebraska Community Blood Bank Provides Lifesaving Blood to Cancer Patients

When breast cancer fighter Jennifer Klein showed up for another round of chemotherapy, she was instead instructed to go to the hospital immediately for a blood transfusion.

“I felt run down and slow and I could hear my heart beating in my ears all the time, even when trying to sleep. I thought it was just part of the treatment,” the now breast cancer survivor said. “I never imagined that I would need a blood transfusion. I always associated receiving blood with a tragic accident or an injury.”

Klein was diagnosed in February 2015 with bilateral tumors that were growing rapidly. Over the course of her two-year cancer battle, she needed two red blood cell transfusions and one platelet transfusion.

“The thing about chemo is that it doesn’t only impact the cancer cells, it impacts everything—red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets; everything just gets depleted,” she said. “I got to the point not once, but twice where I had to spend 6 or 7 hours at the hospital receiving a blood transfusion. They needed my body to recover enough to continue the necessary treatment to kill the cancer.”

You can make a life-saving difference by becoming a regular blood donor or by hosting a blood drive at your organization. Learn more about the Nebraska Community Blood Bank at NCBB.ORG.