With the help of family & friends (LOTS of help), we have been able to set up an account for Mom at the Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI). They are the agency providing all of Mom's blood products. In the research, we found good and not-so-good.

Good:

Donations help to offset Mom's hospital bill.

We have one year from the date Mom is discharged from the hospital to give her credit, so people could actually give more than once.

Not-so-good:

Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to donate nationwide, as I was once able to do for a friend hurt in Arizona, a decade ago. Donations must be made in Oklahoma, with one exception. The upside of this is that we hope each of you knows somebody in Oklahoma who may be willing to help.

The basic details:

OBI does have a program where they will give credit on blood product charges. The exact amount is hard to say because they credit the processing fees (testing the blood etc.), not the actual usage of the product. It amounts to approximately a 20% reimbursement. It is a one for one credit, meaning a person donates one unit of blood, and Mom gets credit for one unit of blood. The down side is that they do not accept credit from outside the state of Oklahoma. (With that one exception.)

The main donation center for OBI is 81st and Yale, very close to the hospital. The OBI website includes a Donation Location Map, Oklahoma Blood Institute - Digital Donor, to find a location near you.

The one exception: In Texas, Carter Blood Care (services Denton, Weatherford, Ft. Worth area) does have a similar program and Mom can get credit. They have a virtual voucher that they send to OBI. Their website, Carter BloodCare Home, lists Donor Centers .

What is required to make a donation to Mom's account:

Whether you are giving a donation at any OBI location, or at a Carter Blood Care in Texas, tell the person taking your blood, that you want to give credit to:

Theresa Morgan

4598 Big Chief Rd

Burns WY 82053

All above information is needed to apply the credit to her account.

Friends who care back home (by home I really mean Wyoming, despite wherever Mom may think home is!):

United Blood Services (UBS) in Cheyenne has a program that covers WY, OK and TX. But as OBI does not have an agreement with them, they cannot accept credit from UBS.

To this, I would say, I know that somebody in our home area needs blood products, and if you wish, you can do donate with UBS, and ask them to send an acknowledgement to St Francis Hospital, in Mom's name. That way she will know that someone thinking of her, made a donation in her name.

Ditto for friends elsewhere: I know there are family & friends elsewhere who are in the same position as we Wyoming folk, so please feel free to apply the whole USB story to your own location. Somebody will benefit from your choice, & Mom will feel better to know that, even in her condition, she may have been instrumental in helping someone else.

I plan to send this email to the Oklahoma State HOG Rally, once I get some information from them, to see if they can help us out. Mom & Dad attended both the 2005 & 2006 Rallies, and probably others as well. If you know of any other churches, organizations, or individuals that you might think would be interested in helping, please feel free to pass the word. I would be more than willing to send any explanation necessary, stating why Mom is in this situation.

Mom's Bike ~ Dad & TJ with his bike

With grateful thanks to those who helped to organize this request, as well as to those who will able to fulfill it ~ Tom & Val