I didn't donate blood in January or February because I was fighting a head cold. I have a standing appointment now at the mobile donation station near where I work during my lunch hour. I had to keep rescheduling for six weeks, thanks to the lingering cold.
In the meantime, I had four suspicious moles removed. The tests came back showing one was a bad boy.
When I was finally cleared for blood donation again, I asked, after filling out the typical questionnaire, if it mattered that I'd just had four moles removed. The phlebotomist asked about my test results. I explained one of the moles had been basal cell carcinoma, but they got it all, so I don't have to go back, and I don't have to do chemo or radiation.
I learned something new.
Lower-risk cancers. including basal cell cancers of the skin that have been completely removed, do not require a 12-month waiting period.
From now on when filling out those pre-screening questionnaires, I have to say, yes, I have had cancer. Wow. I then must go through an interview process to determine it was not leukemia or other blood-threatening cancers. I will still be able to donate.
But that one question has a different answer now for the rest of my life.
