[v-ness]

i believe donating an organ is one thing and could possibly infect someone else with cancer cells. blood may be a whole other ballgame. they broke my blood down into parts since i was a long time donor. i went on the American Cancer Society website and apparently there have never been any reports of a blood recipient getting cancer from a transfusion from a cancer survivor. i donated my blood in july when my cancer was active and growing, unbeknownst to me, and reported it to the Red Cross when i found out 2 months later. they did not seem very fazed and said that the process usually kills cancer cells anyway. many, many people have probably donated 'infected' blood in the very same way i did, and always will, not knowing that they have cancer or some other disease. it seems to me that the hospital or Red Cross would know best whether or not to accept blood from someone who'd had cancer MANY years before and had had a long-time clean bill of health. if you notify them when you donate, they always have the option to reject you or not use your blood. the info page on this subject is at http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/co...p?sitearea=ETO. i am still curious about my hospital's policy and will ask the blood bank and oncologist tomorrow. valerie