On Saturday, April 28, 2012, Il Sono Men’s Vocal Ensemble of Calgary, Alberta, gave a benefit concert for the Canadian Hemochromatosis Society.  They titled the concert “His Sound: a concert celebrating the male voice”, and a celebration it was.

They covered 400 years of “the manliest music from Giovanni Palestrina to Billy Joel”.  There was even a local composer, Georgina Craig, who accompanied her pieces on the flute.

After intermission Anne Stang, one of the local representatives of CHS, gave a  brief presentation about hemochromatosis.  It was a timely concert because one of the singers was diagnosed with hereditary hemochromatosis just two weeks before.  At the reception after the concert, Anne and the others, Carolyn O’Connor and Amanda Bennett and some of her relatives, answered more questions for individual audience members.  Again the comment, “I’ve never heard of this condition” was frequent.

Many thanks to Il Sono for their support.

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This was the first time CHS held this type of event, billed as an opportunity to network with others who have hemochromatosis and to learn more about the disorder.  The turnout was good, despite last minute changes to the venue due to a power outage at the original location. Yikes! Fortunately, most attendees got the message about the change in venue and were on hand to listen to Patrick speak about the disorder, mingle with the crowd and enjoy light snacks.

Feedback was positive and even some members of the crowd showed interest in volunteering for the Society. Good work and thank you Patrick, Lynn, Allan, and Frank Erschen for your work and support!

Next stops: Vancouver and Calgary!

Oh, and Happy 30th Anniversary, CHS!

In a letter from Canadian Blood Services Partnership Specialist, Ariella Eini, she writes, “On behalf of Canadian Blood Services, thank you so much for your support! We truly appreciate the partnership we have with the Canadian Hemochromatosis Society. When you consider that one unit (that’s a single donation) can go to three separate hospital patients, you and your organization helped 441 hospital patients in 2011! That’s an amazing and impressive achievement – one you should be incredibly proud of.”

We are very proud of all our friends of the hemochromatosis community who helped CHS reach its goal. Thank you all!

We have set our new goal for 2012 at 150 units. This is surely attainable!

If you haven’t registered yet with the CHS Partners for Life group, you can do so here. The Partner ID# to use is CANA002257 (four letters and six numbers).

“What a beautiful exchange…. a life-giving product in return for a life-saving procedure!” – Professor Thomas Bothwell, a world expert on Hemochromatosis, ally and friend of Marie Warder, founder of CHS.

In preparation for the Spring 2012 Iron Filings newsletter, we are asking readers to submit their stories regarding insurance coverage. If you have had trouble getting insurance coverage due to confirmation of the presence of one or two hemochromatosis genes, we want to hear from you!

We are interested in your issues regarding coverage for any of the following:

• Disability Insurance
• Critical Care Insurance
• Life insurance
• Long Term Care Insurance
• Extended Health Insurance

Even if you have had positive issues regarding insurance coverage, we would love to hear from you.

Share your stories here, or send us an email at office@toomuchiron.ca before February 14, 2012.

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On June 18, volunteers and friends from the Calgary Chapter of the Canadian Hemochromatosis Society took part in the Chinook Half Run Triathlon at Fish Creek Park. Manning a refreshment station and helping out at other spots, these volunteers endured winds and cool temperatures to hand out drinks and words, along with the occasional hug, of encouragement to the some 500 runners participating in the event. Wearing t-shirts displaying a message about Hemochromatosis, this group of volunteers ensured that the runners received information about this disease in their events package. Plans are being worked on for next year’s event.

Vein to vein: A look at blood from donor to recipient

For many blood donors, it can be difficult to fully grasp where blood actually goes following the donation. You may have heard the standard message, ‘one blood donation can save up to three lives,’ but perhaps you don’t know how or why that happens. To help explain, here’s an overview of what happens after you donate blood.

Tried, tested, and true

The first step is testing. Every time you donate blood, you first bleed into a small pouch connected to your larger donation bag. That small pouch collects about 50 ml of blood, which is transferred into six test tubes for inspection at one of Canadian Blood Services’ three testing centres across the country.

There, your blood donation is tested for infectious diseases such as Hepatitis B and C, HIV I and II, and Syphilis. Once your donation is deemed safe for transfusion, the work begins back at one of several production laboratories.

Break it down

In the production lab, your donation goes through several steps to prepare it for transfusion. Each blood bag is first placed in a centrifuge where the different components of blood become separated due to their different densities. A mechanical instrument then separates these components into different bags for further processing. Your white blood cells are filtered and discarded from your red blood cells, as this component cannot be transfused into patients. Ferritin is not processed in any significant way and thus does not factor into the production process. Your platelets are pooled with about four other donors’ platelets to form one full unit of platelets for transfusion, and your plasma proteins are processed into several different transfusable products.

Signed, sealed, and delivered

Each unit is bar-coded and entered into Canadian Blood Services’ inventory system for tracking, and then is released for delivery to hospitals. Hospitals order products directly from Canadian Blood Services, either through standing orders, regular daily requests, or urgent emergency requests. Blood is delivered via transport driver, bus, air, and even taxi.

Giving new life

Once blood products finally make it to hospitals, they are used in many different areas, but mostly in the emergency room, operating room, and oncology ward. Blood is most often used to treat accident victims, transplant recipients, surgical patients, and cancer patients, among many others. Given that more than 50 per cent of Canadians say they or someone they know has needed blood products shows how prevalent the need for blood really is. In fact, every minute of every day someone receives a blood transfusion in Canada.

Your blood, too, can go on to save three lives with each donation. Please register as a member of the Canadian Hemochromatosis Society Partners for Life team ID# CANA002257 and book an appointment to donate blood. Call 1-888-2-DONATE (1-888-236-6283) or visit www.blood.ca/eligibility for more information.