santa teresa

After one month of not seeing her, we finally found out that our friend Tere, the woman who cleans our house, is very, very ill. While we are unsure of some of the details, we do know that Tere is now at home recovering after some time in the hospital and several blood transfusions. We also understand that she will be in need of a bone marrow transplant in the near future.

To this end I am writing an appeal to my friends in Buenos Aires to give blood on Teresa’s behalf to help her with the transfusions, and other people in need. It’s free, it’s easy, and giving blood saves lives. Teresa is a lovely, hard-working Peruvian woman that we care about and we hope that you can help and forward the link to this blog to anyone and everyone that you know in the city.

Here are the details on giving blood:

The clinic is located in Belgrano at Ciudad de la Paz 810 (2 blocks from Subte Olleros). The clinic is open from 8am-noon on weekdays for donations. Should you choose to donate blood, you should take photo identification. If you would like to donate blood on Teresa’s behalf you should give them her name (Maria Teresa Rojas) and tell them that she was treated at Virrreyes Clinic.

Before giving blood you should be well hydrated and feel in good heath. Do not smoke or drink alcohol one hour before donating. Do not eat before going (in the morning) or ingest any liquids with fat (i.e. milk). It is super easy – get up, drink coffee without milk, cruise to the clinic, donate blood, and chow down some mediaslunas afterwards! The clinic is clean and professional, and the staff is nice and patient.

Things to know are that you can’t give blood if you have had piercings, acupuncture, or tattoos with one year. You can’t give blood if you use or have used any illegal drugs. You can’t give blood if you have had unprotected sex or sex with prostitutes. You can’t give blood if you have HIV or Hepatitis or sex with infected parties. After donation, your blood is tested for syphilis, hepatitis, HIV, etc and you will be notified of any positive test results so if you get an annual blood test you can do it while donating. Having traveled does not seem to affect giving blood. Yes, you get asked a lot of questions but service is fast and it should not take more than 1-2 hours of your life to save someone else’s.

If you have any questions – you can call the clinic 4666-9898.

Please help Teresa and others who need blood transfusions if you can. Your blood saves lives. Forward this link like wildfire and let’s start the revolution, people!