Claudette Bartlett lives in Monroe, Louisiana and works at Ouachita Parish High School. She is pictured above with her husband, Don. She writes:

"I thought I knew how important it was to give blood. I had been a blood donor in the past. Then suddenly I was the one in need of blood. I began my battle with essential thrombocythemia, a chronic leukemia, eight years ago. The disease causes me to produce an excessive amount of platelets, which has to do with the clotting of your blood. My doctor had done well in controlling my disease with medication until December 2001, when he noticed that my red blood cells were dropping, resulting in my becoming severely anemic. He sent me to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to be evaluated. My doctor in Houston recommended a drug that is currently being used to treat Hepatitis C. We are hopeful that the drug may help me as it is all they know to do for me at the present time. Over the past nine months I've had three blood transfusions. Each time I was given three units of blood. I am eternally grateful to the nine people who gave of themselves so that I can try to maintain as normal a life as possible. I can't begin to tell you how much better I feel after each blood transfusion. I don't know what is ahead for me as I fight this illness, but it is because of the generosity of blood donors that I am still in the fight."

"Thank you LifeShare and all of the many donors for being there when I need you most!"

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