Jim Feldhaus is a regular donor at the American Red Cross Blood Drive.
He began donating again in August and October of this year, renewing a commitment to help others by giving the gift of his blood.
Feldhaus’ began donating blood several years ago at the urging of his daughter, Laura, a nurse at Fremont Area Medical Center.
He liked being a donor.
“It’s enlightening and comforting to know that it’s a good thing you are doing, that you can help someone who needs help,” he said.
But his willingness to help others would, in turn, help him.
“I had been a regular donor for about two years when I was told by a nurse that my iron count was low,” he remembers.
It didn’t worry him too much. He felt good and since the nurse told him that he was “borderline,” he wasn’t concerned.
However, at the next blood drive, they wouldn’t let him donate because his iron count was so low.
A nurse working at the blood drive advised him to see his physician. Maybe there was something that needed to be checked out.
He took the advice and began a series of tests to find the cause of the lowered iron count. He was losing blood from someplace, a warning that needed to be heeded.
“I probably wouldn’t have gone to the doctor if the Red Cross staff hadn’t told me to go,” he said.
Colon cancer is a mean and sneaky disease. It can grow undetected for a long time.
“Upon receiving the results of the tests, my physician recommended that I have a colonoscopy, which was done Feb. 23, 2005. It revealed a cancerous mass in my colon,” Feldhaus said. “This was not the diagnosis I had hoped for. I was shocked and also very concerned about who would take charge of the many things I was involved in at that time. I had acquired quite a number of volunteer duties.”
No time was wasted in scheduling surgery. Two days later, the mass was removed.
“They caught it at the right stage,” he said.
Six weeks after surgery, he returned to work at Hormel Food Corp., where he is an electrician in the maintenance department.
“I was told that they got it all, but I elected to have precautionary chemotherapy,” he said.
A regimen of 24 chemotherapy treatments were given over the eight months following his surgery. His blood donating days were over. The American Red Cross had told him that, after receiving chemotherapy, he could never give blood again.
A few months ago, Feldhaus was reading the Fremont Tribune where he noticed an article about Don Ortmeier and learned that people who had received chemotherapy could be blood donors. The criteria had been changed. He was donating again the next month.
He has become an advocate for blood donating. Feldhaus worked with Donnie Temperley, plant manager, and a small committee at Hormel to encourage employees to give blood. Each employee who donated blood need only bring in his or her “I Gave Blood” sticker to Human Resources and they would receive a coupon worth $2. It can be redeemed for a food item at any of the plant’s cafeterias. Posters went up around the plant with a bright semi-circle explaining the coupon offer. The results were not as high as expected, but many programs need a while to catch on.
For Feldhaus, giving blood regularly will continue to be a part of his life.
“Giving blood is a very important thing to do. It’s rewarding to know that I’m helping someone else. The American Red Cross is always in need of blood,” he said.
And perhaps an even bigger part of his commitment to the organization is that he believes that the alert given about his low iron count saved his life.
“My family and I are confident that early detection of my colon cancer may well have saved my life. Together, my family and I will complete this journey,” he said.
The next American Red Cross Blood Drive will be Dec. 28-29. It will be held at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at the corner of Lincoln and Military avenues.
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