I love my ...

by Ashley Messick, Social Media Specialist, fan of health magazines, apple pie, and my trusty kidneys.

Recently Self Magazine and MSNBC encouraged readers to “Show Your Bod Some Thanks”, including those body parts we often take for granted and guess what made the list? Platelets!

“I love my … platelets. I am so highly accident-prone that I could walk to work or go rock climbing and sustain the same scrapes and bruises. I burn my mouth on coffee. I kick myself in the ankle with my other heel. So it’s reassuring to know there will always be a part of my body to help me recover: my platelets.

I remember the first time I realized their importance. In European history class, I learned of a Russian prince — one of the many royal hemophiliacs of previous centuries — who had to be carried around on a cushion lest he bleed to death. Later, in biology, I learned about the microscopic components of blood. I was fascinated by the way blood cycles oxygen through the heart and comes out new, like a fountain at the center of a lake. I was most taken with platelets. A fraction of the size of red blood cells, they are charged with preventing bleeding and bruising. Yet after high school, they quickly fall out of our consciousness (along with the Russian court). As if this weren’t insult enough, platelets are colorless. Their only chance to shine is when their sticky bodies band together to help create scabs. But this is the beauty of platelets: They are the fallible body’s insurance policy. Should your insides have the unfortunate luck to take some abuse from the outside world — via a bike accident or just a harshly plucked eyebrow — your platelets swarm into action. They are ultimately the reason I don’t have to spend my life trapped on a cushion. And that should give all my other organs something to cell-ebrate. — Sloane Crosley”

It seems like Self Magazine isn’t the only one out there showing some love to the body this year. You should also pay a visit to I Heart Guts, a website where you can learn more about your hard working organs as well as buy stuffed, plush brains, hearts, stomachs, even thyroid glands. What’s cuddlier than a soft, plush set of lungs?

So show your body some love this holiday season. Plus remember, it’s better to give than receive. One of the most amazing things about our blood is that it replenishes itself quickly and easily, allowing you to donate this life-giving gift to others.

What do you take for granted about your incredible, life-giving blood and organs?

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