Before Feb. 20th, I couldn’t tell you what type of cells and what they did in each of our bodies. It’s been too long since health class! I found this on internet and thought it was very helpful in explaining the different cells in our blood and why Bennett would need blood transfusions if his red cells and platelets counts were low. Plus the definition of what the white cells do. He has very little of these and soon will have none because of the chemo killing these cells and you cannot transfuse white cells.  cindy

Red blood cells (also called erythrocytes) carry oxygen from the lungs to all the cells in the body and take carbon dioxide back to the lungs to be exhaled. The red blood cells represent the most volume, making up 40-45 percent of one’s blood. They are shaped like tiny doughnuts, with an indentation in the center instead of a hole. They contain a special molecule called hemoglobin, which contains four iron atoms, and each iron atom can bind with one molecule of oxygen, allowing each hemoglobin molecule to carry four molecules of oxygen. In the capillaries, where there is little oxygen, the hemoglobin readily sheds the oxygen it is carrying and allows it to be absorbed by the body’s cells. The iron in hemoglobin is what makes blood red.

White blood cells (leukocytes) help the body fight infections and diseases. White blood cells “digest” harmful viruses and bacteria, such as those entering the body through a cut or a scrape, or developed in an ear infection or the flu. There are three types of white blood cell: granulocytes, lymphocytes, and monocytes. Granulocytes contain granules, which hold digestive enzymes and can kill invading bacteria and parasites. Lymphocytes help coordinate the body’s immune system. They produce antibodies — the immune proteins, which help remove foreign substances and invading organisms — and invade cells in the body that are infected with viruses. Monocytes, the largest kind of white blood cells, enter the tissues of the body and turn into even larger cells called macrophages. These eat foreign bacteria and destroy damaged, old, and dead cells of the body itself. This scavenging function clears the way for tissue healing and repair.

Platelets (thrombocytes) help blood to clot. They are tiny, colorless, irregularly shaped, cell fragments from large bone marrow cells. In their “resting” state, platelets look like two plates stuck together (hence the name). When they are “activated” to help form a clot, they change shape and look like tiny round blobs with tentacles. When bleeding occurs, platelets clump together and release a substance, which starts a chain of chemical events, called “coagulation cascade.” It produces long protein threads, which help create fibrin, which in turn helps form the clot over the wound.