TULSA, Okla — Jennifer and Tony Cotto have been married for 40 years and found that one of the things they like to do together is donate platelets to Our Blood Institute.
This ended up being a decision that would change Jennifer's life forever.
"It was running for a while, and then it did the error message," said Cotto.
While making a donation in 2022, Jennifer told me the platelet machine kept giving multiple error messages. So, "Our Blood Institute" recommended she get checked out.
"He just let me know I needed to have another CBC done," Cotto said.
Weeks later, Jennifer learned what all of those error messages meant when she got a dreaded diagnosis.
"Leukemia, and all I knew was get the test done just to make sure just to confirm it".
The diagnosis confirmed the cancer, but it was Jennifer's willingness to donate that helped catch it early.
Her husband, Tony Cotto, said despite what they found out, they still felt they were lucky.
"Less aggressive form, and you know it was relatively early in the diagnosis, so those were all good things. It could've been something so much worse".
Medical Director Michael Stevenson made that fateful phone call to Jennifer. He said he's happy he caught it.
"It was a good feeling that I and OBI was able to help a blood donor in a unique way," said Stevenson.
Jennifer started treatment right away. Now, over a year later, she's feeling much better. So, what does the future hold for Jennifer and Tony?
"We were thinking retirement, but maybe he'll go part-time in the fall, and then our anniversary is in October. We're gonna go take a trip," said Cotto.
Thanks to an early diagnosis, they'll have even more trips to plan.
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