Janet Reeves is a person who knows firsthand about the importance of a blood drive. It isn't hype for her. It's about life pure and simple.

The 44-year-old Foley woman suffers from Primary Immune Deficiency disease, a condition caused by a genetic defect in her immune system.

Janet was diagnosed with the disease about four years ago but she's had the disease all her life.

"I just didn't recognize it," she said this week.

On Monday, in the cafeteria at Foley Elementary School, the American Red Cross will host a blood drive in Janet's honor from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

What the blood drive means to Janet and her family can perhaps best be understood by pointing out a couple of facts about Primary Immune Deficiency diease.

For one, it takes 150 blood donations to create one dosage of IVIG, a blood product Janet has to have twice a month. Each transfusion of IVIG, which contains antibodies, costs between $6,000 and $8,000. On top of that, the treatment isn't easy to come by. Janet knows of people in the state with Primary Immune Deficiency whose lives have come to an end because the treatment wasn't available.

"It has changed our lives completely. Frequently my children have to be the mother in the household," said Janet of the disease and its effect on her family.

Things are especially tough on her 8-year-old daughter, Jordan. "She's afraid mommy is going to die," Janet said.

Since she can't get health insurance, her husband, J.C., has stayed with his employer but has to travel a lot.

Janet and her family moved to Foley about 15 months ago since her husband's family is here and they help with the couple's three daughters. Besides Jordan there is Jaida, 13, and Jessie, 19.

"I'm not supposed to drive anymore. I'm pretty much homebound," Janet said.

One outlet for her is the Snook Family YMCA. While she can't exercise on the machines at the YMCA, "I can stretch in the water (in the pool)."

"It opens you up for numerous systemic illnesses," said Janet of Primary Immune Deficiency. She has had encephalitis and meningitis in the last year as a result of the disease, a disease Janet describes as her nervous system attacking her immune system.

She has trouble walking and using her hands. Because she's susceptible to viruses that affect her spinal cord, inflammation causes short term memory loss. Pain and fatigue are daily occurrences for Janet.

"Fortunately, I gave blood for years before being diagnosed, so I don't feel so bad about using blood now," Janet said.

She was, however, surprised to learn from a Red Cross official that up until six months ago Alabamians were not donating enough blood to meet the state's needs. Blood was having to be brought in from other areas. Evan Duffy, senior communication specialist with the American Red Cross Blood Services-Alabama and Central Gulf Coast Region, calls this a "net import region" where blood donation is concerned.

"That means we, in an average year, have to have 10,000 to 15,000 units of blood to fulfil the current demand for blood products in hospitals we serve in our region," he said. South Baldwin Regional Medical Center is one of those hospitals for which the American Red Cross is the primary supplier of blood products. The entire state of Alabama, along with some coastal counties of Mississippi and an area that roughly includes the Florida Panhandle down to Panama City, both areas the Alabama and Central Gulf Coast Region of the Red Cross serve, took in approximately 124,000 units last year but distributed approximately 136,000 units, Duffy said.