Blood Donations Saved My Life!

I just want to start off by saying that I am not one to ever post personal posts on this platform but I strongly believe that this post is worth sharing.

?In the United States, someone needs blood every two seconds.

I had heard similar statistics many times, but they never really sank in. At least until I found myself as part of that statistic.

I was at home with my two girls while their dad was out of state for a business trip. Sometime in the night I developed this excruciating pain in my abdomen. Thinking I might have a caught a stomach bug, I get up out of bed to make some tea and place a heating pad on my stomach thinking and hoping that the pain would subdue. But, to my surprise the pains were greater. Pain got to the point where I was fighting to breathe and stand. I screamed for my oldest daughter who was 10 years young and asleep at the time. I managed to wake her up to call for help. Their grandma rushed over and rushed me to the ER, a ride that normally was 10 min drive turned into a lifetime. Making it through the ER doors all I managed to say is I feel like I am going to die and the nurse reassured me that he wouldn’t let that happen and as he spoke those words I fainted and was out for about 30 min. I came to with machines hooked up, two doctors, and two nurses in my room running tests and trying to figure out what was going on. The doctor did an ultrasound of my stomach and then looked up at me and said we have 5 min to get you to the OR. I tried to get answers at the moment to see what was going on and he looked at me and said I don’t have time to explain things to you right now if I am going to save you. I had internal bleeding that was causing my pain and it needed immediate attention. I underwent surgery to stop the bleeding. After my surgery I was informed of what the cause was for my internal bleeding which I chose to not disclose and that during surgery they pumped 3.5 liters of blood which demanded a transfusion. During all the chaos, I coded on the table and was gone for about 3 minutes. They were able to resuscitate me! As the doctor explained exactly what had occurred I was half listening to the details because I was so focused on the fact that I could have been gone eternally! Two years ago (in 20 days), which to me feels like yesterday, I went through a life changing experience that altered my priorities forever.

The process of blood donation seems so simple. A person gives blood and another receives it. But in reality, there are so many factors that go into the process which makes it necessary for a large number of donors to match the need. For example, we all must receive a blood type that is compatible with our own, so that our immune system doesn’t fight back or reject the transfusion. With 8 common blood types, this limits the number of donors that a specific person may be compatible with. More donors are needed to meet demand. Hopefully, sharing my story will prompt a call to action for those able to donate blood. For those of us who have been on the receiving end of a donation, we know how lifesaving donors are. We wouldn’t be here to tell our stories without them and their selfless decisions. As most of you might already know, January is National Blood Donor month, when the American Red Cross urges people to be a part of this life-saving process.

Everyone can learn more at https://www.redcross.org/give-blood.html

Another great resource you can use is WELCOA’s at https://www.welcoa.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/0120-TakeCharge.pdf

Every person helps make a difference in somebody else’s life, and blood donation is an incredibly powerful way to do that.