Yesterday I went to donate blood for the first time in my life. I have wanted to for a very long time but wasn't ready to learn if I had Hepatitis C.
My mother died of Hep C almost seven years ago. She contracted it decades earlier before science had identified the strain and before they standardized on disposable needles. She was one of the first people to be diagnosed with it and one of the first to be cured of it. But for her the cure came too late, the damage to her liver was too much.
She had been on and off the transplant list which means our entire family went through a transplant class at the hospital. During the class they walked us through the entire operation, the medicines she would have to take for the rest of her life and her recovery. I walked away from that class overwhelmed by how complicated and primitive the operation seemed.
My mother's blood type was the universal donor which meant she had one of the slimmest chances for a receiving a liver, plus patients with Hep C are matched with healthy livers from people with the same disease so it made it even more of a difficult match. Even though my mother swore she would never allow it and didn't speak to me for an entire week, I went to get tested to see if I could be a living donor. No match.
Since I wasn't a match for my mom and I was convinced that death would be better than a transplant or the treatment I never went to get tested for Hep C myself. That is until I saw my mom die a horrible painful death.
So a couple of years ago I went to get tested. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want the added pressure of people asking me about it or being concerned. My chance of having it was slim. Last time I checked being born by an infected mother meant you had a 5% risk and then a couple more percentage points for living with someone who was infected. Even though the risk was low it still felt huge to me. To my relief my results came back negative.
Until I was ready to know if I had Hep C I avoided giving blood since they screen for it. It was hard for me to live with. After seeing how other people's donation saved my mother's life many times I felt guilty for not having the guts to get tested so I could donate. And then this summer, other people's donations saved my father's life when he had complications for surgery to remove his cancer.
So when I decided to focus on ways to give back to my community in other ways than cash donations at the top of my list was to donate blood. Hence, yesterday morning I went to donate blood for the first time in my life. I went through the medical questionnaire, had my blood pressure, my temperature and my iron level checked. All ok.
I was sent to a chair to give my donation. They spent over twenty minutes trying to find a good vein, with blood pressure cuff on, exercise ball in hand and hot compress on my arm they tried the best one. My veins are tiny and its always been difficult for medical staff to draw my blood even with a small needle and the needles they use for donation are larger than the ones they can use in Dr's offices. The nurse commented that I was the hardest case she has run into in her nine years experience.
In the end the needle ruptured my vein (sounds worse than it is) which means that
I was going to get a good bruise but also that my body was going to try
to heal itself more quickly by clotting. The line clotted before they could even get a third of their minimum donation. So I walked away with a bruise, an ice pack and very disappointed.
I am going to try again after my required 56 day wait before I give up completely. The experience was stress free, simple and even though I got a nice big bruise and welt, the pain was very minimal.
If you have given blood before I would like to thank you for making such a huge difference so many other people's life, not just the recipient, but their family and friends too. If you have ever considered giving blood I would like to encourage you to do so. I am so grateful to the people who helped my family, they gave me years with both my parents that I wouldn't have otherwise. The time and commitment to do so is so small and the reward for the recipient and their family is so huge.
