Aspiring to Donate Blood Again After Transfusion
At Stanford Blood Center, we often hear from patients whose lives have been touched by the generosity of blood donors. We recently heard from Chana Sandberg, who, after experiencing a sudden health crisis while on blood thinners, found herself in urgent need of a transfusion. Her journey from patient to hopeful donor is a powerful reminder of how every donation makes a difference.
I was prescribed a blood thinner medication for a blood clot, and less than three weeks later, I needed blood. I got a sudden jolt of weakness one afternoon while at work, and I knew this was different from my typical tired feeling shortly after eating lunch. It felt like a fuse had blown out in my brain. I went home.
The next morning, I attempted to go to a medical appointment. I did not feel well enough to drive, so I took an Uber. Getting from the Uber to the waiting room for the appointment was the most excruciating task, as I could feel my brain running in slow motion. I had to read the address on my phone of where I was going, look at the signs on the front of the building, move my feet one step at a time and move through an open door, with my brain not getting enough oxygen. I am still amazed that I made it to a chair in the waiting room without collapsing.
When the staff called me back, I said, “I think I need to go to the emergency room.” They called 911. The ambulance driver radioed into the hospital: “Heavy vaginal bleeding, weakness, she’s on Eliquis.” In the ER, 20 empty test tubes were sitting in trays next to my bed when I arrived. I remember overhearing a nurse ask, “Are all these tests necessary? She NEEDS her blood!” My hemoglobin was 6.6, two decimal points away from what is considered life-threatening.
While I waited for Tylenol to bring down my fever before getting my blood transfusion, nurses had to supervise me while getting out of bed to use the restroom so I would not fall. This was not something that a manufactured pill or bag of IV fluids, or a good night’s sleep, would fix. Only red blood cells from donated blood could feed my brain the oxygen it needed. After my blood transfusion in the ER, I was allowed to get out of bed independently once I was taken to my hospital room, where I would be monitored for the next two days.
I used to donate blood while in college, because it was a “good thing to do” and because the blood drives were convenient. After two procedures to treat the fibroid tumor that was contributing to my blood loss, and which was coincidentally diagnosed the same day, I have graduated to routine medical care. I am going for a bonus round of recovery, waiting for my body to replenish its iron stores well enough so that I can safely donate blood again, even if I don’t have the luxurious convenience of a blood drive coming to my office building or apartment complex. Blood donations were available when I needed blood, so I am looking forward to being healthy enough to donate blood to others.