Why I Think Blood Donors Are Hip 2 Give

[This post was written by Rebecca Crosen, author of the It's Hip 2 Give! blog, blood recipient and blood donor advocate...]

Usually, I am not at a loss for words. However, being invited to do a guest blog for Incept left me a bit, well, speechless. That’s quite the conundrum – being a blogger, after all – as words are my tools of the trade. So I just let the words and thoughts roll around for a bit and decided what better place than to start than at the beginning: why being an advocate for blood donors is such an important part of my life.

I have always been an overachiever – a real go-getter, if you will. Over a period of time in 2004, I began to feel rather unmotivated, very lethargic. In general, just a run-down version of the person I used to be. As the days parlayed into months, I was not only tired but also extremely cold and had noticed a rather disturbing habit – I was chewing ice by the cupful, all day long. I don’t just mean one or two cups a day, cups of ice by the 32oz cup size – at least 6 or 7 a day.

Given the odd habit, plus the fact that I was donning sweaters with hats in August, I decided there was more going on than just being tired. From my work office I called my husband and told him that he needed to meet me at the doctor. This certainly made him suspicious, as I am a rather independent woman and rarely take along a second party to what I thought might be a “routine” doctor’s appointment. Even before receiving any results from a regular blood test the doctor said I looked anemic. The pale skin, pale gum lines, chills and blue fingertips were just the first signs. Luckily, he was able to retrieve the test results quickly and it proved he was, without a doubt, correct. My hemoglobin count on that visit was 3.5 (grams); healthy females typically have a count between 12-15. The doctor was more than alarmed. In fact, he didn’t even permit me to go home. Thankfully, my husband was there to drive me straight to the emergency room.

Here’s the interesting part about living in a rural community: once I was admitted, it seemed as if word had traveled fast that there was a patient that, for lack of a better term, was considered “walking dead.” That would certainly explain why seemingly every doctor and nurse visited my room at some point or another during my 3-day stay. I guess they had never seen someone with blood counts so low conscious, let alone walking.

During my hospital stint, I received 6 units of blood transfused and 1 full unit of iron infused. The most difficult part was the iron infusion; it reminded me of molasses going in and has the same flow rate (not the same taste, though). Ultimately, I thought that when this process had run its course I would be on the mend and life would just be back to “normal.” Funny how life is always ready to redefine “normal,” isn’t it?

From that moment forward, my sense of normalcy regarding my health, was forever altered. After being diagnosed with Acute Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA), I learned that I would have to closely monitor my blood counts. Every 30 days for 6 years, I would have to visit my hematologist for a blood test to determine if I might make it another 30 days without a transfusion.

Taking high dosages of iron supplements seemed to work for a period of time, but then I needed another transfusion. And another. And another. It became apparent that this issue was not going to go away. We took the next painful step and permanently eliminated my ability to have more children, hoping that this drastic measure would solve any additional blood loss problems. To our horror, it did not. I continue to need transfusions and infusions just to survive.

Having such compromised red blood cells is certainly always on my mind, but during my latest iron infusion, the doctor decided to try a new blood test. This test revealed another underlying issue: Autoimmune Pernicious Anemia (PA). So yes, I suffer from two forms of anemia, both of which severely impact my red blood cells in very different ways.

PA is due to a vitamin B12 deficiency. However, as my body creates an antibody to B12 – therefore destroying any B12 in my system – my form of PA is a classified as a rare disease. Now, my body is even more tired and run-down than with just IDA. Of course, I have a regimen of medicines and vitamins/shots to take daily and/or weekly, though with no end in sight.

The need for a blood transfusion is never more than 30 days away and I am hyper-sensitive to being tired or having a headache. I am constantly monitoring – “Is it that I’m tired because I’ve been busy?” or “Am I tired because I just can’t function?” Those are questions I am always pondering. But I am grateful for every day that I have.

I am also thankful every day for blood donors; it is because of them that I’ll have the opportunity to watch my daughter grow up, enjoy sunsets with my husband and use my voice as an advocate for more donors. There is no greater gift than the gift of life and while I will never be a donor, I can help connect donors to the lives they save.

Rebecca Crosen  Founder & Spokesperson - It’s Hip 2 Give!

www.hip2give.blogspot.com