The Blood Scare
As the words lifted themselves off the page into my eyes and then my mind, I felt relief, somewhat. What could possibly be wrong with my blood? The same thing that's been wrong with it since Daddy and Mama made me. I inherited hemoglobin S, also known as sickle cell trait, from one of them.
The letter informed me that they had wanted to use my blood in a transfusion for a newborn, but they couldn't, because it contained abnormal red blood cell function, called hemoglobin S. The letter let me know that I shouldn't stop donating blood. I've been a blood donor since 2001. However, I should consider donating apheresis platelets and/or plasma.
I've known since high school that I had hemoglobin S, or sickle cell trait. What I didn't know until our third son was born was that my husband - my children's father - had the trait as well. We are both carriers for sickle cell anemia. I will explain the risks of both of us being carriers, and what it means to have sickle cell anemia in upcoming articles.
When you are young and in love, one of the least worries is about what's lurking around in each other's blood. Responsible adults should be informed about their own health and about the health of their love interest.
In each of my pregnancies, I was informed that I had sickle cell trait. The inevitable question that followed always got an "I don't know" out of me.
"Has your husband ever been tested for sickle cell trait?"
I'd go home from the appointment and ask him if he had been tested. For the first two pregnancies, he'd say the same thing: "I don't know." Both sons were normal.
When I became pregnant with our third son, my doctor insisted that he get tested. Hubby was just as insistent that he didn't want to be tested. When he finally did get his blood tested for hemoglobin S, test results showed he was a carrier like me. We were blessed when our third son was born and tested normal - no sickle cell anemia.
We decided we wouldn't tempt God again. This is why I have all boys; wasn't going to try for a girl. We were thankful to have beautiful, healthy sons. Yet two of them inherited sickle cell trait from one of us. Which is a concern - not for them as they are carefree young men - but for me. I can only pass onto them what I know and what I've learned and hope that they will be careful.
My next task is to research and understand apheresis platelets and plasma donation. I've seen a donor giving plasma once. I've heard enough horror stories about it, too.
My question is, what did they do with blood I donated in years past?
Published by J.E. Ward
Writing has been my passion since I was six when I published my first picture book. In fifth grade, I wrote a play about my class, and my best friend showed it to everybody when I told her not to. My best fr... View profile
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13 Comments
Post a CommentGood, very informative article. What a blessing to have three healthy children :-)
Because a lot is not known about Sickle Cell, possibly it did not show in past years. I say that because I have know cases in men where they had the sickle cell trait and it became full blown sickle cell. I have not heard any cases for women, but that does not mean it does not exist. I would be curious also, about previous blood donations of yours. Good article.
Amazing and scary both. This worries me. Please keep up these articles. Good to know and very important.
interesting...good job on this
fantastic article - thanks for sharing
Very informative article. You have been blessed. I have known a couple who both have the trait and their three children have sickle cell anemia. What a nightmare.
wow that is a good question, I wonder what they did with it too, maybe they passed it on as they never noticed the sickle cell before
Thank you for sharing! I can't donate blood either because I was stationed in Germany with the military. Never used to be an issue until about 6 years ago, then I was told I could no longer donate.
excellent article - glad to hear you are a donor. Let us know what you find out about the other types of donations.
Interesting and what a way to have to find out, insightful