I can't believe that another week has flown by. Lots of fun updates are coming in the next few weeks for projects and plans that I have been working on for the last several days--hang tight guys, it's going to be so worth it. First project: plasma donation.
I did it!
After trying several different locations, we ended up back at the original facility with a new time. Once I was there, they took my medical history and gave me a brief physical. I was all good to go on iron levels and other measures until they checked my pulse and blood pressure. I explained the process from the day before and how much I wanted to donate. The irony that I was not afraid of the needle stick or process, but just anxious to get started made the team smile. After ten minutes, they rechecked me (I was so afraid this would make both numbers even higher!) and I was good to go!
Way to go, mindful breathing techniques.
After my checkup, I was directed to my "booth" where Andrea took awesome care of me...she brought me a blanket and joked with me about how her day had been so far (there was a lot of irony of both working and donating on Labor Day!) which was a good way to start out. Before I knew it, she had a good vein and began the collection process. With this type of plasma donation, only one arm is used, both to collect all of your blood, and then return the blood product while separating the plasma out (the yellow liquid hanging in the bag).
The process that I signed up for is technically referred to as the "CCP Program" or COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Program. This is a program enacted with EUA, or Emergency Use Authorization, allowing donors to give more plasma more frequently than they typically would and as an experimental treatment. With the EUA, donors who usually would only be able to give plasma once a month may now give once a week with regular checkups and blood level tests. I plan to go weekly until there are not enough antibodies in my system to be at a therapeutic level for the patient. Based on my age, height, weight, and willingness, I was also able to give enough plasma for three patients, rather than just one. I felt slightly dizzy after collection, but several salty chips and some juice later, I was back to my regular self in a couple hours.
Backed by data from hospitals globally, this program has come into our community with huge success for patients presenting with COVID-19 in hospital settings. It is used in two main ways:
1) A segment of both my blood and of my plasma are sent to the researchers at our main hospital base to research vaccine options for COVID-19.
2) The plasma donated is given to a patient in the hospital who is deemed "critical." Right now, there is not enough plasma for all of the critical patients and it is typically rationed to the patients with the best chance of survival by their consent, or the consent of family members if they are intubated. The plasma is administered during the period between onset of symptoms and when the patient can begin making antibodies to fight the virus themselves.
Think of it this way...each time we get the flu, it is a slight variation for our bodies to learn how to fight it because the virus attaches to cells in a specific "lock-and-key" kind of way. Our bodies need to learn how to make the right kind of "key" to fit the virus "lock." Antibodies contain the schematic and plans to make the right key, thus fighting off the infection. By receiving plasma, your body more quickly recognizes the correct pattern and begins to make more keys (antibodies) on its own in addition to having live antibodies from the donor to start fighting the infection. So now, instead of a patient's body trying wrong key after key and exerting a huge effort that continues to spike a fever, but also does not fight the infection, the process to fight gets a boost. That is the theory, anyway. And for now, it seems to be working for a huge number of people.
Although a lot of family and friends reached out to me after my long day of trying to donate with messages of "At least you tried!" or "You don't have to do this, you know?" I felt differently. Believe me, I appreciated the support a ton, but I really don't believe that this was something I could walk away from...
I do not feel like I am a "bad person" if I can't donate. That's not it. I just feel so grateful every single day that although it took a little over four months of fighting, hospital visits, and a lot of missed testing...I beat this awful virus. But not everyone does.
In April, I lost a T1D friend to this disease. I was shocked and scared and so, so sad without many answers. In May when I was hospitalized, I was an audible witness to patients' last moments alive FaceTiming with family as nurses called numbers on phones they had not known days before. The woman who had occupied the room right behind mine had a voice that sounded a lot like a former teacher of mine who I loved. I know it was not her, but we communicated through the wall until she couldn't. I was crying with her family, friends, and care team when she was taken off the ventilator. We shared the same nurse and we spent 20 minutes afterward in my room crying and talking together because we were both just so incredibly sad. I remember the smell of death on that ward mixed with the sterile sheeting and PPE and the gurneys that rolled out with the shells that used to contain people. I remember the sounds of coughing and crying. The moment my charge nurse realized I had not only broken two ribs with my percussive cough, but that both lungs were partially collapsed and my torn abdominal muscle might lead to a hernia (it did). But, I fought my way out. I beat the virus. And while I know I am strong...I also recognize that it was a roll of the dice, too. So if there is any way I can load the dice in someone's favor so they can leave in a wheelchair and not the dreaded gurney, you better believe I am going to do it.
The last huge benefit of getting this EUA to give plasma is that I found out I am O- so I am a universal blood donor. That means that as soon as they have taken as much CCP as my body will produce after having this disease, I will be switching to donating blood since there is an urgent need for blood with fewer blood drives this year, people fearing the donation centers as places of disease spread, and also an elevated need for blood. If you are eligible, please fight, and keep fighting, to donate blood or plasma. Whether it is through the Red Cross or a specific hospital in your area, you will be making a huge difference in the lives of so many people.
Hang in there, guys. I know that the world looks scary right now, but we need to keep being our best so we can give others our best. Not every day is going to be perfect...let's just keep looking for the good. :)
Prepare, don't panic,
-Allison
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