Northern Lights: Blood And The Gift Of Life
As many of you may already know, February is 'Heart Month,' so I decided to write a bit in my column about blood donations, since that seems to be related to the theme.
The heart is the pump for our blood, and myeloma is one of the three main types of blood cancer, the other two being leukemia and lymphoma.
Back in my pre-myeloma days, I was an occasional blood donor. Although I only donated about 20 times overall, the process left a big impression on me.
Not only was the process very well organized, but I also felt that the small portion of blood that I donated was very efficiently used in a variety of ways to help many patients.
I learned a lot along the way. For example, every potential blood donor first has to have a quick test to determine their iron levels to see if they are eligible to donate. Also, on average, 488 mL, or almost two cups, are collected with every donation.
There are, as it turns out, lots of interesting facts related to blood donation. Did you know that …
- The whole blood that is donated is rarely used for transfusions? Much better use of the blood can be made by dividing it into its different components (plasma cells, red blood cells, white blood cells).
- Blood can also be donated through a process called apheresis? It is a technique in which the donor's blood is circulated through an external machine that separates the blood into its different components.
- Blood can be donated every 56 days?
- Platelets can be donated by apheresis up to 24 times a year?
- Blood plasma can be used fresh or frozen for use at a later date?
- Platelets must be stored at room temperature and used within five days? That is one reason why a blood collection center is open almost every day.
- Blood is ‘typed’ according to the antigens on the blood cell surfaces?
- There are several different systems to type blood?
Little did I know that my experiences as a donor would stand me in good stead later, after my diagnosis with myeloma.
When my stem cells were being collected by apheresis, I calmed myself by thinking that this was just like another blood donation. The stem cells were orange, not deep red like whole blood, but the concept was familiar to me.
Later, after the transplant, my blood counts fell precipitously as the blood cells in my circulating blood died and were not yet replaced by my new blood cells. My white blood cell counts in particular fell very low about a week after the re-infusion of my stem cells.
Every weekday for more than two weeks, I went to the outpatient clinic and had my blood tested. Then, my family and I waited for the ‘stat’ tests to be read.
If my counts had fallen below safe levels, I would have had transfusions of blood products to correct the imbalance. My stem cells started producing new blood cells within enough time to avoid that scenario, but I was thanking the blood collection center on a daily basis at that time.
Looking back, I am so grateful for the blood collection system. Having seen a bit of it from before and after being a patient, I appreciate it all the more.
I have had some interesting conversations about the system with a good friend who works as a nurse at our local blood collection center and several friends who are very regular donors. All the people who work at the clinics and who donate are really doing a wonderful service for patients who need blood products.
There are scientific advances being made which may provide synthetic versions of plasma and platelets soon at our blood clinic. I don’t think that that will diminish the need for donors, but it will provide new, more convenient products for patients.
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The quotation for this month is from Albert Camus (1913-1960), a French author, journalist, and philosopher, who wrote "In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."
Nancy Shamanna is a multiple myeloma patient and a columnist at The Myeloma Beacon. You can view a list of her columns here.
If you are interested in writing a regular column to be published by The Myeloma Beacon, please contact the Beacon team at .
Hi Nancy,
I am a big advocate for donating blood. I had been a donor for about 25 years prior to being diagnosed and was working on my 18th gallon when diagnosed. I'm O-negative (universal donor) so my blood was always in demand. It was the iron test that actually led to me being diagnosed as anemic, which led to the myeloma diagnosis. I figure I was probably diagnosed a lot sooner than I would have otherwise been, due to being a blood donor. On the flip side, my wife wonders if all the years of donating could have had any effect on developing myeloma.
That's awesome, Kevin! i am O-positive, but still blood donation seems to be 'in demand' and I was always called to donate. I had to tell them finally that I had cancer, and then they took me off their phone list! Many would-be donors are excluded, since their are quite strict criteria that must be met for donation, in order to ensure a really safe supply of blood. So it is nice that you could donate....I doubt that that would have had any effect on developing myeloma though. All the tubing etc. is autoclaved and it is a very careful procedure. Why would your wife think that?
I think it's neat that synthetic platelets and plasma are being developed. Platelets are used in the clotting of blood and it seems that there is a way of doing that now without a real blood product. That's the way of the future! Other blood products will still be needed though.
Hi Again! When I mentioned that the tubing used in blood collection is 'autoclaved', I should really have said that it is in sterile packaging, and is disposable, only used once!
The concerns my wife expressed weren't with the equipment or whether everything was sterile. It dealt more with whether the repeated donations every 8-9 weeks, and the resulting decrease in blood, could somehow weaken my system, perhaps preventing the immune system from attacking the cancer before it could take hold, or preventing the mutations that led to it. Our discussion was all conjecture - there was no evidence to base it on.
I hope that donating blood did not in any way weaken your immune system, Kevin! I suppose that there might be some literature about that...there must be a reason why donors must wait at least 56 days between whole blood donations.
I didn't donate often enough really to notice any effects of it, and not in the year leading up to diagnosis. I was quite tired then, and kept putting that off...afterwards I was glad I had not donated at that time, since I was obviously sick, although not yet diagnosed.
Wasn't anemic at the time of donations though, and the blood tests run on donated blood do not include protein tests, as far as I know.
Appropriate Valentines Day post Nancy! I too gave blood before my MM dx in 7/2011, albeit not as often as you and Kevin. All of the studies I am aware of point to the health benefits of blood donation for the donor, including greater Hgb. oxygen carrying capacity and improved immunity. There is no link to MM that I have ever heard of.
However a theoretical risk may be the inadvertent transmission of MM by blood donation close to diagnosis, especially if plasma cell leukemia or high risk myeloma is present. I do not know if that has ever been documented; anyone on the Beacon staff know? Thank you.
HI Jan, thanks for your post too. February is Heart month! ..I think it would be nice if the donor's blood was screened for protein levels, as well as all the infectious diseases checked for. I would have got my diagnosis sooner that way...but of course I felt the same way about the blood tests done at my annual checkup, where somehow the protein tests were missed.
Yes, it would be good to know if there is any chance of a blood cancer being inadvertently transmitted by a donor. Of course, once the dx is made, one is no longer eligible to donate...
Thanks for writing about this important topic.
Hi Mark, you're welcome! I really meant to highlight how great it is that a blood donation system is in place to help patients who need blood products, of many types. Transplant patients can actually be assigned one or more donors specifically, for their needs in getting through the transplant!
The value of the blood donation system is not too relevant to us until the day when we require that transfusion. I certainly used my share of donated blood. What a gift! Thanks for writing about this important subject, Nancy.
HI Pat, I think it is a gift that works in two ways...firstly the patients get the transfusions they need, but also the donors feel good that they have made this donation, which is priceless to others who need it.
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