I got a call this afternoon from a Doctor Something-or-other from the National Blood Service, calling to discuss my blood donation three weeks ago.
He said he could see from my records that my blood type was A-positive. He then said that the positive antigens in my blood (that make me A-pos rather than A-neg) were very weak - in the five years he'd been working for the Blood Service I was only the second person he'd come across with such weak antigens. He said it was very difficult to determine whether the positive antigens were even present, and my blood could well be mistaken for A-neg instead of A-pos. Because of this, he said I shouldn't give blood again because it's too difficult to tell what my blood type is and the risk of it being given to the wrong person is too high.
So that's the end of one of the few good deeds I do. I'm quite disappointed actually. Maybe I could donate a kidney or something instead...
8 comments:
How weird!!
I wonder why it wasn't picked up before.
So, should you ever need a transfusion yourself, God forbid, how do they decide which to give you - positive or negative?
Negative blood can be received by anyone (which is why the medical TV shows always ask for O-Neg in the Emergency Dept, because there isn't enough time to find out the patient's blood type), but positive blood can only be received by people with positive blood types. So if my positive blood went to a negative recipient it wouldn't be good, but negative blood can be given to a positive recipient.
Basically if you don't have positive antigens in your blood already, you can't receive blood that contains them. But if you do have positive antigens, you'll still be fine receiving blood that doesn't have them. Positive blood would be better, but negative will suffice.
I'm an O-Neg, but I can't give blood ever again either since I had the Big C. Who knew cancer was contagious via blood! ;)
I'm A-negative. I'll give you my blood. :)
If they know you're A-pos and they label up your batch properly when you give blood why can't you keep giving? Strange that its not been a problem in the last 10 years that you've been giving!
I can't remember what I am...is it A-neg?? I guess I should go and see if I can start giving again now to make up for them not getting yours anymore.
Jen: I know! I thought that at the time. I can only assume that the bag it goes into straight from my arm is not the same bag someone else receives it from. Maybe they just mix up all the blood of the same type and put it into different bags to ship out to hospitals? Seems quite convoluted if they do do that but they obviously do something that means they run the risk of my blood not being recognised as A-pos. Shame.
have you called them back yet?
I'm with Jen!
Ask them why they can't just call it negative, if that's the one that is OK for everybody.
Post a Comment