Blood Transfusion

I finally got the blood transfusion - one unit. It was actually interesting because I didn't know my blood type. I've had blood transfusions before, but it's been awhile and I didn't remember my blood type. Mom is O+ and we thought Gary, my bio dad, was A+. We always assumed that both Sher and I were A+ as well because of the problems mom had when she had Sher. When my sister was born, she had a lot of problems right after birth. All of us were c-sections. I was the first born and since my mom had to have a c-section with me because she couldn't deliver me and being the first born I was the smallest, mom had to have c-sections with the others as well. The doctor assumed that there was no way she would be able to deliver vaginally because subsequent babies only get bigger. Anyway, I was delivered without incident, but when Sher was born she immediately had problems with breathing and other things. She was whisked away and taken to the nursery so the doctors could work on her. It was always assumed this was due to an ABO incompatibility. If the blood type of the baby differs from the mother, it can cause serious problems when the baby is born. This isn't a problem with the first child, but occurs with any subsequent birth. During birth of the first child there is some mixing of the blood. If the blood type of the first child is different from that of the mother, the mother develops antibodies to it. If any of the subsequent births are also different from the mother, the antibodies the mother made to the 1st child's blood type attacks the baby's, causing problems for the baby being born. This is something they check for during pregnancy. If it is caught during the pregnancy, the mother takes medication to prevent this reaction. Usually this reaction only occurs with RH factor differences (the mother is positive and the child is negative). We assumed that because of this reaction both Sherryl and I were A like Gary, however, it never made complete sense because we thought that both mom and Gary were positive, which wouldn't have caused the reaction Sher had. Now it makes sense. If I'm A-, then it makes sense if Sher is also A- she would've had problems at birth. This also means that when I need blood Sher could donate to me, but mom can't.

The blood transfusion went fine. It only took ~3 hours. I am quite disappointed. I really had high hopes that getting the blood transfusion would make a huge difference. I had hopes that it would bring color to my cheeks and help with the tiredness. The last time I needed a transfusion was when I was having problems with my kidneys and had a lot of bleeding. Immediately I felt a difference. I remember my cheeks got flush, nice and rosy, and I felt warm. I also felt like I had more energy. Though I knew the blood transfusion wasn't a cure, I had hopes that it would alleviate some of the symptoms I've been struggling with - extreme exhaustion, shortness of breath, and give my skin some color. I'm whiter than Casper. My skin almost looks translucent with huge dark circles under my eyes. Though my counts were only borderline, the hope was the transfusion would alleviate the symptoms. Unfortunately that didn't seem to happen. My skin doesn't have any more color than it did before and I'm just as tired as always. It's a huge disappointment to realize that these symptoms are due to the progression of the disease and a result of my body shutting down, not just because of anemia.