Blood Donations

A blood donation could be one of the greatest gifts a person could have, because sometimes it gives them another shot at a long life. I can personally say a blood donation has helped me in my lifetime. At six months old I had to have a surgery, which included receiving a blood transfusion.

A few weeks after my birth, my parents noticed I had a lump on the side of my head and an abnormal shaped head. At first they didn’t think much of it, because I had been born premature, but after a few more weeks they became concerned and took me to the doctor. The doctor examined my head and decided to do an X-ray and an MRI. After running numerous scans and preforming tests they determined that I had a cyst on the temple of my head that was making an indention on my skull. The abnormal shape of my head was mistaken as “preemie-head” and overlooked, but was shortly after diagnosed as craniosynostosis. Craniosynostosis is a rare defect that causes one or more sutures on a baby’s head to close earlier than normal. The early closing of sutures leads to an abnormally shaped skull and head, which then has to be cracked and reshaped surgically. This can also result in gaps or holes in the skull. In my case, my skull was growing long and narrow, instead of growing wide like a skull normally would.  I also had a few gaps in my skull above my left ear.

At three months old I went in for cranio surgery. I was in surgery for nearly five hours. Prior to the surgery blood from a donor was collected and kept at the hospital to be used during the surgery. The procedure included cutting the cyst out of my head with a scalpel. For the craniosynostosis the doctors had to make a large incision across the back of my head, and take bone from other places in my head and also bone from my ribs to cover one particular hole in my skull, while the smaller holes were covered using bone putty. To fix the abnormal shape of my head, the doctors cracked my skull and reshaped it.

After the surgery took place I was put in the NICU unit at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and then I was in the hospital for about one week after the surgery. The incision the doctor made to remove the cyst was glued shut, so that it would not leave a bad scar on my head. It is still visible today, but less visible than it would have been with stitches. The larger incision had to be stitched closed, but is now covered by my hair.

One major reason I am thankful someone donated, rather than just helping me, is that I have a rare blood type. I have B negative blood, which in the U.S. only 1.5% of the population has. Thankfully, a generous donor provided blood for my surgery and though I do not know who it was, I am still grateful that they donated.

Because of my story, I have decided to participate in each blood drive my school has. I recently turned sixteen, and I will be participating in my first school blood drive this month. Though this is my first blood drive for the school, I have donated blood before. In March of 2015, my great grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. I gave blood for her two times. Other than doing this because I loved her, I made this decision because I felt it was a way to return the favor I had received when I was a baby. In June of 2015 my great grandmother passed away, but I still felt good about donating blood to her. Even though she passed away, I am glad I helped as much as I could.

I think a blood donation is something that is not appreciated as much as it should be. A blood donation could sometimes be the difference between life and death for a person. I am glad that I received a blood donation when I was a baby, because it provided me another opportunity to grow to be a healthy person. I may have only been three months old when I received a blood transfusion, but now at sixteen years old, I realize that the donation could have potentially saved my life. Every person deserves to live, and if you can take part in assuring a longer lifespan, then you should do it for them.