Monday, April 03, 2006

Clotting Factor

I gave blood for the first time when I was 18. I am O-Negative and my little brother has benefitted directly from blood donors due to some operations as a child to fix a deformed leg, so it's been something of a moral imperative for me. I've given blood now for nearly 17 years every 8 weeks.

Saturday I was getting ready to go to my 11:30 AM appointment when I thought I'd better get that silly card they're always sending me. Last time I went, they told me things would go faster if I had it. So I remembered that a Red Cross envelope had arrived two weeks ago I'd never opened. I assumed it was the card in question and tore open the envelope.

Rather than find a donor card inside, I found material on HTLV-II. The letter said my blood was part of a batch that tested positive for it so was retested, but came up clear. Okay, so far so good. It went on to say that it was highly unlikely I have HTLV-II but that because my blood was in a lot that included an erroneous test result, I am now ineligible to donate blood. Ever.

HTLV-II is a permanent infection and if it's present, they don't want to take any chances. It's unclear what HTLV-II actually causes though it has tenuous links to a few conditions and it's generally thought that it must be present for several decades before symptoms of anything arise. The vast majority of HTLV-II infected people (on the order of 95% give or take) remain asymptomatic their entire lives.

I can't describe what I feel about this. It's irrational and childish, but it broke my heart to find out I can't give blood anymore. I think I'd be less crushed if I actually had HTLV-II.

Anyway, in case you're interested, there's an informational page here about HTLV-II and several Red Cross sites discuss it. I'm going to sulk a bit longer and then try to find something less self-indulgent to do about it.

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