PLEASE REMEMBER, if you have had FCR, FC, bendamustine/rituxan [BR] then any blood you are given as a CLL patients MUST BE IRRADIATED with gamma radiation, otherwise you could die of lethal transfusion related graft verses host disease. Its rare but the risk is real.
Thanks for posting this. I had to have around 25 units of blood over the course of the first few months that I was diagnosed and it literally kept me going. I had always been a regular blood donor when I was younger. If I could still do it, I would in a heartbeat.
Those of us reliant on IVIG or subcutaneous IgG to maintain our immunity depend on several thousand blood donations to make up just one batch of IgG. So next time someone asks what they can do to help you - just ask them to consider giving blood regularly. (It actually 'only' requires several donations to provide us with enough IgG for one infusion. Using the donations from several thousand donors provides a wider coverage of antibodies against all the infections currently circulating).
Whenever I see a plea for people to be tested as a possible match for a patient needing a stem cell transplant on Facebook I repost it everywhere, also. Whether one matches the person making the plea or someone else, you have the chance to save a life. A little more involved than donating blood or platelets if you are a match, but just a simple cheek swab to find out.
I asked my hematologist about irradiated blood at UCLA out of curiosity (it isn't an issue for me - yet, at least). He said that all of their blood is irradiated. If it is an issue for you, ask now about the blood supply at the hospital (s) you use or might end up in. Educate your primary care and make sure that the information is in all of your medical records, your advanced directive if you have one, and anywhere else that might be checked. Educate your family, and friends who might get a call in an emergency, about this, also. Better to be ahead of things and never need to have the information used than to have to worry about this in the middle of an emergency.
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