Blood Transfusions

To deal with my Sickle Cell, I have been having regular blood transfusions since October 1998. Before this, I had no treatment to help with my Sickle Cell, except taking my prescribed tablets regularly.

What blood transfusions do

Blood transfusions reduce the amount of sickled blood cells in the blood and thus minimise the amount of sickled blood cells in the body. This reduces the likelihood of 'sickling' and getting ill and therefore keeps me out of hospital. In the year that I have been on the treatment I have not been admitted into hospital for the usual reasons.

What it involves (typical day)

1. I arrive at the Haemotology Day Care Unit promptly at 9:00am in the morning to start my blood transfusion.
2. By around 9:20am they have sited a canula which is what they use to transfuse me.
3. Next I have to have 1 pint (roughly) of my blood taken out. This is to get some of my sickle cells out of my body so that I am not overloaded with blood. This type of transfusion regime is called an exchange transfusion.
4. Three bags of blood are given to me. The first on is given over 1 hour, the second and third are given over 2 hours each. There are reasons why the blood is transfused in this way. The reason that the first is given over an hour is to replace the blood that has been taken out of me and the second and third bags are given over two hours each as to not overload my body too quickly with blood.
5. After the last bag has been transfused, the canula is taken out and if I'm feeling perfectly fine, I'm allowed home. The reason that I said "if I feel fine" is because there have been incidences in the past where people have had blood transfusions and feel faint afterwards, very tired, or at danger to themselves because of the state in which they're in. I have never felt unwell after having a blood transfusion, but I do feel physically tired afterwards, which is comparable to a hard day's work.
   
   Below is a picture of the machine which they use to transfuse me. If you want, you can click on it to see the full-sized image.
   

Hydroxyurea

Hydroxyurea is a drug that the hospital wanted to give me for my Sickle Cell Anaemia. I am not too sure if I want to take it because I heard that there can be all sorts of things to do with Leukaemia happening to you. They say that it's safe, but I am not sure whether to believe them or not. All the evidence, however, no matter how far and wide you look says that it's OK to take it. Well, if you want to divert a river you start at the source don't you? Now, there are a couple pages that I have collected from the Internet. They contain a little information about what Hydroxyurea is and what the side effects are. I chose not to believe the hospital with regards to the side effects.

Read the information below:

Hydroxyurea Information

drugstore.com	<--opens site in a new window
hydroxyurea info	<--read here

Well, the paragraph above describes my feelings towards the drug. Now, I have included some 'facts' about it, and what the medical profession have written about it. I have also included some information on the side effects of the drug (from drugstore.com's website).

What it does

At the moment, this information is about what I know about the drug. What hydroxyurea actually does is increase the amount of foetal haemoglobin in the body, which is present in everyone at birth (which is why most babies with sickle cell don't get ill at first). When foetal haemoglobin is increased the blood doesn't sickle, and therefore reduces the patient's likelihood of becoming ill.

Side Effects

These may go away during treatment, but the side effects of hydroxyurea include nausea, loss of appetite, constipation, drowsiness, redness of the face, or hair loss <-- side effect info. from www.drugstore.com.

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