I am normally a very healthy person but in May of 2010 I started to feel sick, different from other times I haven’t felt well. After having blood work done the results showed my liver enzymes were high. I learned that I might have contracted a form of hepatitis or have an autoimmune disease so my doctor ordered more blood work. When those tests came back negative the doctor scheduled a CT scan of my entire abdomen. Those results also came back normal. Still unsure as to why my liver enzymes were high I was referred to a liver specialist.

By June 6th I had become so ill that I never made that appointment. I went to the ER and the doctors decided I need to be flown from my hometown of McCloud to the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) because my liver was failing and my levels of clotting factors was very low which could lead to me bleeding to death. I arrived at UCSF and the minute I got there they ran more tests and put me in the ICU.

We were told I would need blood transfusions so when friends and family asked what they could do for me I asked them to donate blood. I received 70 units of lifesaving blood components while at UCSF.

My liver biopsy revealed 75% of my liver was gone. I would need a liver transplant for sure and was put on the waiting list. I fell into a coma on June 13th, and I was now first on the transplant waiting list. My family received word that evening that a donor liver was found and I received my new liver on June 14th 2010. I woke up from my coma two days later and was able to go home from the hospital eight days later.

It has been an amazing journey so far, one I will never forget. The doctors never did find out the cause of my liver failure. I am one of the 20% that will never know why it happened. But I do know that blood donors and organ donor saved my life. And I am forever grateful.

Thank you donors.

In 2005, clinicians at Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland infused Isaac with cord blood collected immediately after Eunice’s birth. Clinicians had determined that her blood, and the stem cells it contained, would be a good match for Isaac. They hoped the transplant would modify Isaac’s blood-making machinery, allowing him to make normal, non-sickled red blood cells. They also performed a bone marrow transplant, hoping the two procedures together could cure Isaac of his sickle cell disease… Thanks to Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland, Issac now is able to live a more normal, health, and active life.

Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland has the largest sickle cell program in the western United States, and includes adult patients as well as children. In addition to treating those with sickle cell disease, they also research cures and treatments for sickle cell disease and its complications. Sickle cell anemia has no widely available cure, although blood and marrow stem cell transplants may offer a cure for a small number of people. Many patients rely on the generosity of blood donors as blood transfusions are commonly used to treat worsening anemia and sickle cell complications. Some, but not all, people who have sickle cell anemia need regular blood transfusions to prevent life-threatening problems, such as stroke, spleen problems, or acute chest syndrome.

Please join us this Saturday for this fun event hosted by Blood Centers of the Pacific, Novartis Diagnostics and Oakland Children’s Hospital. Find out more information on our website or our Facebook page!

Issac’s story above reprinted from the Oakland Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland website. To view the story in its entirety please visit the website. For more information about sickle cell anemia click here.

Today, Porter is a passionate youth advocate for educating other sickle cell patients – particularly those who may have misconceptions about the seriousness of their disease. So when Blood Centers of the Pacific invited him to participate in the upcoming “101 Heroes Blood Drive,” a blood drive and community art event aimed at educating East Bay youth about how they can help by donating blood, he jumped at the chance to help.

“I think informing other young SCD patients is absolutely important. The way I see it, the more you know about what sickle cell disease is, where it came from and why you have it, the more equipped you will be to avoid a potential life or death situation. I think young people don’t tend to think of sickle cell disease in that way, and they should.”

There are more than 80,000 people in the United States with SCD, most of African descent.  Many receive monthly blood transfusions to treat anemia and complications associated with sickle cell disease and it is best to receive blood from donors with the same ethnic background. However, because 1 in 12 African Americans carries the trait for SCD they are unable to donate blood – requiring a large pool of donors to ensure availability of safe, compatible blood. Creating a compatible blood supply for patients like Porter is just the first step in getting SCD patients the best care.

Please join us on September 24 for this fun event hosted by Blood Centers of the Pacific, Novartis Diagnostics and Oakland Children’s Hospital. Find out more information on our website or our Facebook page!

Below is more information about the blood drive as well. We hope to see you there!

I just read a story that reflected on the explosion in San Bruno one year ago today. Gene O’Neil, who has lived in San Bruno for over 30 years, was with a buddy in traffic on the Bay Bridge when the explosion happened. He said, “We both live in San Bruno, it’s hard to judge from the bridge, but we both say, that could be our neighborhood. But we say, nah, because it’s never your house, it’s always somebody else’s.”

It made me think: it’s always somebody else’s. It’s always somebody else’s mother who needs platelets to treat her breast cancer. It’s always somebody else’s child who uses blood as part of her treatment for a blood disorder. It’s always somebody else’s best friend who needs red blood cells when he is fighting to survive from a tragic automobile accident. It’s always somebody else’s. Until it’s yours.

With the one year anniversary of the San Bruno explosion and the ten year anniversary of 9/11 this Sunday, I am reminded of the outpouring of love and support our blood center received after each of these events. Donors lined up at our doors, ready to help. Our phone lines rang off the hook and our website went down from all of the traffic. Last year, our Facebook fans and Twitter followers took to social media throughout the evening and overnight to ask about the events in San Bruno and how they could help.

That’s the thing about lifesaving blood donors. They know the importance of having blood on the shelf, not just after an emergency occurs but beforehand so that it is there when it is needed. They know that lifesaving blood goes every single day to the patients in hospitals we serve here in Northern California.

Having blood available for use is always important, whether it is a nation-wide emergency, a community-emergency, or an emergency in our own lives when an accident or disease strikes. Thank you blood donors for remembering that whether it’s “somebody else’s” or your own, the need for lifesaving blood unifies us all.

Every three weeks, Khaliah receives a blood transfusion at Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland. Her brother receives a transfusion every six weeks. As patients with sickle cell, Khaliah and her family know firsthand the lifesaving care the hospital provides. Watch Khaliah and her mother explain in their own words the importance of sickle cell treatment.

Did you know that Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland is the only independent not-for-profit regional medical center for children in Northern California? It is the oldest pediatric medical center between Los Angeles and Seattle providing exceptional medical care for children for more than 95 years. Children’s Hospital is also a national leader in many pediatric specialties and sub-specialties including hematology/oncology, neonatology, cardiology, orthopedics, sports medicine, and neurosurgery.

In December 2010, BCP was selected as the provider of volunteer blood donations to Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland. BCP provides approximately 10,000 pints of blood and blood components to Children’s Hospital to help patients like Khaliah and her brother.

Children’s Hospital is also a premier teaching hospital with an outstanding pediatric residency program and subspecialty fellowship programs. Its research program, Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), is internationally-renowned for taking state-of-the-art basic and clinical research and translating it into interventions for treating and preventing human diseases. And its Center for Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia (CST) strives to improve public awareness of these diseases and to expand the current knowledge base, and to provide innovative treatment, care and cures.

In addition to providing blood to them, this September 24th, we are proud to announce that Children’s Hospital will be one of our many nonprofit partners for BCP’s “101 Heroes Blood Drive” in support of Sickle Cell Awareness Month.

To learn more, visit http://www.childrenshospitaloakland.org.

As strange as it sounds, finding out that he had Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) at age 5 came as a relief for the now 35-year-old Jacques Ibula and his family – they finally knew the origin of his illness. Following his diagnosis, Ibula recalls realizing the difficulties of living with SCD, especially when his family moved back to their native Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The challenges included the restrictions on the activities of this young soccer lover, combined with concerns about the safety of the blood supply he relied on for transfusions given the country’s high HIV rates. 

“The challenges in Africa taught me a lot about the importance of community. My community rallied in giving me blood time after time when I needed it, and the medical support needed to empower me in managing my SCD,” Ibula said. “But with the HIV risk in the country, there was always great concern about the safety of the blood you were receiving.”

However, in 1997, at the age of 21, Ibula settled in the Bay Area. He is now able to take comfort in the fact that he has access to a safe, secure blood supply if he needs it thanks to partners like Blood Centers of the Pacific, Novartis Diagnostics and Oakland Children’s Hospital who work in partnership to ensure that donated blood is properly screened for safety, donor matched and transfused to SCD patients that rely on it.

Increasing the Minority Donor Community

There are more than 80,000 people in the United States with SCD, most of African descent.  Many receive monthly blood transfusions ,  to treat anemia and complications associated with SCD and it is best to receive blood from donors with the same ethnic background.

Today, Ibula who leads “The Jaques Ibula Band” and has been called a rising star by The Music Scene Magazine, is also a Medical Assistant at Oakland Children’s Hospital where he works. He is a staunch advocate for educating young patients through his own experiences and reminding them about the important role minority donors can play.

“I think educating the community, particularly young African Americans, about the importance of becoming a blood donor is essential. But I also think it empowers these young people by offering them a way to give back to their community that doesn’t involve a lot of resources or writing a check.” 

Please join us as we support those who depend on the lifesaving power of donated blood just like Jacques Ibula for our 101 Heroes Blood Drive on September 24, 2011.

Did you know that before patients like these receive a lifesaving transfusion, the blood goes through a rigorous process, the most critical of which is ensuring it’s safe? Donated blood is screened for more than 10 different infections that could prove deadly to patients including HIV, Hepatitis B and C, and West Nile Virus. This technology has helped revolutionize blood testing and made concerns about transfusion-transmitted infections almost a thing of the past. In fact, in the United States, the chance of getting HIV from a blood transfusion is now less than one in two million. That’s largely thanks to the availability of highly sensitive tests – developed by Novartis Diagnostics – that detect very low levels of infection and allow centers like us to screen donated blood before it reaches patients. Novartis Diagnostics is a global leader in blood safety and they’re based right in our backyard in Emeryville, California.

And in September, Novartis Diagnostics will help ensure even more blood is available to patients by sponsoring BCP’s “101 Heroes Blood Drive,” in support of Sickle Cell Awareness Month.

BCP is grateful to Novartis Diagnostics for helping us deliver safe blood donations to patients in need and for partnering with us to encourage even more people to give the gift of life!

We love our blood donors. Thanks for saving lives! And thank you Stephanie for sharing your story.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a serious blood disorder that is passed down through families. When children inherit SCD from their parents who have sickle cell trait, the red blood cells form an abnormal crescent (sickled) shape. As a result, the blood doesn’t flow well, causing anemia, pain and damage to the internal organs. In the United States, all babies are tested for SCD at birth, which allows them to receive early care and treatment. As a result, most children with SCD in the U.S. will live into adulthood with an opportunity to lead productive lives.

Worldwide, over 300,000 children are born with SCD each year, mostly in Africa and India. For some countries in Africa, like the Republic of Angola, the impact of SCD is staggering. A high birth rate, coupled with a high prevalence of the sickle cell trait, suggests up to 10,000 new babies are born with SCD each year in Angola. Although most of these babies are never diagnosed with SCD, they suffer serious illness or death. The best estimate from Angola’s largest children’s hospital is that only 10-20% of the children born with SCD ever reach their 5th birthday. The rest of these children die of complications of SCD — a disease their family never knew they had.

Through an exciting partnership with the Ministry of Health in Angola and Chevron Oil Company, the Texas Children’s Center for Global Health will soon initiate a bold new program to test and treat babies for SCD in Angola.

So, how exactly will the program work?

1. First, blood will be collected from newborns via heel stick.
2. Next, the blood is placed on special cards to allow samples to be collected at different locations.
3. The cards are then transported to a central laboratory which has the right equipment to test the blood and diagnose SCD.
4. When the initial screening results have identified a baby with probable SCD, that baby’s family must be located and the baby brought to special SCD clinic for initial medical evaluation. It is anticipated that this “retrieval” step, which requires locating and tracking down a family, will be the most challenging and will require dedicated personnel to find each baby and bring them to medical care.

A critical piece of this newborn screening program for SCD includes early and ongoing education to families about the disease. Educational materials similar to those used in the United States are currently being produced and translated into Portuguese. Once a baby is established in care and their family has been educated about this serious disease, treatment can begin. Babies affected with SCD will be given a course of treatment that includes twice daily antibiotics to prevent infections, additional special vaccines, and possibly a medicine called hydroxyurea to reduce the symptoms of SCD.

We expect to begin this program in the summer of 2011. There are always challenges to working in a new country, including one like Angola with its language and cultural differences. However, if a program like this is successful, thousands of babies with SCD will live instead of die. Through this new sickle cell initiative, Texas Children’s Center for Global Health hopes to extend care, treatment and research to more children with SCD around the world.

by Dr. Russell Ware. Dr. Ware is a hematologist at Texas Children’s Hospital, Director of the Texas Children’s International Hematology Center of Excellence, and Director of the Texas Children’s Center for Global Health.This post was originally posted April 25, 2011 and you can see the original post on their site.