So, on Sat 20th July I had my first ever red cell exchange transfusion.
A bit out of the blue and all very quick. On the 23rd I was due to have surgery on my hip to help resolve some AVN I have in the head of femur (the ball part of the ball and socket joint). this was caused in part by my blood disorder but also not helped by my netball so I had to stop playing in October 2018 :'(
You see I usually run at;
HbA2 - 3.5%
HbS - 50.6 %
HbC - 43.4%
HbF - 2.5% (fetal haemoglobin)
That means that nearly 95% of the haemoglobin in my red blood cells are abnormal. So with my operation coming up, my haematology team discussed my case with the lead group in London and it was decided a preventative red cell exchange transfusion would be a good way to reduce the chances of me getting a crisis during or after surgery and my recovery.
A red cell exchange is where my red blood cells are replaced by red blood cells from a donor's blood that do not have any abnormal haemoglobin. This way, the proportion of abnormal haemoglobin can be reduced and I can have more efficient blood gas exchange and prevent crisis pain occurring.
The exchange makes you tired and many people sleep. I on the other hand had the netball world cup semi final between Australia and South Africa to watch! What a game.
All went well, I managed to watch the game on my phone and 3 hours and 6 units of donor blood later, 1800ml of my red cells and bits were removed.
I was hoping to get super powers but no such luck!
