Pharmacists here don't dispense just medicine...

We also dispense blood!

A bit of a different concept than what one would be used to in a hospital back home. All too many times, do I remember refusing a nurse or a physician for certain orders with the response, "You have to contact the blood bank for that."

Well, here on the Africa Mercy...we have a different type of blood bank. The warm, walking, talking kind. Yeppers...our crew is our blood bank. And, unlike what they do at home, the blood is given to the recipient as warm, whole blood. Back home, blood is usually given as packed red cells, after the lab has spun it to separate the red cells from the plasma and platelets. Thanks to our fantastic lab technicians, each patient that comes aboard is blood typed and then cross-matched with the available crew donors, so that if blood is needed, it can be given.

I do believe that the patient we gave blood to today is the first patient to receive blood for this outreach. And, to my luck...he was O positive...just like me. I know that it sounds weird, but I really wanted to give blood if the opportunity arose. I was lucky enough that my iron levels just made the cut off...and my weight wasn't a significant factor like it can be back home. I was healthy and willing and that was more than enough.

It wasn't a horrible experience like most people fear it would be. Did it hurt? Well, of course it hurt (although keep in mind that it wasn't painful per se, more like uncomfortable)...they put a huge needle in my arm and had to wiggle it about to get a good blood flow. Even with the wiggling and precise positioning that had to be held in place by Maggie instead of a stick of tape...bleeding me wasn't the easiest. Lucky for me, Ali came by and did a little dance that made me giggle quite a bit. Apparently, laughing is great for getting the blood flowing. Many thanks to Ali for helping me out with the donation process! Even though I gave blood, I was not the only one to do so for this patient. In total, 5 units, from 5 different people were donated...Miriam being one, too!

Naomi taking Miriam's donation.

Maggie took my donation...it was her first time doing so here. They made me lay down on the bed since this was my first time donating, to help prevent me from possibly passing out.

Ali put stars on our bandages and took this group shot for us. Thanks, Ali!

The final touch to the bandage...Maggie left her mark.

And now for an addendum to my last post. For those of you that may wonder...I am okay. I was in a funk for the better part of the next morning. I realize that in a sense, I was just being a bit of a pouty princess because, despite my efforts, things the previous night didn't work out. I tried to work myself out of my funk, but just couldn't seem to shake it.

Until the patients came, and were waiting ever so patiently outside in the hall for their x-ray or CT scan appointments at the lab next door. Until I stopped and realized why I was here, what I was doing, and that in some small way, I was helping these people. Until I realized, that my minor technical difficulties don't compare to what these people go through...with being outcasts of their society, with the fear of starvation or suffocation a threat because of tumor growth. Until, my problems were put into perspective. This is Africa...and this, in part, is why I am here.