This week’s theme
Bloody words!

This week’s words
sanguineous
bloody-minded
anemia
red-blooded
hemorrhage

How popular are they?
Relative usage over time

AWADmail archives
Index

Next week’s theme
Whose what?

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keeps on giving,
all year long:
A gift subscription of A.Word.A.Day or the gift of books

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A quick note to say thank you, Anu. My mother passed away about a year ago. Over the course of her three-week hospital stay, she had received multiple transfusions. I remember thinking of all the people who had done this. Who had freely stuck out their arms and said, “Here.” So, here is my sincere thank you. Thank you for “it stays with you” as I navigate these (strange) days (strangely) thinking of suitcases of thoughts/habits/patterns I am going to pick up or leave there or put down. And always, thank you for A.Word.A.Day. I’ve been reading since college. I am now 195.
-Amy Denby, Port Washington, New York (amydenby icloud.com)

I particularly enjoyed that today’s word, and the words to come this week, relate to blood. It is my birthday today, and my husband and I are going out to breakfast and then going to drop off a pint each. I don’t always get to do it directly on my birthday, but I try to donate on or around my birthday each year. It’s a good way to give back on a day when I get extra. And, of course, it’s a good way to score some Lorna Doones.
-Kristin Horowitz, Poughkeepsie, New York (kjudd66 gmail.com)

I am both a donor and a receiver. For many years I was a donor, inspired by my dad who donated 10 gallons before his death in 2021. When a health crisis moved me from donor to recipient, I noted, with irony, how it was the same posture for blood to enter my body for a transfusion as it was to leave my body for a donation ... lying still via an innocent needle. Each time I received a blood transfusion I felt overwhelming gratitude to those who donated their blood. And if the blood wasn’t enough, I love that I carry some part of those donors in me. I try to honor their sacrifice. I’ll never know who you are, but you saved my life, literally. Thank you.
-Melanie Gniewek, Smithton, Illinois (tmgniewek gmail.com)

Email of the Week -- Brought to you buy One Up! -- Take no prisoners.

I was born in 1936. I started being a blood donor in Cape Town in the 1950s when I was a student. It was during the apartheid years. So, by law, “white” blood could be given to people of other races but “black” blood could not be given to whites. I felt that I had to be a blood donor for the moral reasons one becomes one, but how to deal with the apartheid issue? All I could think of doing was to tell the nurse -- invariably, by law, white -- as I settled down on the couch that I was donating blood under protest. Inevitably, the nurse asked whether I wanted to give blood, so a political explanation followed.

We won that struggle.

In 2000 I was put on a heart-lung machine for urgent surgery, and that took many units of blood. Since then I have been the recipient of many more units. I’m proud of my ignorance about the donors’ so-called races and grateful to them for helping me to reach 89.

I remained a donor to well past 100 units, but naturally age and medication have put an end to the privilege.
-Mervyn E. Bennun, Cape Town, South Africa (mebennun icon.co.za)

I donated my first pint of blood as a college student. I didn’t have money to be a philanthropist, but I did have blood to give. Plus, I got a free donut. I’ve given over 16 gallons and the answer as to “Why?” is simple: Because I can. Because I should.
-Sam Knight (via online comments)

Thank you for donating blood and especially for encouraging others to donate. I have been a regular blood donor for over 50 years (with time off while pregnant twice) and I try to enlist others.
-Sheila Arnett, Houston, Texas (birdwatcher28 hotmail.com)

My ex-father-in-law (now deceased) donated blood every time the bloodmobile crew came around. Over his lifetime he gave over 50 gallons! That still impresses me. What a gift of life!
-Bob Willits, Wheeling, West Virginia (sbwillits yahoo.com)

My husband’s kidney transplant gave him almost 24 years. I always figured I owed the world. I was working on my eleventh gallon when I learned I had cancer and could no longer donate. Also B+.
-Carolyn Boselli, Bridgeport, Connecticut (ladyivanor gmail.com)

I was scared of the entire process of blood donation. Then, when my husband was diagnosed with a very rare type of blood cancer and I sat by his side as he received transfusions, I decided I was being ridiculous. Since then, I have donated blood as often as I am allowed. I put on my donation playlist, look away, listen to music, and after around 10 minutes it is done. It is a very easy way to help other people. I encourage all those who can to start donating blood.
-Ruth Fawcett, Ottawa, Canada (ruthmfawcett gmail.com)

I have a fairly rare blood type, A-, so I donate every two months and have contributed 71 units. It’s probably a little more because donations in other places I have lived aren’t counted. My current concern is that I need to have my aortic valve replaced. If I qualify for a porcine valve that can be implanted through my femoral artery and up to where it goes, no problem. But if it is necessary to implant a mechanical valve then I will need to be on blood thinners forever which will put an end to my donations.
-Donald Albertson, Spring Mills, Pennsylvania (don.albertson gmail.com)

I’m an almost regular blood donor (over 23 litres already), but I had never thought I was giving 10% of my total body blood each time. Unfortunately, I’ll never manage to make 100 donations because I’ll reach 65 before that. In the province of Córdoba (Spain) you’re given a cordobán, a sort of framed wrought piece of leather embossed with an image of the city of Córdoba, for frequent donations. Hopefully, I’ll deserve one of these one day.
-Jesus Fernandez Bujalance, Córdoba, Spain (jesus.fernandez.b juntadeandalucia.es)

While I was lying on the donation couch, the nurse noticed that my pouch was filling quickly. She commented to her colleague, “We’ve got a bleeder!” I chose to take it as a compliment.
-Ken Franklin, Cape Coral, Florida (franklin.ken gmail.com)

It’s wonderful you give blood! I’ve been giving since I was 19. That’s 45 years (except for the five years after I had Hepatitis A).
-Rosally Saltsman, Petach Tikva, Israel (rosally_s yahoo.com)

I’m type O. I know that my blood is very valuable and I try to donate; I want to donate. It takes a while for me to recover afterward and I do fear that one day I will pass out. I am now 71 years old and 111 pounds. 110 pounds is the minimum weight for blood donations.

Thank you for listening. Perhaps my discomfort after donating is okay compared to the value to the recipient.
-Helen K Powell, Seattle, Washington (hkpowell gmail.com)

I’m a former blood donor, and I can say it’s one of the most powerful things I’ve ever done, especially after seeing family and friends need transfusions. I also love the people who work there and fellow donors’ general vibe: people who are willing to take the time to give something so essential to everyone. I also used to give plasma. And I’m a B+ too, so I love that it’s an attitude...to give of yourself. I also love all the questions they ask you before every donation, because I get to thinking, “Wow, I’ve led a really boring life.”
-David Geary, Vancouver, Canada (gearsgeary yahoo.com)

187 times for me, so far, almost all whole blood for what used to be called Baby Brigade, O- who are also cytomegalovirus negative. The blood is used for newborn babies, for whom antibodies to cytomegalovirus are deleterious. The real heroes are the platelet donors. That takes two to three hours. Platelets are needed by cancer patients.
-Mike Carpenter, Tucson, Arizona (mccarp46 gmail.com)

I donated last month, to finally “pay it forward”. I had received a transfusion when I was stabbed the night of my Peace Corps swearing-in ceremony in Belize City, Belize, back in 1987. I was 50 years old. For one reason or another, I have not been eligible or able to donate until now. I took iron tablets to build up my iron. I am disabled, use a walker, and have an atrophied left arm from where my brachial artery was severed and I had to be airlifted to Miami for bypass surgery. I am O+, a universal donor, and wanting to donate had been on my “to do” list for decades. I’ll be 88 next month, but was proud to get my American Red Cross sweatshirt.
-Terri Elders, Westminster, California (telders hotmail.com)

Regarding your musing about direct person-to-person blood transfusion, that was in fact the only method available until the 1914 discovery of anticoagulation to safely store blood. Here is the history of transfusion, from Stanford Blood Center.

Early blood transfusions were done exactly as you describe, face to face. Recent/current best practice for trauma care is indeed fresh^* whole blood. Many decades ago, while I was in training, I recall a grumpy trauma surgeon stating: “When my patient is bleeding packed (i.e. processed and stored) cells, I’ll give them packed cells. I want fresh whole blood for them!” I wish I’d paid attention.
-Tom Benzoni, ER, Des Moines, Iowa (benzonit gmail.com)
^*Less than several days old. No processing beyond type and antibodies. All the coagulation factors are present. (See more here)

My mother had a severe haemorrhage after giving birth to my older brother, her first child. It was during WWII, and blood transfusion was a new and tricky treatment that was still in development. Her brother John volunteered to help. Their blood matched perfectly and they had a direct person-to-person transfusion as you describe. It was the first blood transfusion to be performed at that hospital. Fortunately she recovered fully, and I was born three years later. She lived to age 96 and was especially close to her brother, who saved her life.
-Chris Carter, Perth, Australia (ccarter iinet.net.au)

In the first half of 1944, my aunt, my mother’s youngest sister, gave blood directly to my father who had been diagnosed with leukemia, an incurable disease at that time. A few other friends also donated their lifeblood gift. My aunt told me she lay on a stretcher with a tube going from her arm into his. Morphine for pain was the only additional treatment at the end. He survived five months from diagnosis.
-Susan Connolly, Bay Shore, New York (susanbc407 gmail.com)

In the forties this technique was used in blood donation. There were special tools: a crank connected to two tubes. One tube with a needle going to the donor and another tube with a needle to the patient.

It was even possible to donate blood to both arms and legs using such a tool for every other donation.

Of course, you had to make sure to turn the crank so that the blood went from donor to patient and not the other way around!

I am not 100% sure, but I think the tool was marketed by the pharmaceutical firm Abbott.
-Carel de Haseth, Curaçao (cpdehaseth gmail.com)

Actually, the micro filters you are pining for do exist and are deployed with certain elements of the US Special Operations Forces wherein all personnel are blood typed and available as potential donors to a compatible individual. There are some secondary antigens in blood beyond the O/A/B and positive or negative which can be problematic and thus the direct transfusion is limited to true emergency circumstances and not repeated with the same donor.
-Mike Travis, Leonardtown, Maryland (mttravis md.metrocast.net)

I’m a clinical pathologist (long retired, at 86) with subspecialty certification in blood banking / transfusion medicine. I’m group O with a rare Rh subtype (cdE), and was a regular donor until I was sidelined by a heart valve replacement, taking warfarin for the past 23 years. Direct transfusion was once a regular practice, but is rare today. I never saw one or heard of one in my career. For several reasons. Adult recipients require at least two units of blood, more than a single donor can give.

And it’s difficult to measure the volume of blood transfused in a direct transfusion.

Most transfusions are performed either during surgery or in emergency situations -- difficult to have a donor in place, and to change out donors. As a physician transfusion specialist, I sometimes felt like I was a garage mechanic, with the surgeon pleading “Give my patient life” and the blood banker replying, “Yeah, I think he’s about a quart low.”
-Bob Richmond, Maryville, Tennessee (rsrichmond gmail.com)

I am a regular blood donor in Toronto. My type is O+ which most recipients can take. The highlight of my donations is chatting with the nurses, most of whom have migrated to Canada from a rich mix of countries (Philippines, Iran, Jamaica). Invariably, they have a fascinating story. And they are expert in drawing blood in a gentle fashion. Regarding the behaviour of the fellow in the car lot, your equanimous response manifests the bodhisattva’s practise. May he be free from dukkha.
-Cam Kilgour, Toronto, Canada (goldiekilgour gmail.com)

My sister is AB-, the rarest blood type. Years ago she told me people with her blood type got called when a blood donation was needed and were, in fact, “guilted” into donating. She told me about one fellow who was escorted from his place of work and flown by helicopter to a hospital so he could give blood.
-Cathy Boettger, Blackfalds, Canada (cboettger51 gmail.com)

It was hilarious to read about the idea of fresh blood transfusions where the donor and donee lie on adjacent beds and the blood is transfused warm and live. Reminded me of Bollywood movies of yore.
-Dr. Taher Kagalwala, Mumbai, India (drtaher gmail.com)

Max Rockatansky (Mad Max of the movies) would appreciate this week’s theme since he is a universal donor. That makes him a highly coveted prize in the wastelands of post-apocalyptic Australia. Max is referred to as a “blood bag” when he is captured by the War Boys, a clan affected by various blood-based ailments that require them to receive hemoglobin periodically. Max saves Furiosa (Charlize Theron’s character) with a DIY transfusion, in an 18-wheeler, while pursued through the desert at high speeds. Not your typical blood donation! I don’t think Max got a T-shirt at the end.
-James Eng, Cypress, Texas (jameseng hotmail.com)

After your recent blood donation experience, I’m sure you know that England doesn’t have blood banks; but they do have a Liverpool.
-Jim Ertner, Greensboro, North Carolina (jde31459 gmail.com)

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. -Alexander Pope, poet (21 May 1688-1744)

Dear Karol,

Thank you for sharing such a moving story. I’m honored to have played a small part in your and your mother’s beautiful tradition.

Anu Garg

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: