Shanice was born with sickle cell disease. At 6, she had her first blood transfusion and doctors said she would not live long. She underwent two more transfusions to ease excruciating pain and ultimately save her life.
Today, Shanice is attending college and has a job she loves. She knows that she is alive today because people who she did not know and will never meet donated life-saving blood.
Sickle cell disease is a blood disorder passed from parents to children. Abnormally shaped red blood cells get caught in blood vessels and block efficient blood and oxygen flow through the body. Over time, organs and tissue are damaged. Sickle cell disease is found in many nationalities, but in the U.S., it is predominantly found in the African American population.
Patients who have the most severe form of the disease have an average life expectancy of only 42 years for men and 48 years for women.
Repeated blood transfusions are required for some patients to prevent or treat some complications of sickle cell disease. The drug hydroxyurea has been shown to help extend the lives of some sickle cell patients. But more research is needed to improve clinical care, and new therapies are required to improve the lives of these patients. Bone marrow transplant can be curative for the small number of eligible patients with an appropriately matched marrow donor. Such patients also require transfusion support throughout their marrow transplant treatment course.
Indiana Blood Center is part of Versiti. Versiti works with patients who have sickle cell disease along with their physicians to help diagnose and treat this life-threatening condition. Versiti conducts clinical research, blood donor matching, transfusion and other therapies and community outreach to help improve the lives of sickle cell patients throughout Indiana.
We conduct clinical research to better diagnose, treat and improve the lives of sickle cell patients. Versiti provides management and transfusion support for chronic, transfusion-dependent patients, including red cell exchange for patients with sickle cell disease. We locate and manage donors, as the disease presents special challenges in matching donor blood types. Versiti also provides community outreach to raise awareness of the disease, provide information to help support those who have it and to encourage blood donations.
We provide life-saving blood to nearly 80 hospital partners throughout Indiana and sickle cell programs through our immunohematology reference laboratory, where we test patient samples to identify their specific blood needs then provide that specialized blood for patients through our inventory. Our physicians provide clinical consultation through the lab for specific cases related to specific transfusion needs. We identify donors and encourage them to give blood needed for life-saving transfusions for sickle cell disease patients.
I encourage the central Indiana African American community to donate blood to help patients like Shanice.
Diseases like sickle cell require rare blood traits that demand diversity within our blood supply. African American blood donations are crucial to ensure close blood matching for successful blood transfusions.
Donating blood takes less than an hour. Anyone age 17 or older in good health who meets eligibility requirements is encouraged to give. Versiti accepts appointments for blood donation and walk-ins at any of our central Indiana donor centers in Indianapolis, Fishers, Carmel and Greenwood.
People need people. Patients like Shanice know that someone, somewhere, generously took the time to donate blood and help save their lives. I hope you can become one of those people and donate life-saving blood today.
Dr. Charles Miraglia is a board-certified pathologist and transfusion medicine specialist with more than two decades of leadership experience in clinical and commercial environments. He has served as a member of the board of directors of Versiti Blood Center of Indiana, formerly Indiana Blood Center, since 1998.
