Recovery takes a turn after routine surgery
Some may think of donating blood only when a large-scale crisis strikes.
Yet most blood is used to help patients who face personal emergencies and necessary medical procedures every day.
The National Institutes of Health report 64 million surgeries occur in the United States annually.
Of those surgeries, knee or joint replacement is one of the most common. Nearly 800,000 knee replacements are done each year, according to the American College of Rheumatology. The procedure is a life-changing one, giving patients better mobility and improved quality of life after surgeons remove the damaged joint and replace it with a prosthetic one.
Surgeries – even those that seem routine – are significant health events in the lives of patients and their families. Yolanda Alsides did not anticipate how important such a conventional surgery would become for her.
In the winter of 2010, Yolanda decided to have a knee replacement surgery that she’d been postponing.
“It was my oldest daughter’s senior year, and I wanted to make sure I would be able to be my best for her at graduation,” Yolanda said.
The surgery went well and Yolanda returned home, but her recovery took a turn.
“There were issues that arose post-surgery with medication I was taking. They had not monitored my blood thinners correctly when they released me from the hospital, then when I went home, I was still taking the same dosage I was when I was in the hospital,” she said.
“I went for my two-week checkup and they gave me an injection in my other knee. Because no one adjusted my blood thinner dosage, my blood was, of course, thinner. When they did the injection, it caused me to bleed internally,” Yolanda recalled. “I started to swell up in my leg and it got so painful to just move it, that my parents rushed me to the emergency room.”
When she arrived at the Fort Worth hospital, “My pain level was through the roof,” Yolanda said. “My left leg where I got the injection had swelled up and looked like it was about to burst.”
Doctors knew there was internal bleeding but could not immediately pinpoint the source.
Yolanda began slipping in and out of consciousness, leading to a deep sleep – or “small coma,” as her doctors called it – that lasted for a couple of days.
Physicians told her family that Yolanda might not make it through the night.
The situation became so grim that a priest was called in to administer last rites to Yolanda.
Prayers of strength led to a more hopeful path forward, she believed. Doctors discovered the connection between her internal bleeding and unadjusted dosage of blood thinning medication.
“Once they figured out about my medication, they were able to adjust my blood levels and gave me blood products to allow my blood to clot, as well as replacing the units my body needed,” Yolanda said.
“It took another nine units of blood products, plasma, platelets and red cells to get me back. It was a rough few days and the recovery took another three weeks. I spent Christmas that year in the hospital; on New Year’s Eve, I was able to go home.”
Yolanda’s frightening health emergency gave her renewed appreciation for those who make a difference by donating blood consistently.
“Because of donors who gave their time and blood, I was able to see my daughter graduate that year and my other daughter graduate the following year,” she said. “My life forever changed after that moment, and I have made it my mission to make sure there are enough units available for the next emergency.
“To this day, when I see donors, I thank them for taking the time to donate,” Yolanda said. “Because of people like them, I am still here.”
Local patients urgently need your help. Please donate this week at your neighborhood Carter BloodCare donor center or mobile blood drive.
And, if you’ve ever received blood or platelets, your patient experience can motivate others to donate and save more lives. It’s easy but powerful; just Tell Us Your Story.