Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Wishing to replenish its bank of donors from black communities, the Héma-Québec organization is appealing to everyone to encourage their members to donate blood. For the approximately 175 Quebecers with sickle cell anemia who must receive a transfusion every month, having access to compatible blood can be a matter of life or death.
About 1,800 people have sickle cell anemia in Quebec, a genetic disease that mainly affects people from black communities, explains Dr.D Nancy Robitaille, Vice-President of Transfusion Medicine at Héma-Québec.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARC COUTURE
The DD Nancy Robitaille, Vice-President of Transfusion Medicine at Héma-Québec
For about 175 of them, the treatment of their disease involves blood transfusions every month. “It is estimated that just one of these people needs 130 donations a year,” notes the DD Robitaille.
To increase the chances of finding a donor compatible with patients, it is preferable that donors come from black communities, explains the DD Robitaille. Since 2009, nearly 10,000 new blood donors have been recruited from black communities, explains Héma-Québec spokesperson Josée Larivée. But since nearly 26,000 donations are needed to treat the population with sickle cell anemia each year, the donor bank must be increased, she explains.
Pains like childbirth
The red blood cells of people with sickle cell anemia become rigid and crescent-shaped rather than remaining flexible and round. This change in shape can cause occlusions of blood vessels which will have different consequences for those affected.
Both parents of Montrealer Akelia Campbell were unknowingly carriers of the sickle cell anemia gene. At 3 months, the child had his first seizure. Now 30 years old, Ms.me Campbell learned to live with the disease. ” But it’s not easy. Because it doesn’t show. The problem is your blood… It’s an invisible chronic disease,” she says.
Sickle cell anemia manifests itself in different ways, more or less serious, in people affected. At M’sme Campbell, it comes in fits and starts.
It is intense pain. Some say it’s as hard as childbirth. With every heartbeat, it feels like it’s stinging me very hard. Others say they feel a burn. And the pain appears anywhere. On the back, on the foot, on the skin…
Akelia Campbell, living with sickle cell anemia
“It can be very painful, explains the DD Robitaille. These patients are also more susceptible to infections. “Patients with sickle cell anemia are also more likely to have strokes, kidney damage, pulmonary hypertension, loss of vision…
Mme Campbell had to have his left hip replaced at age 22. She underwent preventative surgery in 2021 to avoid having her right hip replaced. And she had a partial left shoulder replacement in April.
For meme Campbell, the hardest part is never being able to predict these crises. “And we don’t know how long we will be hospitalized when we go to the hospital. It can be three hours or two weeks… There, it’s been three months that I haven’t worked because I was hospitalized at the end of April and operated on my shoulder right after,” she says. These numerous leaves have enormous personal and financial impacts for Mr.me Campbell.
Blood transfusions at the heart of the solution
Few treatments exist to combat sickle cell anemia. Analgesics are given to relieve the pain. In some cases, a product called hydroxyurea is also used to prevent seizures and reduce anemia. But for some of those affected, about 175 in Quebec, the solution involves blood transfusions. “We remove the red blood cells from the affected person and replace them with those from multiple healthy donors,” explains Ms.me Larivée. “It can be used on an ad hoc basis for an acute crisis, or on a regular basis in what is called a transfusion program”, explains the DD Robitaille.
These patients, the most serious cases, are transfused every month. Mme Campbell does not need regular transfusions. “But if I go to the hospital and my hemoglobin is low, it may take a lot of blood to get me back up…” she says.
Donating blood is a concrete gesture that can have a direct impact on the quality of life of those affected.
Josée Larivée, Héma-Québec spokesperson
“Patients tell how, on the eve of a blood donation, for example, they can’t work and barely have the energy to get up from their armchair or their bed. The day after a blood exchange, they experience a sudden burst of energy. But to carry out these blood exchanges, it takes donors…”, says Ms.me The arrival.
“The community needs to come together to help support these people. It makes all the difference,” says M.me Campbell.
People wishing to donate blood can participate in a collection on July 5 at the Roussin Community Center in Pointe-aux-Trembles (1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 12125, rue Notre-Dame Est). It is also possible to make an appointment at one of Héma-Québec’s three fixed collection centers at Place Versailles, Kirkland or DIX30.