Mark Popovsky

In 1993 I had a severe case of the flu. Two weeks later, I noticed numbness and tingling in my feet, which over the course of the next 18 hours progressed up my legs and arms. My legs began to feel "heavy" and I had difficulty walking. While this was happening, I was in denial of these symptoms because I was "too busy" to be sick. During the second day of these symptoms I noticed that I had trouble swallowing food.

GBS is a rare illness similar to multiple sclerosis, but unlike the latter, there are effective treatments. Without these treatments, about 20% of patients die.

I was taken to the hospital where the physicians agreed with my self-diagnosis. The irony of my predicament was that over my career I had treated numerous patients with GBS with therapeutic plasma exchange, and now I was going to be the beneficiary of this treatment. It wasn't a moment too soon! I could no longer walk or use my arms and my breathing became labored as the disease progressed to my diaphragm. I underwent an emergency plasma exchange, receiving plasma and albumin. Over the next week, I received more than 80 blood products during a series of 6 exchanges. Thank goodness, the blood was available.

The good news is that I was in that fortunate group of patients who have a spectacular recovery. The disease stopped advancing. Ten days later I left the hospital and went into a rehabilitation hospital where I relearned how to walk over the next 3 months. I made a complete recovery and 15 months later ran in a 10k race.

If it were not for the advances in transfusion medicine, the availability of automated blood collection devices and a safe, and sufficient blood supply, I might not be around today. This is one of many stories about the importance of blood therapy and the people who make it possible through blood donation.