Dear diary,
Yesterday, I ran a blood screen for a donor. He was one
of those such commercial donors that would sit on the corridor yabbing and
bragging. He was plump, healthy looking and handsome. Running a total screen,
his results turned out a deadly combination of HIV and Hepatitis B. My
supervisor looked at me with a puzzled look on her face.
“This person is dying”. I stood there, shocked; scared for
my own self.
As soon as she left the lab, I rushed to repeat the samples with
new strips. The test and control lines were even stronger this time around.
Dave was next to confirm the tests before I would record and disqualify the eager
donor. Here was a young man ,vibrant and eager to sell his blood for a few
pesos, counting on his bone marrow to regenerate lost blood. He was still
sitted there when our blood oga broke
the news to him that he was not fit. Yes, he was told that he was disqualified
but no one told him that he had HIV and Hepatitis B. He was told that he was
disqualified based on PCV…packed cell
volume.
In medical terms, that meant his blood was too small and had
more water than it had actual blood cells. Of course that was a lie but the
superiors wanted to stay out of wahala
as much as possible.
“ If we asked him to go for screening, he wouldn’t go. He
would just go about his normal business.” I was told, but nobody told him. Afterall, he
was but a mere commercial donor,
giving his blood not for the sake of saving life but for the sake of money
making. If he wanted to know his status, he would go for a complete screening
in the hospital; and he would have to pay to the last kobo.
Well, like I told you, that was yesterday and I was scared
out of my wits. Going to sleep, I had a dream that was a total reflection of my
fears. My screening showed positive for HIV and the unigold was positive too. So, it was with that fear that I ran to Dave
to get my blood sample. I wasn’t sure what I expected but you bet I was very
scared. Testing positive has since ceased to be a question of who waka pass or who holy pass.
As I dropped the plasma on the test strips, I looked away,
scared to face the results should they turn out to be positive. In my short time in immunology, I had
disqualified so many candidates based on one disease or the other and now as I
placed the last drop of blood on the syphilis strip, my heart raced. What if
they turned out to be positive? Would I be able to stand it? It would be my
turn to disqualify myself. The thoughts of it scared me. I ran to the adjoining
lab office and waited for 15 minutes. 15 minutes later, I was on my way to
check the strips. As I looked at the
strips, my heart stopped…and then started again.
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