I am happy to report that Trina's friend and co-worker, Arracelli, has been admitted to the hospital tonight and tomorrow her precious baby will be born by C section. Trina worked so hard to help Arracelli get the needed blood donated so that was required by the hospital. I pitched in with a bit of blood and a lot of time. Trina was at the hospital every day for what seemed like a week from 7 am - almost noon as donors were not accepted because the nurses could not hit a vein or because they had to leave to go to work when they found out that a 7 am appointment was not quite a 7 am appointment, since another 40 people also had 7 am appointments and it was a half day ordeal to donate the blood, or even to find out that they would not take your blood for one of several reasons. Very special thanks go out to Bundy, Kim, Liz and especially to Lisa who put us over the top without spilling hardly a drop of blood, and who spent over four hours at the hospital today waiting, while she entertained Trina and I who were there for moral support and to make sure that this was a"done deal" today, one way or the other. All this for a friend, Arracelli, of a friend, Trina, of a friend, me, of a friend, Liz, who turned us on to Lisa. What a team we were. Seems like the foreignors saved the day. Read on. For those of you who may have missed it in another thread, Arracelli had something relating to her placenta that in natural childbirth would have more or less strangled or suffocated the baby. So a C section was required in order to save the baby. The necessary blood for this procedure was required before they would do her surgery. Not the actual blood for the transfusion, as the hospital blood bank has it all set to go. But they require the inventory to be replenished in terms of quantity, not in terms of blood type, before the surgery. Far be it from me to make any comments that would offend people who suggest that Americans have no right to try to improve things in a foreign country, but this whole process could easily and simply be improved if anyone cared enough to do so. I would suggest that the reason that IMMS finds it necessary to have this "bleed in advance" policy is that their procedure for donating blood simply SUCKS, to borrow a word from Gene's post about Immigration. Simply put, donating blood is such a time consuming pain in the ass that people only donate blood at the last minute and only then if the patient has begged and pleaded with every family member and friend to help. In this case, I really think that a few caring and giving gringos saved the life of what we hope and pray will be a healthy baby. FYI, donating blood at IMMS is a minimum of a 4 hour process on a good day. They have a system that they announce may not be perfect but that it works for them. Unfortunately it does not work for the donors. There is a long wait at every step in the process. I estimate that in my donating experience, which included drawing a tube of blood for testing for drugs, hepatis or whatever, then an interview with a nurse who inquired about my social history and took my blood pressure, and then the donating process itself, that total time was under 30 minutes. Unfortunately for me, I was at the hospital for 4.5 hours for what could and should have been a 30 minute process. But so far the story finally has a happy ending.
I'm glad that everything worked out great. Let me get this right though. Are you saying the hospital refused to perform a caesarian for a potentially life threatening condition because there *might* be a need for a transfusion, and in order to undergo that procedure the patient needs to provide blood credits that *might* be required? If so, then that is pretty f***ed up. Jannet had a C section with Dani, due to the fact the cord was wrapped around Dani's neck and could have caused strangulation with a natural birth (not sure if this is the same condition as Arrecelli). We didnt have to provide blood credits for that - but then again we didnt go IMMS. Why did the mother not go private for such a serious condition? Anyhow, I wish mother and baby all the best and think it great that people helped out.
Steve, That is my understanding although I cannot imagine that they would let a baby die because the blood credits were not in place. I know everyone was concerned that she would go into labor in which case it would be a crisis. I don't know if blood is always used in C sections. I was just in this deal to get it done in time. I think the reason she did not go to a private hospital is simply money. I have heard people say that IMMS is a Social Security hospital and it is free for the most part once a worker qualifies for the social security. Perhaps Kim or Kelli will comment on this with more knowledge than I have.
Apparently this is something that IMSS does with the 2 donors. My friend does not have the financial freedom to go to a private hospital. I guess if she walked in and was in labor they would have to do the surgery, but she had to have her papers stamped from the blood donations in order for them to admit her for scheduled surgery. I am so very glad it is taken care of and she is now in the hospital. I am so impressed with the people here, like TJ said, a friend of a friend of a friend needed help and help was offered. Araceli's parents asked Sunday at their church for someone to come help donate blood for their daughter and no one did. Liz & Lisa, you guys are the best. Araceli said now she is naming her child after TJ, unfortunately it is a girl: Sofia Thomasina :lol: TJ, you are truly a lifesaver...you are just amazing. This system is really broken, but I guess that is another thread. There is nothing wrong with making something better.
Yes, TJ, you are right. If she was in labor they would not refuse her, but the problem was she had a low lying placenta and that if she started contractions and went into labor, the placenta would come out first and the baby would not get oxygen. I'm not a doctor, but this is my best understanding of her situation. So it was critical that she have the baby C-Section BEFORE she went into labor. To do that, she had to have a scheduled surgery, which required the blood donations. She calls that hospital the new Social Security hospital and doesn't have much other choice. TJ, all that stuff I said about you being ornery and probably going to hell...well, you made up for it and there is a place for you now. :wink:
What a wonderful team you all make- well done and many congratulations to the new mum and baby. Birth should be a beautiful experience not one of stress and confusion that this poor woman had to endure. I am truly shocked that Drs who sign the hypocratic oath- to save lifes would refuse to operate on a woman due to no "blood credits".Low lying placentas can be critical. Is it possible to store credits? Like on a free day- when you have 4 hours to spare go along and store some blood just in case one day in the future you may need it? Anyway regardless of the mess the system is and boy could I rant about maternity services in general here, you all did a great thing . Love Tracey xxxxxxxxxx
I believe the condition is called Placenta Previa. Donating blood here Sucks, there is nothing good to be said about the entire experience from the facilities to the questions to having to go without any food or drink for at least 8 hours. We had blood drives in High School and I never remember being refused because we ate breakfast.
Glad to hear everything worked out! This is what I understand about donating blood at IMMS hopsitals, at least in the experiences that I've had with it. Most people who work "over the table" are enrolled in IMSS. In the other experiences I've had, the blood donated wasn't necessarily for the specific surgery but rather as payment if the person wasn't covered under IMSS. When both my husband and his father were admitted to the hospital (one in Merida and one in Valladolid), they blood was required after the operation or procedure so that they'd be allowed to leave the hospital. It wasn't in case one of them needed a blood transfusion because the donation took place after the fact and because they had no coverage under IMSS and couldn't pay for it otherwise. At least in Cancun, IMSS is for those who are covered because of their job. I believe that the Hospital General on Coba is for the truly indigent who either don't work or don't work for a place that has them on the payroll.
I think the one and onlyBlood Bank in Cancun is in the Hospital General unless they have opened anothr one recently that I am not aware of.
