How four anonymous strangers saved my life

By Susan Dudley Gold, Maine blood recipient

Five months ago, after falling and breaking my hip, after successful hip replacement surgery, after three weeks of walking and exercising, I began to feel like my normal self again.

Susan Dudley Gold

Then, unexpectedly, a wave of dizziness hit me. At first, I believed the dizziness was somehow related to my hip surgery and thought perhaps I had overdone my activities. As it turned out, however, that was not the case, and the dizziness indicated a condition far more serious than even my hip injury.

By the third day, the dizziness had made it impossible for me to walk unaided. I couldn’t sit upright without toppling over. I could hear a loud whooshing sound in my head, as blood rushed through my body in time with my heartbeat. My skin turned gray, my lips colorless. I had no idea what was wrong, but I could feel my body shutting down.

A pair of kind — and expert — EMTs from our city rushed me to the local hospital. After seeing my condition, the skilled staff there took blood samples to test at the hospital’s lab. I lay on a gurney in the hallway, waiting with my husband for the test results. A worried looking staff member came back with forms for me to sign. My blood test revealed a hemoglobin count so low that the technicians measured it twice just to make sure the reading was accurate. Several nurses said they had never had a patient with a hemoglobin count that low. Another said she was amazed that I was still conscious. 

My doctor later told me that at that moment I was near death. I learned that many people experience heart attacks when their hemoglobin dips to a point higher than my reading.

Things happened quickly after that. An attendant wheeled me into an emergency department room packed with medical instruments and devices. Wires, tubes and patches covered my body, registering blood pressure, monitoring my heart, pumping in liquid and measuring my pulse. It became obvious that internal bleeding was quickly depleting the blood flowing to my heart and other vital organs. The staff prepared me for blood transfusions that would replenish the life-giving fluid. They double-checked my blood type against the type of each bag of blood brought into the room.

Over the next several hours, machines pumped three units of blood into my body. As the gift of blood surged through my body, the dizziness dissipated and I became more alert.

In the days that followed, medical personnel administered an endoscopy and a CAT scan to uncover the cause of bleeding. They discovered a giant polyp lodged in my stomach. Despite the fact that it had apparently been growing for years, I had been unaware of its existence — and had no side effects from it — until it started bleeding.

Fortunately for me, a renowned oncological surgeon was available to perform the complicated surgery necessary to remove the growth in my stomach. During the surgery, my poor beleaguered heart began to falter and required yet another unit of blood to see me through the procedure.

John Gold, blood donor

Since those days I have recovered well. My stomach and the rest of the digestive tract perform their usual tasks without complaint. My blood counts have returned to normal range. The 8-inch vertical scar running alongside my bellybutton, the only visible reminder of my dramatic ordeal, has faded. I credit and will be forever grateful to all the outstanding medical personnel — from the EMTs who delivered me safely to the hospital to the nurses and technicians, doctors and surgeon — whose expertise saved me. 

But I offer my greatest thanks to the unknown people, ordinary folks in my community, for their extraordinary act of generosity, donating their blood so that I might live.

A month after my surgery, my husband reported for his regular blood donation. He has given blood for decades, but now he knows firsthand the huge impact such an act can have. I hope my story will encourage others to do the same. 

To donate blood at a site near you, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS. It will be one of the most meaningful gifts you’ll ever give.