Seriously. I'm currently lugging around a bottle of OFF! in my bag, with an extra bottle in the boarding house, and yet another bottle stashed in the car.
Because I do not want to catch Dengue please Lord no it's nasty and it's a raging epidemic and it's one of the sneakiest, deadliest illnesses ever and if you do catch it, it'll kill the platelets in your blood and you will need lots of blood transfusions that sounds fine right but NO it's not you know why I'll tell you why it's because there's no blood to go around.
My uncle was confined yesterday to the ICU of the Asian Hospital, where half of the hospitalized people are Dengue victims (and only three of those are kids; most of those who caught it are 20+). My uncle was in critical condition because he was down to only 7,000 platelets. Now it turns out that the human body's normal platelet count is 200,000 to 140,000. You're critical if you only have 20,000. And he was down to 7,000.
Yesterday night was spent in the hospital, where we were all panicking, trying to get blood. Because of my uncle's critical condition, even the universal donor blood type O wouldn't do. We had to get blood donors with type A RH positive (blood type A+). We started calling up like mad. The National Kidney Institute was out. So was Manila Doctor's. St. Luke's. Even The Red Cross. Because Dengue is so prevalent, there is no blood to go around. Some hospitals had the blood we needed, but would not release it (my uncle needed 5-7 packs of blood) until we had a type-specific donor at hand, ready to replace the blood at a ratio of 2 packs to 1 (hospital) pack.
Last night and today was spent in a flurry of texting and calling (in the hospital lounge). To all the people I pestered, begging for blood donations, you have my apologies and my sincerest thanks. Thank you especially to willing donors Jika and Nerie from Archi, Rosa, Anna Migallos and Ate Jorge from Music. Thank you also for the people in my phonebook who I texted/called for your replies and prayers.
UPDATE: Just tonight, my uncle's condition has improved (thank you Lord!!). My uncle's platelet count is up to 28,000. He's past the danger zone...for now. The thing with dengue is, you can't guarantee that you're well. Which is why my uncle is going to have to undergo a series of blood tests/transfusions for the next several days, because the illness eats up platelets so fast. One day you're well, the next, you're not. So we still need your prayers. And possibly your blood.
So if you are blood type A+ or if you know someone who is, please email at tatatwin@gmail.com (or gabitwin@gmail.com) , text at 09209470861 (or 09209470835), or leave a comment here. We're still scouting for possible donors. Thank you so much. If we do take your blood, I am honor-bound to source blood for you when you need it.
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