By Dan Israeli
A New York Life insurance agent, O'Brien once regularly took part in the company's annual blood drive. It was a good opportunity to get out of work for a few hours, O'Brien reasoned, while helping a worthy cause.
Her donations stopped about a decade ago. These days she has switched roles in the blood-donation cause, and makes regular visits to a hematologist to make sure her blood cell counts are steady. She has been doing so for the past nine years, ever since a rare blood disease nearly killed her. She was saved by emergency blood transfusions.
"It's really funny how life takes its turns," O'Brien said.
In the spring of 1998, days after she gave birth to her daughter Mikayla, O'Brien's doctor called her at 5 a.m. to insist that she return to the hospital. Tests showed that her hemoglobin was critically low, registering at a level that would render most people unconscious.
Though she was very weak, O'Brien managed to walk through the front door of Lennox Hill Hospital that morning, and she began the first of a decade's worth of transfusions. It turned out that she was suffering from hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), a disease that destroys blood cells and causes kidney failure. When she began her treatment, the outlook was bleak.
"They told me that she was very sick, and there were shortages of the blood and plasma she needed to go on," recalled Bianca's husband, Jim. "We went from feeling blessed and full of joy with the birth of our daughter to being in utter shock."
Bianca was taken aback by the sudden affliction, but refused to let it determine her fate. "I remember saying to them, 'No, this is unacceptable,'" she said. "I was very weak, nauseous and short of breath, but I had a newborn to get home to."
For the next month, O'Brien received 10 units of plasma a day through a process called plasmapheresis, which takes five hours. With the threat of the HUS killing the same blood cells she was receiving, the prognosis for her treatment was uncertain. "It was a wait-and-see thing," she said. "They were never sure if the numbers would begin to improve or not."
But after a few weeks in the hospital, O'Brien's blood grew healthier and her condition improved. She became an outpatient at Lennox Hill for a few more months, and the HUS eventually went into remission. In all, she received more than 300 units of blood and plasma, made possible, at least indirectly, by the donations she had made so willingly earlier in her life. It was as good a case of medical karma as could be imagined.
Now O'Brien has signed on to be a co-chair of this year's blood drive at Long Beach Catholic Regional School, where her daughter is a student. She was approached by the drive's chairwoman, Rina Capicotto Lee, who is also president of the school's parents club. Lee first heard O'Brien's story at last year's blood drive, from a member of Long Island Blood Services.
"Her story has definitely inspired a lot of people in our school," Lee said. "We have received a ton of phone calls, and are seeing a lot of new donors to go along with our returning ones. When people find out that it hits home, it makes them more willing to help."
According to O'Brien, awareness of the importance of blood donation is lacking on Long Island, where only 2 percent of the population gives blood, compared with the national average of 5 percent. Long Island hospitals require 800 pints a day, and 20 percent of that amount coming from elsewhere.
According to New York Blood Services, one of every three people will need donated blood in their lifetime, and a single pint can save three people. It takes only three teaspoons of blood to save a baby born prematurely.
"Over the years, people haven't been aware of the problem because they haven't been informed," Jim O'Brien said. "Everyone should be rolling up their sleeves if they can. It's a resource that constantly needs to be replenished, and someone you know well will one day need it." O'Brien said he has been donating blood for 25 years, and has done so at every Long Beach Catholic Regional School drive, which was first held in 2003.
Bianca O'Brien, whose life was saved by donated blood, said she will always be indebted to the cause. "A lot of people give unselfishly, but don't understand the impact," she said. "You never know when you're going to be on the receiving end, and people like me are ever so appreciative."
One of the biggest supporters of donating blood is her daughter Mikayla. "If people didn't give blood, she wouldn't be here with me," Mikayla said. "I really want to thank the people that helped her. It's important to give because it helps people. And you get cookies, too."
For more information and to register for the Long Beach Catholic Regional School blood drive, to be held March 28, call Rina Lee at (516) 889-5846. Blood donors will receive gifts, including hats and photo albums from New York Life as well as free soup vouchers from Lido Kosher Deli.
Comments about this story? DMiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
