When I was five years old, I was diagnosed with Hypergammaglobulinemia (Low Immune System). I have gotten IVIg every four weeks for my entire life, it is what keeps me alive. If I do not get it, I will not survive. People donating blood helps me keep living every month. There is no cure, I have to get it until I pass away.
I used to attend The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, from five years old until eighteen years old. It took me a few years to get used to intravenous and after that, I joined a club called Kids Club. It is when children were scared of getting intravenous, I would sit in the room with them, comfort them and tell them getting it is not scary. I was a member of that club for years, helping children of all ages get through the scariness of getting it.
Once I turned eighteen years old, I had to be transferred to Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie, Ontario. After many years of getting intravenous, my veins finally gave up at 31 years old. In April 2023, a few days after Easter, I had a minor operation to get a portacath. I do not have to worry about getting intravenous in my veins, the intravenous goes in the portacath. It made life easier knowing that I do not have to get intravenous in my veins anymore. The procedure is much easier, and my veins can rest after getting intravenous in my veins from five years old until 31 years old. This is a life long process that I have to live with to survive, until my life ends.
Thank-you to everyone who donates blood, it is much needed and more people need to donate blood to save lives like mine.
