Thursday November 26, 2020, my mother felt neck pain in the morning, and a couple of hours later, the condition rapidly developed into energy loss. She could not sit up, was not able to walk, and she vomited. We rushed her to the emergency room of Markham Stouffville Hospital, where she was diagnosed with aortic dissection, and the medical team there realized that she had to undergo an emergency repair surgery to save her life.
Mom was immediately transferred to Toronto General Hospital by ambulance with a few packs of blood. Surgeons performed an 8-hour open heart surgery at the TGH for mom, and blood transfusion was needed during the surgical procedure. My mother luckily survived, and later, she spent 5 months in the institution. That 5-month was a tough recovery journey for her, as she developed internal bleeding, and had multiple complications after the major surgery. I did not remember how many times she got a blood transfusion. I just knew that there were many packs of blood given to her during the surgery recovery time.
As the recipient’s daughter, I can’t say in words how much I am grateful for the donors who gave my mother a new life. Today, my mother lives with me. She is in stable condition. She can cook, she can do needle work, she enjoys watching TV every day.
I think it’s time for me to be a supportive human being to help others live a longer life. A few days ago, I signed up with Canadian Blood Services, my first time ever, to be a blood donor. So I showed up at the CBS’s Richmond Hill Centre for blood donation in June. Tell you the truth, I have trypanophobia (extreme fear of needles), and it’s extremely difficult for me to see the needle being inserted into my vein. Having said that, I successfully managed the phobia because the joy of saving someone’s life is much greater than fear.
