Here’s my funny story that’s not actually funny.
One of the surprise blessings of this pandemic is that I had time during the day to go to attend blood drives. In fact, during the first week we were closed to families, I went across the street to the Nebraska Community Blood Bank drive that was right across the street at the church. I even videoed parts of it for my ‘school at home’ lesson.
A few weeks later I joined Lloyd for an American Red cross blood drive. Not many people were there, but the music was good and the company was better.
Sometime this fall I signed up for another Nebraska Community Blood Bank drive for late in the day. A few days later I got a voicemail and also an email telling me that I was on the ‘permanently deferred’ list and I should contact them. When I did, they said that something had shown up on a previous test and…. “Did you get a letter from us regarding this?”
“When?” I asked.
“…..1990?”
They were just getting around to cross-checking current donors with their maiden names. Apparently, I had a red flag on my file, but they couldn’t say what it was. I asked if I had hurt anyone with my donation, but was assured that they test every batch before it goes out. They said they’d get to the bottom of it.
Now I have my answer! Apparently, back in 1990, I tested positive for HIV. FALSELY tested positive for AIDS. Let’s be perfectly clear: FALSE POSITIVE. I laughed and laughed when I got the letter. My immune system must be pretty incredible, huh? Also, after reading the test results from my March donation, I now know lots and lots of test codes. I tested negative for HIV, hepatitis B and C, Zika virus and a host of others. Go, me.
Bring on the blood drives!