Hello my name is Jodi Cagle.
My daughter Shelbi is a biomedical technician at Biomat USA Plasma Center Jacksonville Yopp Road. I never realized people donated plasma until my life depended on it.
I have been in and out of hospitals for almost 3 years battling liver failure caused by liver cirrhosis. Being in the hospital for weeks at a time, my immune system is completely torn down. Some days I may not even be able to do my grocery shopping or run any errands for the fear of getting sick. Plasma donations have saved my life many times.
I received plasma for the first time a few months ago. I had to receive it 4 times while in the hospital, and any time now that I would need an operation or days that my antibodies and white blood cells come back low, I would need to receive plasma to improve my immune response.
Being in liver failure causes my liver to be a larger size than it is supposed to be. My abdomen is always swollen and full of fluid. I have to have the fluid removed from around my liver every so often. Every time I have the fluid removed, I need to receive plasma to prevent the possibility of getting any sort of infection caused by the incisions. I have to get my blood taken and tested once a week to make sure my white and red blood cell counts are within a safe count. Being in liver failure also causes my ammonia levels in my blood to elevate. Your liver is responsible for filtering out that ammonia, which mine is too weak to do. Having an excess amount of ammonia in the blood can cause hallucinations, dizziness, and at extreme levels cause your entire body to shut down. Plasma has allowed me to be alive today.
After visiting the Biomat USA Plasma Center, I am so grateful to have gotten the chance to see how plasma is donated. I got the chance to tour the facility and saw how donating and plasma processing works.
I cannot express enough how grateful, appreciative, and blessed I am to receive your donations. They do matter! Even if you think that one bottle of plasma you donated today doesn’t make a difference, it does! It could be the plasma that can save mine, and many other lives.
Thank you for all of your time and donations!