During our careers , many of us will have been involved in the blood donation or transfusion process for animals , which provides us with a deeper understanding of the process and an insight into its importance in both human and veterinary medicine . I expect we ' ve all had a conversation with a pet owner about the possibility of their pet donating blood – so why not have the conversation with our colleagues , friends and family about donating blood ourselves ?
From veterinary nurse to critically ill patient
In May 2021 , I achieved my dream of qualifying as a veterinary nurse . For a multitude of reasons , prior to this , I ' d lost belief that I would ever qualify , so passing my OSCEs was one of the proudest moments of my life . I vividly remember asking my tutor if my pass was a mistake , as I was so sure I ' d been unsuccessful , but all of my hard work had finally paid off and my career as an RVN was about to begin .
In July that year , I enjoyed a holiday in Somerset with my parents , sister and brother-in-law , to celebrate my achievement and enjoy the freedom of revisionfree evenings . About 2 weeks after we ' d returned home , I woke to find a petechial rash all over my body . Knowing what it could mean , I headed straight to my local A & E department , where I was diagnosed with thrombocytopenia . I was treated in hospital for 10 days and my platelet levels gradually returned to normal .
I happily returned to work and things were looking up . I was gaining confidence as a new graduate nurse , enjoying my job more than ever and had an extra spring in my step following my qualification . I visited the haematology unit for check-ups regularly and the thrombocytopenia remained in remission .
I anxiously made my way to Queen ' s Medical Centre in Nottingham for further investigations . While awaiting the results of a plethora of blood tests , I distracted myself by chatting with fellow patients , before being taken to a side room where I was told I had severe autoimmune haemolytic anaemia ( AIHA ). The doctors told me that it was life threatening and I needed treatment urgently , although I didn ' t inform my family of the severity straight away . I went from feeling pretty relaxed to absolutely terrified in 30 seconds , and found the words ‘ life threatening ’ difficult to process .
I spent the night in the busy acute medicine receiving unit , watching and listening to the doctors and nurses who saw patient after patient . After a few hours of broken sleep on a leather recliner chair , I woke up and burst into tears , asking myself : “ How could this be happening to me ? Why me ? Why now ?” I was just starting to find my feet again after being unwell the previous year and felt frustrated that my health was getting in the way of my career again . A wonderful nurse comforted me and told me to stay positive and focus on getting better . So , that is exactly what I did .
That morning , I was transferred to the Centre of Clinical Haematology at City Hospital in Nottingham , where I spent 2 weeks as an in-patient . It was a difficult time because I was allowed only one visitor for an hour each day due to Covid-19 restrictions . Luckily , I was sharing a room with a lovely lady who was receiving treatment for lymphoma . We had great conversations about all sorts of things and there was something very comforting about sharing a room with a woman the same age as my mum . Her positivity and resilience definitely left an impression on me .
Sophie on holiday in Somerset and ( below ) with her nephew .
However , in March 2022 , I began to feel unwell again . I ' d felt unusually tired for a few weeks and had initially put it down to busy shifts at work until I noticed my gums and sclera were turning yellow and I couldn ' t even clean a kennel without feeling breathless and my heart rate increasing .
Emergency referral
I visited my GP , who took my medical history , did my observations and swiftly informed me that she wanted to admit me to my local hospital . It felt very much like a consultation involving an urgent referral in my practice . I ' d been on the professional side of that process many times but , this time , I was the patient and felt the anxiety that pet owners often feel in that situation .
10 Veterinary Nursing Journal