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East Texas woman spreads awareness about plasma donation shortage

Every summer there is a shortage of blood donations nationwide. However, it's not just blood, but also blood products.

TYLER, Texas — Every summer there is a shortage of blood donations nationwide. However, it's not just blood, but also blood products.

It's a situation Keisha Raker learned about after suffering a medical emergency.

Raker was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, an autoimmune disease, more than 10 years ago. That disease affects her neuromuscular system, causing rapid fatigue of the voluntary muscles in the body.

Raker calls it an invisible disease. By looking at her, you can’t tell she has the illness, but she does have limitations.

She can’t ride a bike, run, or exercise because stress, heat and overexertion can cause a flare-up or a myasthenic crisis -- which is what sent her to the hospital a few weeks back.

Raker realized she was entering a crisis and her son raced her to the ER. In just 15 minutes, she went from walking and talking to being temporarily paralyzed.

"I couldn't move anything but my eyes, and at the hospital, I was told that they did not have the treatment that I needed the IVIG," Raker said. "Tyler was completely out, and that was scary to me. None of our three hospitals had."

At the hospital, she was told they were going to take her to Dallas, but she slowly started coming out of the crisis.

The medication she needs, IVIG, is composed of antibodies and plasma. However, there is currently a plasma shortage in East Texas which affects Raker receiving her medication.

“When I was at the hospital two weeks ago for my treatment, I was told that that would be the last treatment for anyone for the whole month of July," Raker said. "They were having to cancel patients. That's never happened, and it's not the hospital's fault. It's just there is a shortage. This is so serious that if I went into another crisis or if another patient went into another crisis, I don't know that they could be treated here. So for them to say that we're having to cancel patients, and we can't give them treatment in a city like Tyler, which I've always considered a medical community. That's, that's pretty scary.”

Clinton McCoy, Director of Operations at Carter BloodCare, says there it's not just a plasma shortage affecting East Texas.

"All around every product, every blood type, we need donors to come out to maintain that support for patients in our community,” McCoy said. “Your red blood cells, your plasma and your platelets.”

Carter BloodCare tries to always have three to five days' worth of blood and blood products, but right now, they are operating on about a day and a half's worth.

Due to the shortage and her own experience, Raker is working to spread awareness. She has shared her story on social media garnering responses from all over the country.

Currently, Raker is working to organize a blood and plasma drive in East Texas. If you'd like to give early a blood drive will be hosted Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. at Azalea Orthopedics.

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