Cyndie, a Marlow resident who works for Haulmark Industries south of the Y, was the picture of health until early April of this year. It was then that she began to experience severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. She went to the emergency room at Duncan Regional and was referred to Dr. Miguel Sabedra in Marlow, who sent her back to the hospital for a battery of tests. The test results indicated she had contracted a rare blood disease called thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, or TTP.

This disease is so rare that Cyndie is one of only 30 to 32 people in Oklahoma undergoing treatment for it. TTP has a variety of causes, but her doctor thinks Cyndie’s was caused by the E. coli bacterium.

TTP effectively destroys platelets in the white blood cells, or leukocytes, and causes the edges of the red blood cells to become jagged and irregular. These damaged red cells attach themselves to organs and begin to destroy them. At the same time, the TTP’s effects on the white cells, which are the body’s first line of defense against disease, impair that defense.

“Apparently, your platelets can’t get too low (without being endangered), and mine were already very low,” Cyndie noted.

She was transported immediately to Integris Baptist Hospital in Oklahoma City, where she underwent daily plasma exchange procedures for 11 days and blood transfusions for seven or eight of those.

With each plasma exchange, her own was withdrawn and seven units of fresh plasma were pumped into Cyndie’s body through the tube mentioned earlier. In all, she received 77 units of plasma and around 20 units of whole blood.

“That’s why I see now that giving blood is so important,” she observed.

Cyndie’s response to the treatment and her recovery were monitored every day during her stay at Integris, and when her doctor was convinced that her body was manufacturing its own platelets in sufficient quantities, she was dismissed.

Because the ordeal had left her anemic and weak, she didn’t return to work right away.

Then four days after her return home, Cyndie suffered what the doctor said was a thrombotic stroke, which was very possibly an after-effect of the TTP. She was rushed once more to Integris Baptist, where she was to spend another three days before being sent home.

In spite of all these frightening and trying experiences, Cyndie returned to work on May 9.

As a follow-up precaution, she is required to see her specialist once a month and to have her blood tested every week.

The only residual effect of her battle with TTP appears to be occasional pain in both of her legs.

“I think I’m going to be all right,” she surmised.

Although many blood and blood-product recipients may require only one to three units from Oklahoma’s blood bank, there are those few, like Cyndie, whose needs place far greater demands on the blood supplies.

And since it is impossible for the Oklahoma Blood Institute to project, at any given time, just how substantial the demand for its products will be, maintaining more-than-adequate provisions is vital. Doing so could conceivably mean the difference in life and death.

Cyndie herself issued a plea to area residents to visit the upcoming community blood drive this Saturday.

“It is important. And even it it’s the first time, give it a shot,” she urged. “It could save somebody’s life. It saved mine.”