Giving blood - more difficult than it should be!

I was told I might need 2 pints of blood for my surgery. I originally thought, for whatever reason, that if I wanted to make an autologous donation, I had to actually be in Philadelphia. After a call to the Thomas Jefferson blood center, I learned that this was not true. I signed papers and coordinated a visit for my uncle to TJ, since he is the same blood type. Then I had papers sent over to the Red Cross here in Pittsburgh, so I could make a donation myself.

My papers were apparently sent to someone who either didn't know what to do with them, or just didn't want them. I was referred to another office, then another, then told to just call Central Blood Bank. Red Cross sent my papers to CBB, and they turned out to be much easier to deal with. Little did I know, big problems loomed ahead...

I made an appointment, and the scheduler and I talked back and forth a few times afterward, because TJ did not want to accept the blood from them. Finally they agreed to take it. I went for my appointment, and the actual donation took forever. The nurse kept adjusting things, and we decided that my low blood pressure was probably the culprit. After about 45 minutes, we finally coaxed a pint of blood out. Nice. I left, thinking I could cross this off my list of things to be concerned about.

The next day, the scheduler called me again, and TJ had amended their prior statement. They would take the blood, but they would not submit an insurance claim for it. The bill for testing and shipping (approx. $300) would come to me, I would have to pay it, then try to get my insurance to reimburse me. What a pain in the rear. Hunter and I decided it was worth dealing with to get my own blood, though, and it was already done, so there wasn't much I could do about it.

Fast forward to my surgery date (which I will describe in more detail later) - when I met with the nurse in admissions, I had my card from CBB with the tag number of my blood, so they would know to get it out for me. I gave her the card, she said it wasn't noted in my file that I had donated. She called the blood center at TJ, and they vehemently denied knowing anything about it. Thankfully she wasn't taking no for an answer, and argued with them until they checked again. They somehow had it dated for sometime in February, so it wasn't on the list for my actual surgery date. Geez. At least they had my uncle's blood ready.