TYLER, Texas — In the continued fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors are always looking for better ways to treat their patients. One treatment showing promise uses blood plasma from patients who have already recovered from COVID-19.
Doctors at the UT Health Science Center in Tyler have already begun utilizing this treatment. But the plasma used has come from sources outside the region, until now.
On Thursday, patients who had recovered from the disease donate plasma for sick East Texans. Tyler resident Dustin Ross was one of these donors.
Ross developed symptoms for COVID-19 more than a month ago. Soon after he tested positive, Ross says he first thought something was wrong when he could not taste his food.
“We ate crawfish and I couldn't taste the crawfish or the spice or anything and notice that something's probably really wrong,” Ross said.
Ross says the diagnosis was unexpected, as his symptoms were mild.
“It was pretty surprising because my symptoms were pretty mild. My main symptom was the loss of taste and smell, and I wasn’t running a fever and didn't really have much of a cough so I really wasn't expecting it to be positive,” Ross said.
He says overall his symptoms were manageable.
“I was quarantined for about 14 day. I had one day, around day 11 or 12, they say there was a huge cytokine release during the time and I started coughing a lot, getting short of breath. But that only lasted for about eight or ten hours," Ross said. "But other than I was really fortunate and luckily, nobody else in my household got it."
Now that Ross has recovered, including a return to work as an emergency health care worker, he is one of the first East Texans to donate plasma with COVID-19 antibodies at Carter BloodCare.
“I went to the blood bus and it took about 45 minutes or so. They pulled 650 milliliters of plasma out and I said that I’ll be able to donate that to three to four patients and it'll be staying in the local East Texas area,” Ross said
Ross says for just a small sacrifice, he can make a big difference. That is why he plans to continue donating.
“I'll be eligible to donate in 28 days again, so we're already scheduling the next 28 days," Ross said. "If I can sit there for 45 minutes and help even one, much less four people, it's definitely worth it to me."
To schedule a blood or plasma donation, visit the Carter BloodCare website.