by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A lady wrote:
I had an incident yesterday trying to give blood. I was stunned when I was not allowed to give blood because I had marked (under previous surgeries) that I had a cochlear implant (CI). The head screener (an RN) argued with me that I didn’t know what I was talking about—any time someone has an organ or tissue implanted from a cadaver or live donor they can never again give blood. I explained that my implant was all man made, but she insisted that was impossible. She had never heard of it. Two supervisors (one an M.D.) got involved, and then one made a call to my surgeon and got the misconception cleared up. Incredibly, the staff running the drive just happened to be from my CI center hospital.
I know that a lot of the general public are in total ignorance about cochlear implants, but I find it incredibly hard to believe that so many of the medical community (doctors and nurses) are also still totally ignorant about cochlear implants. This major medical advance is not new. It has been around for almost 30 years!
I concur 200%. I had two experiences in the past and I am sure it is not going to be the last. I talk about one in my blog.
Just Imagine
The other one had to do with when my PCP had to fill out a physical form prior to surgery. He asked as serious as serious could be if “Cochlear implants were some sort of new experiment.” I just sighed and bite my tongue.