Plasma donations help save Winnipeg woman's life
One Winnipeg woman is urging Manitobans to donate plasma as these donations are what helped save her life.
Jodi Pauls, 38, is running through life and not looking back.
"Today I feel great. I’m just so happy to be here and every day is a great day,” she said.
But like a marathon, life for this mother of three has sometimes been difficult, challenging, and presented obstacles.
In 2005, at just 18 years old, Jodi was diagnosed with TTP, a life-threatening, rare blood disorder that causes small blood clots in blood vessels throughout the body.
Those clots restrict the flow of blood to vital organs.
To save her life, doctors gave Jodi plasma therapy.
"They put in a central line catheter into my neck and would take out my bad plasma and exchange it with healthy donor plasma,” she said.
For 18 years, Jodi was healthy. She got married, gave birth to three boys, and was enjoying life as a busy mom on the go.
That all changed in July of 2023, when she noticed some troubling, all too familiar symptoms, including bruising, bleeding, and fatigue.
This time it took 30 days in hospital to save her life.
"I had 18 treatments over the course of those 30 days. Each time about 15 bags of donor plasma, so roughly about 250 bags of donor plasma just to keep me alive,” she said.
Being away from her three sons took its toll on Jodi.
Although, if you ask her sister-in-law Hannah Pauls, those boys are also what she believes gave Jodi the strength to get through it.
"Oh, my goodness, it's her driving force. She loves her kids,” Hannah said.
Bouncing back from this latest relapse is something Jodi and her family also know wouldn't have been possible without hundreds of plasma and blood donors.
"Without the plasma, the mortality rate is 90 per cent so it's the only thing that's kept me alive and here and being able to celebrate my kids,” Jodi said.
Having another shot at life is something Jodi doesn't take lightly.
Since being discharged from the hospital, she's made fitness a priority, attending her local YMCA five days a week.
"I just hope not to relapse again and live to be an old lady and watch my kids grow,” she said.
The need for plasma right now is more than four times what is currently being collected, and while you can only donate blood every 56 days for men and 84 days for women, plasma can be donated as frequently as every seven days.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
U.S. Justice Department brings criminal charges in Iranian murder-for-hire plan targeting Donald Trump
The Justice Department on Friday disclosed an Iranian murder-for-hire plot to kill Donald Trump, charging a man who said he had been tasked by a government official before this week's election with planning the assassination of the Republican president-elect.
Canada rent report: What landlords are asking tenants to pay
Average asking rents declined nationally on a year-over-year basis for the first time in more than three years in October, said a report out Thursday.
N.S. school 'deeply sorry' for asking service members not to wear uniforms at Remembrance Day ceremony
An elementary school in the Halifax area has backed away from a request that service members not wear uniforms to the school's Remembrance Day ceremony.
48,584 space heaters recalled in Canada after burn injury in U.S.
Health Canada has announced a recall for electric space heaters over potential fire and burn risks, a notice published Thursday reads.
Israeli soccer fans were attacked in Amsterdam. The violence was condemned as antisemitic
Israeli fans were assaulted after a soccer game in Amsterdam by hordes of young people apparently riled up by calls on social media to target Jewish people, Dutch authorities said Friday. Five people were treated at hospitals and dozens were arrested after the attacks, which were condemned as antisemitic by authorities in Amsterdam, Israel and across Europe.
'Big frustration': How a limited MAID window affects Alzheimer's patients
A move by Quebec to allow a person with a serious and incurable illness like Alzheimer's to request MAID months or years before their condition leaves them unable to consent has been met with praise, confusion and criticism.
Winnipeg teacher who faces voyeurism charge now accused of sexually assaulting former student
A Winnipeg teacher previously charged with voyeurism and a number of other offences has been charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a former student.
Beyonce leads the 2025 Grammy noms, becoming the most nominated artist in the show's history
Welcome to Beyonce country. When it comes to the 2025 Grammy Award nominations, 'Cowboy Carter' rules the nation.
107-year-old temperature record among dozens broken across Canada
Canadians are experiencing a wave of warm weather across multiple provinces well into the fall season, shattering dozens of temperature records.