As a child, Marta Calhoun was often sick.
She still remembers weekly visits to a doctor’s office, where she’d get a penicillin shot.
As a teacher, the Fremont woman never seemed to develop the same immunities as her fellow instructors. She’d battle illness throughout the school year.
“I would catch every germ going around,” Calhoun said. “Every child who had a cold or cough or bronchitis, I would catch it. I would be sick from August through May.”
An Omaha specialist would pinpoint the problem: Calhoun has Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID). By definition, it’s an antibody deficiency that leaves the immune system unable to defend against viruses.
“I don’t make gamma globulins in my blood,” Calhoun said. “Therefore, I can’t fight off colds, flu, bronchitis, anything in the lungs we commonly get.”
That’s why it’s critical to Calhoun and thousands of others like her that people donate blood. It’s from these donations that gamma globulins are acquired to make infusions that patients, like Calhoun, need.
Leave a Reply