UK Nurse Sees Everyday Need for Blood
Jordan Heflin has hung so many blood bags on the intravenous poles of pediatric patients that he often wonders if one of them has the blood he recently donated at Kentucky Blood Center.
“I joke with the kids, if the blood is O+, I’m like, ‘Hey, this could be mine,’ ” said Jordan, a registered nurse at the UK DanceBlue Pediatric Hematology & Oncology Clinic at UK HealthCare and a longtime blood donor with KBC.
Jordan has been treating children fighting cancers and blood disorders for more than 15 years. Rarely does a day go by that he doesn’t administer lifesaving blood products to a youngster in need.
Jordan believes that people know there is great work happening in the halls at UK Chandler Hospital to help Kentucky children facing the most daunting diagnoses, but he’s not sure the public fully understands what goes into the long-term battle, specifically as it relates to the importance of blood in the day-to-day treatment plans.
“I think the common misconception is that you get chemotherapy and it just kills cancer cells, but it kills the good and the bad cells … which requires them to have multiple blood transfusions,” Jordan said. “The most common childhood cancer, (acute lymphoblastic leukemia), those patients will receive 15-20 blood transfusions throughout their treatment. Sometimes people think cancer treatment is a short-term therapy, but our leukemia patients are in a three-year battle. At any point in that battle, they could require blood transfusions.”
Seeing the everyday use for blood inspired Jordan to become a donor in 2011 but getting to know the children receiving the donations is what has fueled Heflin to make 70 donations to this point.
Jordan also saw the need hit home six years ago when his father, Michael Heflin, was hospitalized with sepsis and a gastrointestinal bleed. Michael received seven blood transfusions and made a full recovery.
“If someone hadn’t been there and done the same thing that I’ve done, I may not have my father anymore,” Heflin said.
Heflin describes the blood donation process at KBC as easy and efficient, something his sister, Andrea Maitland, recently experienced for the first time. Andrea has a fear of needles, but Jordan talked her into trying it, and she told him afterwards it was much easier than she thought.
“When you donate, if afterwards you get the text message that says your blood has been given to this and this hospital, if that doesn’t hit you emotionally and make you know the impact that you’ve made, I’m not sure what will,” Jordan said.
Knowing who is on the other end of the blood donations at KBC, Jordan is hoping others will understand the major impact a minor inconvenience can have on the young patients he treats every day. Donations with KBC stay local, and 40% of all blood products collected at the nonprofit serve patients at UK HealthCare.
“I’m thankful every time I get to hang the blood,” Jordan said. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be a part of the process.”
