Blood type and antibodies

[VaderisBaddAss]

Hi, not sure where to post this?

So I don't know if I need to get into specific blood types and stuff but if you want or need me to please ask and I will.
I was in a hospital bed waiting for my liver transplant, supposedly they had a liver and were in the process of "harvesting" it. All is good. Then the Dr came in and told me there was a problem with the blood. They found that my blood contains an antibody and they didn't have any/enough matching blood to perform the surgery. So they said they weren't sure if they were going to be able to do the surgery. Naturally, I freaked out. (Don't worry, they were able to do the surgery in the end! They ended up getting blood from like 45 minutes away or somewhere). Anyway, this doesn't really make any sense to me.

My basic question is, can antibodies just appear in bloodwork? I had been seen at this hospital many times before, bloodwork had been taken 100s of times and obviously they had to have done a blood screen/type before they called me in and said they had a matching liver for me. I just want to know, if anyone knows, how can they have "a match", me be ready and waiting for the liver, then all of a sudden, they say, "oh we've identified an antibody in your blood and now don't have matching blood to perform the surgery". Like, I don't understand, wouldn't they have known about these antibodies from the start? How can they say they have a match and not know about these antibodies?

I don't really know if that's enough information because I'm a little confused at the situation myself. I mean everything worked out in the end, but I just want to know why I had that HUGE scare. It still doesn't make any sense to me today how something like that can cause them to not do the surgery after going through all that work in preparing me, shouldn't the antibodies have been something that they should be aware of? Specially if I've been listed for months and they knew about me, did numerous tests to get me listed, like it wasn't an emergency thing it was planned and was in wait?

I'd appreciate any feedback if you have any. Thanks! Again, if you need more info, like specific blood type and antibodies, etc, let me know and I'll get the info.

 

[Coraline]

Everybody is either RH + or - That means you have antigens in your blood or you don't. I'm O- and I can only get O- negitive blood from some one. If you have O+ blood then you can have O+ or O- blood if you are B+ you can have B+ or B- blood along with O+ or O-. If you are + you have more choices of blood products you can get. An AB+ person can get any bodies blood. I hope this is not confusing to you.

 

[Coraline]

If you are say O- and you get O+ you will have an allergic reaction and can die from it. This is because your body will attack it and release huge amounts of histimine. It is a crisis situation.

 

[VaderisBaddAss]

Ok, thanks.. I understand the principles of basic blood typing. There's more to it. I have a card that says I'm O+ and then says "this patient has the following clinically significant antibodies: Anti-Jk(a), Anti-E" that, is what I'm referring to, not blood type.. And you didn't even attempt to answer the question. They know my type.. They had a match, same blood type.. But they said it was the antibodies, I'm guessing that's what the Anti-Jk(a) and -E mean... That's what I was asking about, thoses.. Not blood type.. Thanks for the sarcastic reply when you didn't even read what I wrote.

 

[Coraline]

I'm sorry if I sounded sarcastic. I did not know I came off that way. I'm sorry for that. I tried to give my best answer to my knowledge. I apologize. As far as those Antegins I never heard of them I'll look them up and see if I can find you a better answer.

 

[Faster Than Light]

Yes, some kinds of antibodies can "appear" even after one has been typed and tested multiple times. Your anti-Jk(a) and anti-E antibodies are both of this kind. People usually develop such antibodies after being exposed to the antigen via blood transfusion or pregnancy. If you were exposed to another blood antigen in this way after your last workup, that might explain why the doctors didn't know about it, especially because antibodies take some time to build up in the blood after exposure.

I hope this answer is helpful. If you want me to research a little more deeply, feel free to give me more info.

 

[VaderisBaddAss]

Ok, so if I got a transfusion maybe a few months before the transplant the antibodies would still take some time to show up? That'd make sense, bc I didn't get one near the time of the transplant, but I did get one within 5 months of it.