Like.... direct transfusion? From person to person?
I have never heard of that being done in any hospital I've worked in in Australia. I just can't think of a reason to (in any sort of city setting, especially in a hospital that has a blood bank).
If you are talking about whole blood rather than simply PRBCs, of course there's benefits in certain circumstances to get all the components of blood vs just the cells - though it is still given in seperate, thawed components - FFP, RBC, platelets. Sometimes cryo.
This is used most often during massive haemorrhage like postpartum or during trauma.
It's great that your gramma was able to overcome cancer. My grandma succumbed to a cancer in a similar area (MALT), but at the age of 91 and surrounded by family so one can't complain.
There are many stories such as your grammas which sound very exciting and promising, but there's major issues when one attempts to translate cases like that population wide.
Evidence based medicine can be a pain sometimes. But it's much much better than how it used to be, when charlatans preyed on people relentlessly (though they still do).
If you are not content with how the field of medicine is progressing, there's only really one way to make your mark. Go get studying. It's actually pretty interesting stuff.
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