| Wednesday, May 10, 2006 |
| Bloodletting |
I can sum up the first time I ever gave blood thusly: question intake, insertion of needle, jabbing about for 2 minutes, 30 minutes of drip-drip.
It's a wonder I ever donated again, especially as I was 16 at the time.
Whenever I go to donate, I ensure they draw from the same arm every time, because I know they can find the vein (wince). My main dread, as you can imagine, is that first insertion, my fear that the needle will not enter the vein and poking about will ensue. I've been pretty lucky, though, as I think my first experience was the worst of the lot.
Aside from the initial insertion, the moment I dread about as equally, if not more, is when the pint is collected but 4 test tubes need to be filled for various testing purposes. These are vacuum-sealed -- I can feel the blood literally being suctioned from my vein. And lest you think I exaggerate, even with my eyes closed or my head turned away, I always know when each tube is being inserted and the blood collected. OUCH!
Why do I bring this up now? Because I gave blood again recently. The insertion was dead on and without incident, but the more time went by, the more sore the entry point became. And then came time for the test tubes to be filled. YOWZA!! I cannot describe how ouchy that was.
But I was good. I winced, held my breath, and survived. Then I had a cup of apple juice, a granola bar, and off I went.
Despite my somewhat harrowing tale above, if you are eligible to donate, I urge you to do so. And if you've donated in the past or are planning to, my hats off to you. :-D |
posted by Cheshire Cat @ 5/10/2006 06:44:00 pm   |
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| 10 teabag(s) brewed: |
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The government pretty much sucked me dry in April...
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Good for you T&B. I've decided to no longer donate at the at-work blood drives because I think they send out the heavy-handed techs to draw the blood and I've been left with bruising from those encounters. But it is about time for me to wander over to the local blood bank on a nice Saturday and donate there. Thanks for the reminder.
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I gave blood for over thirty years in the UK but alas have to stop now.
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Haro T. I keep missing your posts cos you keep putting sticky posts at the top of your bloog.
I once tried to give blood. In Greece, it's often the case that if a relative or a friend's relative etc etc needs blood in hospital, people rally round to give blood for blood. The doctor told me I needed all I had unfortunately, but I have always been quite good as pressing others into giving theirs.
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Hey, PK. Taxes, taxes, taxes. Dang bloodsuckers, all right. And with these lovely tax breaks for the wealthy who don't need it, why don't they just come and take our body parts, too? Oh, wait... you heard about the body parts scandal in Noo Yawk, didn't you?
Will post wassup wid moi in a bit.
Hi, Suz! I actually didn't get any bruising at all this time! :-D
I used to go the the local blood bank and hospitals. It's only been the past couple of years that I've been donating at work, primarily because of time and convenience. The hospital I gave blood at, about 20 min train ride from my home, no longer does Saturday mornings (8 am!), and the main blood center would take me over an hour each way to get there (train, bus, and walk).
Of course, the office blood drives are only a few times a year, and rushed, so in between, when it's time for the next donation, I try to make it after work (if I get out on time).
Good luck on your donation!
Hey, Rob! Good on you! Why did you have to stop?
Hi, Fuffster! Do you mean the Darfur and breast cancer/literacy posts? Sorry. Just wanted to keep those at the forefront of people's minds. At the end of the month, I'll be moving the click-click post back to its original date. The Darfur one will remain for a bit, but I'll put a note at the bottom of the post to indicate it's a long-term post, not that I'm not posting. :-)
I'd say you're probably a very lean and fit princess. And probably weigh less than the minimum weight for blood donations. My mom's the same way, um, underweight, that is, lol. She also has tiny veins, so...
No weight or tiny vein problem here on my end, just deep veins. However, my veins are too small for plasmapheresis.
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I'm too young to give out blood and thus I haven't. But I have had blood sucked out of me and it hurts like [insert obscene word]. Also I don't even know if I can donate blood, would you be so kind as to list the diseases you must not have had to give blood? Many thanks on advance.
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eHi, Schnubel.
I'm not sure what the rules about giving blood in Mexico are. In the US, You generally have to be 18 years old, healthy, and a minimum of 110 lbs, and you should eat a good breakfast before you donate.
You also must not have any communicable diseases such as sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, hepatitis B, and others, and you must not be on medications such as antibiotics, aspirin, or clotting factors.
If you're interested, I would say go to a local hospital or clinic to find out what the requirements are, or go to your government's health Website. I can't read Spanish, but there should be information there that you can find. :-D
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You might want to check out this site, too, but the blood donor information can definitely be found here.
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The government pretty much sucked me dry in April...