Donate Blood!

So I was watching the news last night and they said there is a blood shortage. They like to have at least a 5 day supply stored and they only had a 24 hour supply. I was thinking oh hell-I hope this doesn't mean more work for me--having to draw serial labs all night to see how low patients' counts are dropping before they decide to give them the blood they are delegating out. (have no idea if this is how it works). And then I thought we'd be shit out of luck if there were to be a disaster of any kind around here. So I got on the net and found me a blood drive to visit today. I treated myself to some yummy Thai food before I went in case my blood leaving my body decided to make me feel faint. (Siam Cuisine on White Bridge Road--I highly recommend) There was a drive at St. Thomas Hospital and surprisingly (also sadly) there was no wait. If you haven't ever donated, they take you to a private little cubby and ask you some questions, check your blood pressure and poke your finger for a small sample. Then you get stuck with a needle in your arm for the blood..The nurse poked me with a 16 gauge and off went my cells. There was a guy across from me who had not been hooked up long and he says "HEY!.........um.......ifeeldizzyiamflushing is ..this......normal?" So 2 nurses went over and jacked his legs up, head down, and stuck a straw in his mouth to drink some coke. He felt fine in about 2 minutes. When my nurse came back to me she was like--OKOK stop pumping! My bag filled up in like 7 minutes. Now I have no idea how long it is supposed to take, but I got the idea that I have some big strong blood going on. I felt OK, went to the refreshment table and then I was out of there. It cost me an hour of my life and this bruise.



I am going to try to give every time I can. I think more people should do the same. I don't know why I haven't been. I know it is an important thing to do. I hope whoever reads this will do the same. You should also be an organ donor, but I can't get started on that right now. Maybe another blog soon. Give up some blood people! Just call your local Red Cross or go to their website www.redcross.com