This means you, Sharon. It’s about blood and stuff and I know as of today you’ll have had enough of that! *HUG*
OK. Stop reading. Now.
*sigh*. Fine. On your own head be it.
First of all, to explain to our American readers – we donate blood over here. Nobody buys it off us. The National Blood Service is a charity and we can donate every 16 weeks (pint at a time) or 4 times a year for platelet donation. The second involves sitting in a whizzy chair where they suck the blood out, shove it through a machine that pinches the platelets and then squirts it back into you again.
I just do the normal thing. I’ve missed a few over the years – I had to skip a year each time I went to Nigeria because of the malaria risk and so on. But today was my 25th donation, for which I get a nice certificate and a silver brooch in a nice box. Oh, and a cup of juice and some biscuits. They even have crisps and sometimes cake at this one as well.
All went fine. To start with. You get the questionnaire, they triple check your ID (I’ve yet to figure out why – I mean who’d pretend to be someone else just to give blood?), stick a pin in your finger to check the blood for iron content then start to suck it out of your arm with a big needle.
Now, it doesn’t hurt, it’s not uncomfortable and the staff are fantastic. Five minutes to fill the bag and a couple of test tubes and you lie back for 3 minutes putting pressure on the hole where the needle used to be. Then they pop a plaster on, sit you down and feed you the aforementioned nice beverages and biscuits.
This is where it went a bit wrong. Normal procedure dictates that you finish the drink, wave goodbye and go on your merry way. What you’re not meant to do is to continue bleeding from the little hole in your arm and gush it all over the table, floor, chair and your own clothing.
Silly me.
So, a 20 minute trip ended up taking over an hour because I kind of went all light-headed and had to lie down for ages afterwards before they’d let me leave. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to dig out the Vanish and pop my jeans in the wash before the blood chemically bonds to the fibres.
Scrub the jeans in cold water before you go home. Helps a lot.
Iwas at home when I typed that up… I just chucked them in the wash. I’ve got some Vanish, so with any luck, that should shift it.
*runs and hides* Makes my piddily little amount this morning seem very insignificant! Although haven’t been brave enough to take the plaster off yet.
Taking the plaster off is the worst part!
Bugger that – few years ago when I was heading off to the docs every month for a blood test, I used to have to take the morning off work, and book the last appointment of the morning. I would turn up at 11 am, doc would lie me on his bed (ooh-er missus), stick his cuff on my arm then bugger off for 30 minutes. He’d come back, tap my arm a bit, change arms with the cuff, leave that for 10 minutes, go back to the first arm. After about an hour, he’d get a needle and just *stab* it in blind. Mostly he got a vein, and would manage to get 2 tiny little bottles out of me.
I used to give blood when I strolled through Englands green and pleasant land, but now as an ex-Pat working for the Yankee dollar – I am not allowed to.
A couple of things – they donate over here willingly and freely – no remitance is given. At least not in this part of the country – Seattle in case you were at all interested. My company has a regular visit from the local blood bank in a large (freaking huge) van thing. They do the rounds through the business park I believe.
I, as a Brit, am not allowed to donate as I have “been in the UK during the last ten years” – I moved here in 1998. Apparently it is to protect the populace from foot and mouth or jam and biscuits or somesuch rubbish.
Beyond that – nice blog. Just found you and will continue reading.
I’m with you Anni
My Mum & Dad donated regularly & are now on their platinum diamond badge or whatever & as a nipper I really looked forward to the time when I could start too & work towards my badges…
First time of donating – fall over, twitch, vom, twitch some more
oh well, probably just a fluke
Second time – ditto
& third,
& fourth (can’t say I didn’t try!)
in the end I received a polite letter from them asking me not to come back because I was putting people off
Pffft. They don’t buy blood over here either. If they did, I’m sure I’d make more of an effort to donate more often!
Sorry about your mega-super-bloodloss. 🙂
Good work on the blood front, fella.
Dawn / Phil / miscellaneous Bush-followers – apologies. I was always under the impression that blood “selling” was commonplace in the US. It does fit in with the “no free health care” system the US runs. I even heard tales of two lads who traversed the US to get to a sports contest, selling their blood when they got desparate for cash – and were too weak to compete when they arrived!
Perhaps it’s a state-by-state thing rather than national?
And Phil, welcome. I shall try not to offend anyone else you know too much 😉
JJ – class! You really should have kept that letter for posterity.
My friend got one of those letters too – and she only tried the once! They had to take her to hospital in the end, she wouldn’t stop chucking up.
I’ve been in the same position as philbee. I used to give years ago, but the Irish refused to take my Brit blood because of the whole mad cow disease thing. I should think of donating again now that I’m back in the old country.
Mosh – I’m such a squirrel that there’s an odds on chance I still have it somewhere! something to show the grandnephews & nieces…
Funnily enough, I had a “thanks, but no thanks” from the National Blood Service as well. Apparently, my blood doesn’t flow very quickly (despite my best efforts on the old piece of wood – I have a marvellous grip and technique..) and I’d never get to the minimum line. Added to which they ALWAYS took ages to find a vein – in a similar way to Annii’s doctor memories – and my arms would end up looking life something a 10-years on the job heroin fiend would be proud of.
Good on you for your efforts – and hope you are feeling quite well (and your jeans came out sans blood)!
Joe – tell me more about that technique… 😉
Mosh thought I would ad my two pennies worth also and say congrates, although I have a way to go to get to your count of 25 pints.. I have got to 11.. as you are aware.. But boy I wold have loved to have seen the rivers of wine… In Jesus’ day it would have been filled with more alcohol than iron 😉 (self acclaimed non believer by the way)
[And feel free to send me your numbers.. then you may just get a call from a stranger one evening.. instead of you just perving on me through my curtains!!! ;)]