“Blood;
it's in you to give.”
I
have heard the radio commercial hundreds of times. I know that my
blood is type-O, which means that I can help lots of people.
However, I couldn't get over the fear of needles and passing out.
Last
Saturday everything changed.
There's
a family I have known since I was 5. Many of them donate blood on a
regular basis. The youngest member just started his first year of
university and he applied for a bursary from Canadian Blood Services.
He needed at least 20 donors, 5 of which had to be new. I thought
that this would be a perfect way for me to help him out and try
donating blood!
His
family hosted a huge breakfast for those who were going to the
clinic. As a precaution, I decided to have french toast, a pancake,
1/4 piece of waffle, a piece of bacon, a few sausages and some fruit.
I don't usually get to have all those wonderful breakfast items in
one sitting – but I wasn't planning on passing out!
As
we arrived and checked in, I was pretty nervous. The finger prick
test didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, and my iron levels
were good. After filling out the questionnaire and going through the
screening process, I was quickly escorted to the donating station. I
had some juice and then sat down in the chair. The nurse was so nice
and before I knew it the needle was in. It was a little
uncomfortable, but it wasn't as terrible as I imagined.
I
found out some neat things while the nurse was taking the blood
samples. She said that the blood I donated, (provided it passed the
necessary screening tests), would be used at a local hospital within
72 hours.
Local
hospital.
72
hours.
Wow.
Some of the supply is used for pre-booked surgeries, however the
rest is in case of emergency. I never considered blood donation to
invoke such a sense of community for me.
The
average adult has about 10 pints of blood in their body, and each
blood donation is approximately 1 pint. Every 8 weeks your body
replenishes the lost blood, and you're good to go again. It's a
natural process, and it doesn't cost you anything.
In
1 hour you can literally save the life of someone in your community.
The actual donation is less than 20 minutes. (I was 10 min. 18
sec...first time donors take a bit longer, which is normal). It
takes an average of 5 units, or donations, for a cancer treatment or
cardiovascular surgery. For someone who has been in an automobile
accident, 50 units are required.
After
finishing the donation you get to chill out with a friendly volunteer
while enjoying a complimentary drink and snack! Overall the
experience was wonderful. I really loved going with a group of
friends and family to help others in our community. We had a great
time visiting and sharing lots of laughs!
If
you would like more information, check out www.blood.ca.
To book an appointment you can call 1-888-2-DONATE. I'm going back
in October if you would like to join me!
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