I have O+ blood and get called on a regular basis to donate. I actually don’t mind giving blood. Needles don't bother me. I don’t get lightheaded or feel sick whenever I give. However, I don’t really have a good enough of an excuse as to why I don’t donate more often, except that I’m busy or that I don’t want to go by myself.
In researching for this blog post, I learned that blood can be safely donated every 56 days. Platelets can be given every seven days, up to 24 times a year. The American Red Cross says that although 38% of the population is eligible to give blood products, only 3% does. So, I decided to document my last trip to take the mystery out of what happens when you give blood. Just be sure to drink water and eat before going in.
The Time It Took (21 Minutes)
- I walked in the local Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center without an appointment and waited. (2 minutes)
- I was brought into a little private room where a really nice lady took my temperature, height, weight and pricked my finger to test my blood. I also answered an online questionnaire and shared Steemit with her. (12 minutes)
- I gave blood and shared Steemit with the other girl who poked my arm with the needle. During this time, I received a beach towel as a gift and grabbed an orange juice on the way out. (7 minutes)
- Then, I went home to yummy crock pot beef stew that had been cooking for 10 hours.
One pint of blood saves 3 lives... 21 minutes saves 3 lives!
Depending on your blood type, you can donate whole blood, platelets and/or plasma. Being an O+, my whole blood and platelets are wanted. However, rather than get into who can donate what to whom, I found a graph that made the impact more real because it tied it all back to people I know and love.
It hits home.
My mom had a quadruple bypass 2 years ago. My friend Randell (just signed up for Steemit and waiting on approval), who has cerebral palsy, just fought a battle with leukemia. My friend Elena fights complications from breast cancer. It hits home when you tie it to people.
Giving blood is one thing that is in my control today.
I realized that of all the things that I’m signed up for such as giving blood, joining bethematch.org to be a bone marrow donor and signing the back of my driver’s license to be an organ donor… giving blood is one thing that is in my complete control today.
So, I'm thinking instead of having a mani/pedi get together with my friends, we can do a group outing to the blood center instead and I'll be sure to document all the fun!
Finally a shout out to all Steemians who have donated or will donate because they are inspired!
THANK YOU! And, please feel free to share your thoughts as to why you committed to donating more often or even why you may consider donating for the first time.
Please comment, vote, resteem and/or follow me if you had fun or were inspired! Your feedback means the world to me.
Much Luv,