Yes, it's true. I have never donated a single drop of blood... except to Mother Earth when I fell down... in the last 2 plus decades of my life. Well, I'm not exactly an uncaring person... I'm just someone who would not go out of my way to do it. There were lots of blood donation drives in university, shopping complexes and even in my previous companies. But fate has it that my time slot just doesn't meet their requirements. I could have still make it if I try, but I didn't do it because I believe in giving only when it doesn't make me uncomfortable.
Anyway, finally, this year, when my company is having a blood donation drive, I manage to secure a friend who is eager to donate blood too. Most of my university friends doesn't donate blood and that is another reason I have not donated blood previously.
We made plans to donate blood after lunch with the theory being we'll be more energetic after lunch. We were give some forms to fill up, consisting of mainly our particulars and also some health questions. Basically, if you want to donate blood, you'd need to be in the prime of your health for at least a week. My friend, who had some sniffles some days ago was disqualified immediately.
So, I was left alone, but since I have already fill up the forms and everything, I carry on with my mission. First, I was told to weigh myself... which turn out to be 81kg! Hey, it's inclusive of shoes and it's after lunch, okay! Besides, my weigh half a year ago was 85kg and it was early in the morning and I weigh myself in naked form. So, there's an improvement... it's just slow in progress :P.
After that, he punctured my middle finger with a needle like thing and use a syringe to suck some blood out mainly to test the amount of red blood cells and also the blood type kua. After that I was referred to someone else who check the stuff I filled up and took my blood pressure. Did you know that you can't donate blood if you're a male and have sex with another male? Not that I'm doing that but the chances of getting STD (sexually transmitted disease) when a male is having sex with a male should be the same as a male having sex with a female... so why the need to differentiate?
After that, I was led into a room filled with beds and I passed my forms to the person in charge who gave me my first booklet (Hurray!). For those who did not know, this booklet will track the number of times you donated blood and you'll get free medical services based on the number of times you donated blood... which I think is pretty cool, though I would have to say that most people would not be needing those services since nowadays all working people should have insurances covered by their companies... so the only useful thing would most probably be the last one, which is free outpatient services , free admission into first class ward for 10 years and free second class ward for rest of your life... this is available only after you have donated more than 50 times (for whole blood).
My little red book...
The benefits of dontating blood...
I was then given a basket that is filled with the stuff that will be needed for blood donation... empty blood packs, syringe, etc. The blood packs were laced with some medicine to ensure that the blood doesn't coagulate. I was then led to an empty bed and the blood donation process began.
Everyone I have talked to previously who had donated blood said that it is a pretty much pain free process. And I'm going to hunt them down one by one for lying to me! Of course, the pain is similiar to when you test your blood... but try imagining the needle staying in your arm for 20 minutes! I'm not saying this to discourage blood donation... I just want to be frank about what I experienced. I was then given a sponge in which I have to squeeze frequently so as to pump my blood out. I'm not sure which is the correct way but I did the steady and deep squeeze while some others do fast squeezing.
Five minutes into my donation, my arms started to tingle and became numb... my squeezing slowed down and I swear I can feel the room rotating around. I have always feel faint even after the doctor taking my blood for blood test... so this is several times more blood than that... so I supposed it's normal for me to feel faint. 10 minutes into that, everything started to turn for the better. My arm wasn't numb and I don't feel the need to puke anymore.
However, 15 minutes after the needle entered my arm, the nurse came and adjusted my needle. I'm unsure if it's because my blood isn't coming out as fast as she had hoped or what, but OMG that was downright painful! Now, even when I'm not squeezing the sponge, the pain was almost unbearable. And since I need to squeeze the sponge if I were to complete the blood donation, I was almost to my tears! Really, excruciating pain would aptly describe my condition.
Finally, another 5 minutes and the blood donation is done! The nurse took out the needle and put a cotton onto my arm and instructed me to bend my arm. Now, another problem presented itself to me. I know that we are supposed to rest on the bed after the blood donation. However, I'm unsure if I'm supposed to rest until the nurse tell me to leave or when I feel well enough to leave. So, after 10 minutes of staring into the white ceiling, I asked the nurse if I can leave and she told me that I can't yet. So, I guess this means that I have to rest until the nurse tell me to leave.
So, after 15 minutes of really boring resting, I was finally let go. Whew! The whole process to 35 minutes! And the pain is still throbbing in my arm. I did not even take some snacks on my way out :(. However, I do feel kind of good in knowing that I have done a good thing. Of course, chances are that my blood would never be used and would be thrown out after it's expiry date but I'll convince myself that my blood would be pumping around someone's else body, giving him/her life! Will I donate blood again? Yes, I think so. Will I still go out of my way just to donate blood? Sorry, nope... I'll be donating blood only when location and time is suitable for me and will not make a dent into my structured life. But that's just me... you, on the other hand, should go and donate blood, wherever and whenever it is... go do it NOW!
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