Blood. It's in you to give.

After thinking about it for several years, I finally took my first step in becoming a blood donor. The radio broadcast an immediate need for O- blood, so I figured why not, this was as good a time as any! (While in Taiwan, I wanted to join CompanyM's blood drive, but hadn't been back from Cambodia (2006) or Vietnam (2007) for a full year.)

Yesterday around noon, I went to the Canadian Blood Services clinic on Oak St. The receptionist gave me a "1st Time Donor" sticker, and the next girl tested a drop of my blood to ensure sufficient iron content. Then after filling out a questionnaire, a registered nurse came and talked to me, measured my heart rate and blood pressure, and then I was off to get a needle stuck into me.

I was in the chair for maybe 15 minutes, and managed to fill a unit, so now I'm 480cc and 610g lighter. No side effects - no dizziness or anything, I felt absolutely fine. (The RN had insisted, 'cause I look so "tiny", to let them know if I felt faint at all and they would stop immediately.)

Had some water and a couple of Peak Freans, and got my 1st Time Donor pin! :D

I'll get my blood donor card in the mail next month. Since I'll be away, my dad will see it first, so I just told him at dinner. Surprisingly, he was pretty okay with it. The only concern he had was that 480cc seems a lot for someone my size. :P

Here are a few interesting things I learnt:

- BC has a constant need for blood; we often have to import blood from the other provinces.
- Three components can be harvested from blood: red blood cells, plasma, platelets. White blood have viruses and bacteria, so they're discarded.
- The shelf life for RBC is 42 days.

So anyway! 56 days until the next time I can donate. :)