Monday, October 29, 2007

Blood donation..does it hurt?

There was a blood donation campaign at the old Parish Hall today. I've been to two blood donation drives in the last ten years and I've donated blood twice. The first was for purely selfish reasons ie they were giving a free t-shirt for every one pint of blood you gave. I still have the t-shirt..it's now yellow and the words have faded somewhat. The second time around for for more self-less reasons. The first was painless. I suspect the thrill of getting the t-shirt numbed the pain. The second was complicated by infection and I had a lymph node to prove it. It's not easy getting at my veins, a combination of more than ample subcutaneous fat plus deep seeded veins makes it challeging. And so today, I opted out.

6 comments:

Katrin said...

I've never donated blood, but used to give plasma on a regular basis. It didn't hurt but it made me feel sick and dizzy each time. Also, the reasons were not selfless - you get € 20 for each donation!

edina monsoon said...

I've only just realised, I can't donate blood. The malaysian government has a clause..those who were in the UK during the 1997 thereabours ( I forget the actual years ) are banned from donating blood. Something about BSE and risks of spreading it. There!!

Anna, Fair and True said...

In Sweden it is if you lived in the UK prior to 1997 that you cannot donate.

edina monsoon said...

anna: So presumably I have BSE viruses lurking in my system...waiting for the first sign of immunosuppression to unleash itself. SCARY!!!

Anna, Fair and True said...

I don't think you have to be too worried! The risk is really small, tiny!

edina monsoon said...

anna: I hope so. I hear the memory is the first to go...