Laurie White’s Blog

Okay,

So, it’s good to be a blood donor.

On Friday, I had to give blood samples twice. The first time, at the oncologist’s office, the nurse was preparing me for the needle and my husband says, “Oh, that’s nothing to her, she gives blood every other week, she can handle needles.”

The nurse responds, “The blood bank doesn’t use needles–the things they have are hollow nails.” And, sure enough, the needles used for samples are much, much smaller (and they only take 2 test tubes worth, instead of enough to fill the Trima!).

Now, I didn’t come to this “bravery” easily, but knowing the blood I was giving helped others made it easier to do.

Other benefits of giving blood:

This sure isn’t as gross to me as it is to my husband. Watching your blood run through a machine for an hour or two seems to desensitize you to some degree.

And the oncologist, on hearing I gave so frequently, asked how I could give so often. When I told him I gave platelets instead of whole blood, he told me he probably used some of my platelets. Wow.

I probably spent an average of more than an hour a week at the Macon Donor Center over the last year. I’m really going to miss Linda, Ouida, Joyce, April, and Maureen and the others. The good news is my husband says he’s going to have to start giving more regularly so I can come back to visit. The better news is I should be eligible to give again in 6 years.