First time donor

[marathoner452]

I want to thank all my 43Things friends for encouraging me to give blood. I put it on my list because I worked for the Red Cross last year and because it was something I wanted to do but could never quite get up the nerve for. You all gave me so many cheers I couldn’t back down, not that I wanted to anyway.

They took such good care of me. The woman doing my interview wanted to know all about subbing and my time in New Orleans, and the woman who took my blood had a great sense of humor. My mom came along for moral support and to donate. (She was unable to because of low iron but will “iron dope” and try again on Friday.) It didn’t hurt nearly as much as I thought it would, and this is coming from my who hid behind plants in the doctor’s office as a kid to try and avoid getting a shot. I have now earned the purple bandage on my arm and my t-shirt. I have a ton of blood donation shirts from my parents, so it’s exciting to have one of my own now. :-)

I already scheduled my next appointment. March 5th, same location. I’ll be eligible about a month before that though, so I might not be able to wait that long.

I’m going to go eat my cookies now.

See more progress on: Give blood

Comments

[batemanenroute.livejournal.com]

Congrats! It's an amazing feeling to give blood. Unfortunately, I'm not eligible to give through the Red Cross. And Virginia Blood Services won't take my blood either. Bonfils did, however. But that's in Colorado. *sigh*

But good for you! :) (Did you know that they've reduced the 5 steps to 3??? I was shocked and saddened to hear it.)

[marathoner452.livejournal.com]

I imagine all the time you've spent in Africa would make them a little wary of taking your blood, for better or for worse.

I'm still going to put the 5 Steps bumper sticker on my car. I was disappointed to hear they'd changed it too-the 5 aren't that hard to remember, and they need to stop changing their slogans so people don't get confused. They got rid of the "Together, We Can Save a Life" back in March. (There's very few people who could have a discussion about that, you know? But we're just cool like that.)

[batemanenroute.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, they seem to be ok with the Africa part, it's the Switzerland part that gives them the heebie jeebies. Something about Mad Cow. (Oh how I argue with them about *that* one-- we never touched beef while we were there for that very reason! Riddle: how can a non-beef-eater get Mad Cow?)

Is there a new slogan to replace the "Together" one? (It is nice to have this discussion...) Also-- do you by any chance teach Babysitting?

[marathoner452.livejournal.com]

I don't have CrossNet access at the moment, so I can't keep up on the Red Cross news. After giving blood last night though, I'm thinking of getting back to being involved in some Red Cross stuff, if only so they'll deploy me for the next "big one." I'd love to teach classes and volunteer at blood drives too.