Blood Donor Clinic - "A Vampire's Wet Dream"

Well, I made my trip to the Edmonton Blood Donor Clinic Saturday morning. I try to go every 56 days, but some times it just doesn't work out that way. I started going to the Donor Clinic when I was first legally allowed to donate, age 17, when I was in BC. In Vernon, they don't have the facilities like they do here in Edmonton. They have what is called a "mobile unit" that comes and sets up in a local church for donors, this way they don't have to travel the hour to Kelowna. (It makes it harder to donate in small cities, when I lived in Trail and Creston - both tiny BC towns - I don't think they even had the mobile unit option... And who in their right mind wants to drive the 3 to 6 hours to donate blood?)

The process, start to finish, takes about an hour. When you first walk in, at least at the Edmonton Clinic, the nurses at the check in station will ask you if you want to book for next time. (For once you'll find that they aren't pushy about it like other places in need of assistance from the general public.) Then you will be sent over to another set of nurses. This time they'll verify your address and details, and this is where they make sure your iron level is up enough to donate. After all that good stuff, you get to go answer a few basic questions, like are you feeling OK today? Have you had any dental work done in the past 3 days? Basic... Then a third nice nurse will take your temperature and blood pressure and ask you a few other questions. After this, it's go time... You're sent to the donation area if you've past the temperature/blood pressure test. Depending on your size of your veins and a few other factors, time is all dependant on the donor. You get to lie back and watch the blood flow, or not if it makes you queasy. To speed up the actual needle part, drink a lot of water and go for a brisk walk prior to your donation... (A lesson I learned the hard way.) Maybe avoid caffeine until after your donation, it slows down the blood flow believe it or not. When I first started to donate blood, I would take 20 minutes to fill the 450 ml baggy. {I think that's about 1 to 2 pounds of blood, but please, please, please don't quote me on that... I believe that's what I heard at the Clinic a while ago.} And now that I've been let in on the little water/exercise trick, it takes between 5 and 8 usually to fill the same size baggy. The last station is usually every one's favorite... The Cookie and Juice Station. (Yeah, they bribe you with candy.)

At any rate, today was my 18th donation, and it was quite an interesting time to say the least. I made the mistake of grabbing a Timmy's before my appointment. Well, that set me back 15 minutes because the coffee put my temperature too high. (By seriously 0.1 degree.) So to prove that I didn't have a fever and wasn't fighting anything, I had to wait the 15 minutes, let my coffee get cold, and re-test. After my 15 were up, I retested and my temp had gone down a whole degree, and I was good to donate.  I was heading to the donating bed when one of the nurses was paged to the "refreshment" station. I guess a girl was light headed after her donation and passed out at one of the tables. They laid her down and cool clothed her forehead - they must've taken good care of her, she was up and out the door before I was even punctured! I didn't drink that much water prior to my donation, and I didn't go for a heart pumping jog or walk either. I also have what are called rolling veins - you won't have to worry about me becoming an intravenous drug user, wouldn't be able to find a vein! (Rolling veins just means that sometimes technicians have issues finding and sticking a vein.) It took the nurses testing each arm twice and about 5 minutes to find a suitable vein. Once they did though, we were clipping along...As I sat there safely bleeding, a first time donor made it all the way to the donation beds just to be turned away... Her veins were too small to handle the needle. After a bowl of soup, a few cookies and juices, I was a free girl.

Donating blood isn't for everyone. There are age and health factors to be dealt with. Some people just can't handle the sight of blood. I guess my Grandpa was one of them. (He had driven my Grandma to donate blood. As my Gran stood in line, she heard someone say, "Hey look at that guy!" and there stood my Grandpa, as white as a ghost and he had to lay on a recovery table til he got his colour back. Yikes!) There are religious groups who don't believe in it. It's not for everyone, so no pressure.

It's not always about me, but I like to donate. It was a good way to find out my blood type, O+. I've also heard that one of the perks, other than helping someone out, is the re-production of red blood cells... Bonus =0) (Please call 1-888-2DONATE or visit http://www.blood.ca/ to learn more or book an appointment to donate.)