OK, I’m just kidding with the headline — chalk it up to my having put "Cool Hand Luke" into my DVD player after Paul Newman died. That is, I’m sort of kidding.
The fact is that those of us who do give blood regularly could use a little help from those who could, but don’t.
Night before last, my cell phone rang just before 9 p.m., when I was about to watch the presidential debate. It was a staffer at the local Red Cross, saying that there was a dire need, even greater than usual, for my blood type (O positive, the universal donor — anybody can use my corpuscles), and they needed me to come down right away. "Tonight?" I asked, which didn’t seem ridiculous given his urgent tone. No, he said with a chuckle — Wednesday would do.
So I showed up for my 6:45 p.m. appointment. During the extensive private interview in the little room ("Have you, since 1980, had sex with a little green woman from Mars known to inject drugs into her antennae?" "No… wait, you did say after 1980, right?"), I mentioned the late night call, and my interviewer didn’t understand why I was called so late. But they certainly needed my blood. They always do. The Midlands area regularly has to import from other regions, because folks here just don’t give enough to meet the need.
The guy who called Tuesday night said something else I hadn’t been asked before — he urged me to bring a friend. Well, I started to, right after I got off the phone. But my wife is a cancer survivor who still undergoes regular treatments, and my daughter is nursing twins. There were no other adults in the house. The next day at work, I thought about sending out a global e-mail, but I was unsure whether it was kosher for a vice president to ask fellow employees for their blood. I briefly thought of going downstairs to check with HR (they have a list of dos and don’ts that are not always intuitive), but got busy and forgot.
But I have no reservations about urging y’all to go give blood, so you can "stop feeding off me!" Just kidding. Kinda.
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Here’s an irony for you: You know how sometimes when I go to the Red Cross intending to do the Alyx double-red cell thing (That’s when they pump out your blood, remove TWO pints worth of red cells from it, then pump it back into you with some saline, which is way cool, literally — the saline isn’t quite up to body temperature), but when I get there my iron is too low? That’s happened a couple of times — my iron is high enough to give whole blood (which I do), but not the double red-cell thing.
Well on Tuesday, despite my having not done my usual thing of taking extra iron for the week or two before (I had just taken a double dose that day), my iron was easily in the zone for Alyx. But it being so late in the day, I just had to give whole, which takes less time.
Dang.
I used to give platelets on a pretty regular basis. They’d hook me up to the machine and take two or three donations from me because my platelet count is so high. However, the last time I went they went straight through my vein with that spear they call a needle. Quite painful. I haven’t been back since. I need to gather the courage to make it over there again.
Ow! But you gotta get right back up on that horse…
I’ve been happy that I’ve never had a bad experience donating here in SC… unlike the five sticks in one arm (before switching) one back in the midwest.
I did that double pint deal last time I gave. Since I am a meatitarian low iron is never a problem for me! I teach so I try to give in my planning period and am always so proud to see many of the students give the times the Red Cross comes to our school. Always alot more than the faculty.
Last year I wrote L. Graham about making blood donations tax deductible. I was told there had been a bill that would have given a $50 write off for the first 3 donations that did not pass. To me that is a no brainer and really wonder who in the world would vote against it.
I’ve been going regularly for two years or so now, having been motivated by one of your earlier posts. Thanks Brad!