The Day I Gave Some Away

i've always wanted to do it, but i've always had excuses not to give... my reason was that i had no time, it was not convenient, busy ... but finally this time there were no more excuses. A company in my office building organised a blood donation drive. With just a lift ride downstairs, i could give some away.

I've heard that giving blood gets rid of old blood and allows the regeneration of new fresh & healthy blood. I've also read online that it reduces the risks of heart disease, lowers cholesterol and according to the Mayo clinic we burn 650 calories by donating blood (*and that's equivalent 2 gym sessions*)!

I've also wanted to determine if i have a fear of blood, and if i did, to overcome it. (*happy to say, i don't have that fear!*)

As a first time donor, i was made to fill out a couple of forms. Some questions really got me wondering ... do you have HIV, hepatitis and a host of other diseases, are you a homosexual, if you are a man have you had sex with another man, are you a drug user, are you a prostitute, have you had sex with a prostitute, do you have multiple sex partners (*one would hope this question was gramatically posed correctly*) is your sex partner any of the above ...

Anyways, upon approving my answers, i was made to lie down and a nurse pricked my vein with a tiny needle and then proceeded to poke a hugeass needle into my vein which connects to a tube and *wowwee* blood started flowing into a bag below. I was made to keep squeezing a tube thingy to ensure the juices kept flowing.

It was all over in less than 5 minutes. 350mls of it came out. i was asked to stay and rest for another 5 minutes. I was then given a drink, some food, some freebies and i walked out the door feeling pretty happy about it.