Silver Badge
I donated blood again this week and reached the milestone of twenty-five donations. To mark the occasion I was awarded my silver badge. I should have received a certificate, but they didn’t have any, so it’s just the image of the badge I’ve used to accompany this blog post.
Funnily enough it is actually my 26th donation. I donated blood once at University and then there was a long gap before I started up again. I had gone a second time, but was turned away because they decided I had a cold and I never went back. Many years later I saw a post online about it and decided I really ought to get back to donating. I believe I have a card somewhere that shows I did donate, but I’ve not seen it in decades. When I went along to donate, a new computer system had been introduced and they had no record of me on their system or having donated. I could tell them my blood group because it was on the card I received, but my details were lost. They had to take them again which took awhile, but I did manage to donate that evening and have kept going back ever since. It’s easier now than it was, because you can book a timeslot online. When I started, you waited till the blood transfusion service visited your area and then you just turned up and queued, sometimes for more than an hour, before being taken. It’s a great deal more efficient now and means you can go and donate when it really suits you.
I had a trainee look after me this week. She was still learning the job and explained that there would be someone to oversee what she was doing. She seemed particularly pleased that I said no worries. Turns out many folk refuse to be practised on, which I think is ridiculous. I remarked how else are you going to learn if you don’t actually do it for real. She said I had good veins so appeared encouraged by that.
All went well, and her colleague who came to watch and confirm her choice of vein and procedure, noted they had kept one eye on my feet. Turns out if I had felt anything as the needle went in, my feet would have lifted off the bed. It would be a reaction to the pain and one I would be unlikely to stop. That’s how they know all is well and can continue. I agreed, I didn’t feel anything so all was good.
Twenty minutes later (blood just pours out of me) I got my drink of orange juice and helped myself to a Tunnock’s Teacake and a Kit-Kat on the way out. I will ask again about my certificate when I go back, which will be start of December as I have to wait a minimum of twelve weeks between donations. I believe women need to wait sixteen weeks due to generally having lower iron levels.
A top tip is to make sure you have written down any country you have visited in the last twelve months along with dates. It’s surprising how easy it is to forget the exact details. There is little room on the form you have to fill in for each donation so they take a note to check if there has been any health alerts in the countries you have visited. If you have the details written down, it just speeds up the process. The same with any medication you may be taking. If you have the details, it makes life easier.
The Fiction Factory 