Blood Donation Failure

So being a superstitious Buddhist, my mom phones me up and tells me that Paul and I should go donate blood before we leave because it’s good karma in case something happens to us when we’re away.  I think “yeah OK, sounds like a good idea” and phone up Canadian Blood Services (CBS) about a week before we’re scheduled to leave Vancouver…

When I get through, the lady on the other end sounds immensely bored and uninterested, not what I was expecting ’cause normally when you call in to donate anything the person answering sounds extremely grateful and helpful.  After a couple of questions like “have you had any tattoos or piercings in the last 6 months,” I am told I cannot donate if I’m not in perfect health.  Paul, who is still afraid of needles, starts a crazy coughing fit in the background and I decide to schedule a donation for just myself.  Going through the appointment availability, we are unable to find a suitable appointment time in Vancouver before we leave, so I book for Friday March 6 at the Edmonton clinic.  They call back on Thursday to reconfirm the appointment and it turns out the lady put me in for Saturday March 7, which is the day I fly out to London!  Thankfully I am able to reschedule for Friday, and again the lady asks me if I’ve had any tattoos or piercings or dental work in the last 6 months.

Friday the 6th rolls around and I read on the CBS website that the donation process takes 15-20 minutes of your time.  I ask my brother to drive me there and wait in the loading zone as we aren’t sure if there is free parking.  The lady at the check-in counter gives me a pin for being a first time donor, asks me to put a sticker on my shirt that shows I’m a first time donor, gives me a brochure to read and tells me to have a seat in the station 1 waiting area.

After about 5 minutes, the nurse at station 1 calls my name.  She asks me to answer some questions to confirm that I am here on my on free will and am not being forced or pressured in some way to donate.  She then pricks my finger to check my hemoglobin by dropping some blood into a jar of what looks like blue water (if the blood falls to the bottom, you’re good, if it floats on top, it’s not good).  Hemoglobin sinks and I move on.

She gives me a survey to fill in and sends me over to a set of individual booths to answer the questions in private.  The survey asks things like “have you traveled outside of Canada and the US in the last 12 months” plus  “have you taken any medication such as aspirin, cold medication, or other medications in the last 72 hours.”

I move on to the waiting area of Station 2, and after 7 minutes or so a nurse takes me to a room to check my blood pressure and temperature and goes over my survey with me.  This process takes about 20 minutes because in addition to this, she also has to ask all kinds of questions about your sexual history to determine if you’re at risk of having HIV.  Finally, she leaves the room and you have one final private moment to put a sticker on the sheet she filled out indicating whether or not to use your blood.  I guess some people can’t admit to a nurse that they might have HIV so this is their final out.

After this I go to station 3 where I wait for a bed to sit on while they draw my blood.  I look at the time and realize that I’ve already been there for 45 minutes, but there’s nothing I can do to reach Kingsley!  I wait about 10 minutes and a bed becomes free.  A nurse checks my veins and decides to use my right arm, swabs me with alcohol and asks me to look away as she puts in the needle.  I feel a slight prick and she asks me to keep squeezing a stress toy in order to keep the blood flowing.  Another nurse comes along and prepares to get a few vials of blood for testing, but she notices a problem with the blood flow.  A third nurse arrives and after a couple minutes they determine that I have formed a clot and won’t be able to provide blood today!  They ask if I’ve had much fluids prior to today and truthfully I hadn’t drank much water since I had been drinking a lot of Chinese teas and soups.  Apparently this will cause your blood to clot more easily and there’s nothing they can do to take my blood.

So after 1hr and 15 minutes, I gave a quarter bag of blood, which is utterly useless and will likely be discarded!  I’m hoping they at least check my bood to determine my blood type so that something resulted from all of that!  If only the people on the phone were as helpful as the people at the clinic and told me to drink plenty of fluids for 2 days prior.  I hope the fact that I tried to give counts towards some good karma