Earlier today I was on one of my regular neighborhood walks to make sure I am staying as fit as possible and as my companion and I reached The Greenhouse Cafe in beautiful Bay Ridge we saw the signs for the Blood Drive being held and the Blood Mobile (which def had a whole tour bus vibe to it). With the year closing and my being thankful for so many things I felt that I should finally do this so I asked my friend to perhaps wait for me. She asked if I had eaten yet and no I had no so with the wise counsel of “go eat and then come back”, my mission plan was set in motion.
After filling out some paperwork with a battery of questions it was onto the bus I went. There were numerous little compartment rooms for examinations and of course the tables where you lay down to donate. Sadly I was not able to take any photos of that but it was more about other peoples privacy.
The technician was friendly and hooked me up to the tubes with its needle (which I would not look at because I HATE those things) and I will honestly say that I barely felt a pinch. I was instructed to hold this light metal bar and squeeze it every five to ten seconds. The technician said that I had a good vein and as result would be done in no time. Thanks powers that be for a potentially quick process. I’ll add that even though I was seeing the blood moving through the tubes there was no bad sensation or pain or real distress. I guess its best to go into the process with a cool head just the same.
Upon completion of the process I did ask if they would not mind me taking a photograph of my blood to which the technician chuckled, “you mean my blood” and he was correct since I had given it away. They let me do it and here is the pint that they took from me. They also took some additional tubes which I learned was because they were turning the single pint into three different uses. This would become blood donation, platelets and plasma so essentially one sitting really has a lot of use. I liked that immensely.
After I finished I was told to sit down for a few minutes and I will say I was now just a tad woozy as my body started to work on building back that which was donated. They had juices and cookies and popcorn chips and even though I didn’t photograph those, I did enjoy them for sure. So why blog about this on PiercingKen, well the answer is simple. This was a brand new experience for me and one that I will certainly do again. It’s a good thing to do and has many benefits and I had to say that it left me feeling as if I was closing up 2013 on a positive note. I’ve had a good year, with good times and people and memories and its nice to try to pay it back or pay it forward in the best possible fashion. The literature said that blood has a 43 day shelf life and that they always need it. You might be saying “not me” or “I hate needles” and believe me I feel you on that but you know, this didn’t hurt, I helped make a difference AND I got cookies. Not a bad way to spend an hour. Take a look at their link below. Oh yes and before you ask. Yes I did tweet it and Instagram that I was here. You should know me enough by now to not wonder about such silly things.
Official Websites:
NY Blood Center: http://nybloodcenter.org/