With Great Blood Type Comes Great Responisibility

Yup. I donated blood today. I remember being too scared to donate when I was a senior in high school. I really hated needles then. But on Urban Project, an inner-city mission in San Diego, I decided to be brave. And it wasn't that bad. So I think today was probably the 6th or 7th time I've donated. Working at a hospital I see how great the need is for blood donation. I've probably had 20 patients get a blood transfusion since I started working as a CNA and having clinical rounds. And supposedly the blood levels are very low currently. That's really bad. They're the lowest for O+ and O-. And I just happen to be O+. That means that when I give blood I'm very generous because my blood can be received by about half the world: anyone who has the Rh antigen on their blood cells. But I'm also very sacrificial, because I can only receive blood from O+ and O- donors. I would have a hemolytic reaction (kill the new blood cells) to A, B or AB and that might send me into anaphylactic shock! Just a little 411 on blood chemistry for ya'll.

Well, today I did a new procedure. I gave 2 units of packed red blood cells. This is a little more extreme than your average blood donation, which is whole blood (serum and RBCs). In this procedure, they take out your blood and then reinfuse most of your serum; this contains H2O, platelets (things that help you clot if you bleed), and white blood cells (WBCs, these fight against of variety of infections). The procdure takes about 3 times as long as a normal donation, but worse than that, when they reinfuse you with your serum, it's really cold. My arm was still cold 5-10 minutes after the infusion stopped. I was shiverring all over and needed a blanket. I felt like such a wimp. But my wife assures me that I'm brave for even going in the building. Thanks honey. :)