I’ve had a long-held desire to be a blood donor, but an equally long fear of it. It’s not a concern of fainting that intimidates me, which my personal research has revealed is a common reason people hesitate. For me, it’s a fear of possible pain as the needle goes in. This all stemmed from the time I needed a blood transfusion in my early 20s and found the needle at that time to be the worst part of the whole hospital incident. But that was over 40 years ago and I was pretty certain the equipment they use now has become a bit more friendly. Plus, someone donated the blood I needed long ago, and it was time for me to begin.
My family has had a particular relationship with donating blood, because our dad had an uncommon blood type that is always in demand. It seems that I’m the only one of my siblings with his blood type – yet another reason to be brave and generous. Because he worked at The General Hospital for his whole career, they would just call him from the downstairs lab when his requisite pause between donations was complete and he would simply leave his office, donate his blood, and get back to work. It was just part of his routine for many decades.
I know my siblings have also been blood donors over the years. There used to be a traveling blood clinic at the post-secondary in Calgary where my sister was working and a bunch of them from her office would make appointments at the same time, so they could have a race to see who could fill the bag quickest and get to the cookies! Because that clinic was always held in September, the month of Dad’s passing, she always did it in his honour. And because it’s an important thing to do, she said.
So I summoned my courage and went to the local Canadian Blood Services clinic, although all the while Siri was trying to steer me to the A & W. I tried twice to end her route, but she kept going, growing increasingly alarmed that I was ignoring her prompts. U-turn, U-turn, she nearly shrieked, increasing my already frayed sense of unease. But I arrived – and left 25 minutes later – completely unscathed! On what would have been Dad’s 96th birthday.
I was struck by the relaxed and good-natured atmosphere, both from the staff and the donors. One guy came in joking that he thought he was at Wendy’s and was looking for fries. A regular, for sure. I told the staff that I would be writing about my experience and asked permission to take a picture. Well! One grabbed my iPhone while others crowded around with their tiny personal menopause fans trying to blow my hair like Marilyn Monroe. Don’t think it worked, but it did make me laugh.
Mostly, I appreciated the lady who not only stayed with me for the photo, but got the line set up in my arm while I was nattering with everyone. Like, I actually didn’t feel it. Kind of made me feel guilty that fear of non-existent pain has kept me from being a regular blood donor all my life, but I do have my next appointment booked already. Dad was a blood donor for all those years because someone phoned and asked him to be. Did you know someone is asking you to consider it now? Canadian Blood Services has a #450Challenge underway, because 450 new donors are needed every day across Canada to keep up with patient need. There’s even a K9 blood donor campaign, if you are wanting your dog pal to donate to the Canadian Animal Blood Bank.
Earlier on the day I went, 40 students from a local high school had come through! There is hope for the future, which is as good as money – or blood – in the bank.