Giving the gift of blood on my birthday...

Finally! My drop of blood sank!!



Huh? You ask?

Let me 'splain...

I have tried many times to give blood before and one of the first things they do is test to see if you have enough iron in your blood to be able to do so. So they take a drop of your blood (with the iron bound in the hemoglobin molecule) and drop it into a beaker of copper sulfate (basically the cooper is replaced by the iron which is heavier than the solution so it sinks). If you have enough iron the drop sinks and mine has never sank before -- always a little anemic.

So after many years of dealing with my anemia (long story very short, apparently aspirin was contributing to my lack of RBC growth) and now I eat more meat as well so I had NO trouble with my little bubble. Yay!

So after answering all the myriad questions they are required to ask I was finally able to give blood.



Andy was there taking pix of me throughout probably annoying the hell out of the technicians @ the blood place but they seemed to take it with good enough humor.



And afterwards I got a t-shirt (she said it was cause it was my birthday but I have a feeling they give them to everyone LOL), and of course refreshments (I had some almonds and cheese as well as a cup of coffee and a little OJ). I actually felt GREAT after the process -- I was a little flushed at first but that went away in minutes and now (a couple hours later) I am totally fine.

So the big question -- WHY did I want to give blood on my birthday?

My short answer: Why not?

My slightly longer answer: It felt nice to be able to give back (to whomever, who cares?) something that is mine but could possibly help someone in need. THAT was better than any present of "stuff" I could think of having.

And it was a great feeling to know I have gotten my body back to a healthy place regarding my blood iron to even be able to do this. So in a way it was confirmation to myself that I am taking care of myself.

Maybe this will become a birthday tradition now... like the birthday "surprise" Andy finds for me, I will have another tradition that is my own.