Giving Again

Did you know today is World Blood Donor Day?  It is, it is! 

I didn't know it was until I saw a sign on Saturday that there would be a blood drive in the village. 

I started giving blood at 16 and gave regularly up until the late '90s (can't remember exactly), when Puget Sound Blood Center turned me away because I spent five months in England in 1994 and you know, I may have Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (despite not eating beef!).  PSBC didn't (probably still doesn't) have a way to screen for CJ so I said, well stop calling me then and asking me to give!

Fortunately for me, the French are a little more lenient about overseas travel:  their requirement is no more than 12 months in the U.K. so I got the green light to give.

Since I haven't donated in a looong time, I don't know if the little scale/blood mover is the norm.  Instead of the pouch hanging at the side of the chair, it rests on this little scale that tilts back and forth every few seconds, which I assume is to keep the blood from settling/separating/I-don't-know.  Regardless, it beeps when "full" so the technician doesn't have to monitor the fullness when there are multiple donors.   

Afterward, I put in a few minutes at the snack station (ham or pate, anyone?) and made my way home, happy to be back on the blood donation wagon.

If you have time, please give today!