Day Zero Project: Donate blood

I used to give blood regularly. I was always pleased that I was doing something to help other people, I’m not bothered by needles and it never used to take me long to give my pint.

I always thought that the worst bit of giving blood was that little prick test that they give you before you can actually donate blood. For those who’ve never done it, they use a little stabby thing to jab a hole in your finger or thumb and squeeze out a drop of blood into this liquid. If it sinks you’re good to go, if it floats then you’ve got low iron and you can’t donate.

Not a bracelet for giving blood, but it's just the most medical looking picture I had to hand!

Before giving blood I usually make sure I have plenty of leafy green vegetables, but on the last occasion I failed the test. They took some more blood from me and told me I wouldn’t be able to donate, but that I would get a letter with the test results. Sure enough, I did. There were a string of numbers that I didn’t understand and a note saying that I had to make an appointment with a doctor. Which I did.

The doctor took some more blood and ran some more tests, told me that my iron reserve levels were fine but that the iron in my blood was low and that was it. I never did find out exactly what the matter was. The doctor never did any more follow-up tests and I’ve not given blood since.

But it’s something that I still think about going back to do in the future. I’m just a little bit nervous about failing the stabby test again, though I did pass it when they did it before my op last year.

It’s just a little bit tricky to do on the island, they come every couple of months but always on the same day of the week. It’s tricky to get along when they’re here. But I’m determined to stop making excuses for not going and actually will drop in one day and let them have a pint.

It’s only fair, I might want some of it back at some point.