Adventures in Blood Donating

Hello All! Today has been interesting. I decided that since it was so warm I was going to wear my new spring dress and I was glad I made that decision because I love the dress. After I met Kate at the Olive Garden in American Fork for lunch with Vinny, Owen, and Emil I decided I would give blood. Today was my third time giving blood and I learned quite a few new things this time. 1 The needle can only be in for 20 minutes. 2 You have to have at least 530 grams of blood in order for it to be used (570 is preferred. They already have an anti-coagulating substance in the bag and need the right ratio of blood to substance). 3 You have to have at least 38% red blood cells in order to share your blood. I learned these things because I had problems with them (except for 3, I was curious, I had 44%). Apparently the needle was put in the same proximity as a blood valve which makes it difficult to get a steady flow of blood going because it is constantly opening and closing in order to keep the blood going in the right direction. Because of this little incident I was only able to get about 470 grams of blood out before my 20 minute time limit was up. Although I'm saddened that my blood will not get to benefit another human life, it can still be used for testing purposes. Another bright side to this event is that I got the free T-shirt that just so happens to be my main motivation for giving blood today. All's well that ends well!


(I Bleed Blue & White)

(You also get a sneak peek at what my closet looks like! There's food as well as clothes in there).