Got my 4 gallon pin today, just barely made the hemoglobin level. had to take a second stick from my other hand to pass. Was missing my iron tablets for a couple of days. I've been at this for almost 10 years, it's what found my high blood pressure, now under control. So 32 donations, every 56 days I can donate so I follow that pretty closely.
To help ensure that it is safe for you to donate, females must have a minimum hemoglobin level of 12.5g/dL and males must have a minimum level of 13.0g/dL. A donor's hemoglobin level cannot be higher than 20.0g/dL to donate.
I once fell below that so I now take a daily 65 mg iron tablet.
You need to realize all the requirements which make it impossible to use your affected arm as the donation site.
Arm must be able to lay completely flat.
Arm must stay on table.
Arm must not spastically contract for any reason(coughing, sneezing,yawning).
Must be able to squeeze rubber ball every 4 seconds.
The major problem with using my good right arm for donation is the cotton swab and tape on the puncture site. The stretchy red elastic is usually wrapped at least 2-3 times around my arm. No tab is left free and I can't reach the tape with my teeth. My left fingers have zero ability to pick up anything and I can't even get the hand anywhere close. So I have to wedge a long knife in a kitchen drawer and saw the red elastic thru, hopefully without cutting myself.
People who volunteer altruistically tend to live longer than those who don’t.
And that’s not all. Dr. Phillip DeChristopher tells TIME:
“Blood donors seem not to be hospitalized so often and if they are,
they have shorter lengths of stay. And they’re less likely to get heart
attacks, strokes and cancers.”
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| My pin |
The donation shirt this time
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