On Donating Blood.

There was a time when I wouldn't even consider donating blood. There wasn't any logic behind it....I guess you can say that it just boiled down to fear- a fear based on ignorance.

As time went by,with a raising of consciousness, I realized that a life could very well depend on my blood. I began donating on a regular basis; usually, two and three times a year.

When I was on a self-proscribed aspirin regimen I was unable to donate platelets as aspirin interferes with the body's production of platelets.I started donating platelets by apheresis earlier this year. A single apheresis donation of platelets can provide as many platelets as 5 whole blood donations. Not only that, but, whole blood can only be donated every 8 weeks where as platelets can be donated 26 times a year; the process of apheresis returns certain components of the blood back to the donor.

The last time I went to donate platelets I ended up donating just whole blood instead....the young woman taking the donations didn't feel comfortable taking platelets from me because of the small size of my vein. She felt OK about drawing whole blood, however. I set up another appointment to give platelets this coming Saturday. She had suggested that I try increasing my intake of water and decrease my coffee drinking. She believes that a slight dehydration may have been the problem. It's always been difficult drawing blood from me......it usually takes an expert. I'll try to hydrate myself this week to see if it really does make a difference.