I donated blood today; when the Red Cross folks called to tell me I was okay to give blood (the 56 day wait was over) and they needed my very special blood (okay, they didn't say that my blood is special, but I'm saying it!), the Red Cross person said this donation would put me at 8 gallons (I'm guessing that's just through the Red Cross in this state, but it might also include a few donations at the Red Cross in the last state I lived in, I suppose).
So, 8 gallons. That's a lot of blood.
It looks like I wrote about donating a couple years ago, when I had just passed the 5 gallon mark.
I still haven't gotten a wall marker, though.
All the vampires be drooling, today! Well done.
ReplyDeleteGood for you! I think I had reached 2 gallons before I became ineligible to donate - darn mad cows. My year in the UK, 1989-90, still haunts me in that regard, even if it was otherwise splendid.
ReplyDelete"......So, 8 gallons. That's a lot of blood......"
ReplyDeleteIndeed it is!
Presumably, those are US Gallons - 3.78 Litres. With the volume of circulating blood for the average American female being about 4.7 Litres, you've drained yourself almost six and one half times!
I have an alphabets worth of Hep infections so I don't get to donate. Still, I am better off than Mr. Ogilvie, above. Variant CJD is not a way I would wish to expire.
Yes, US Gallons, except not really, since a long while ago they switched to taking blood by weight, and use 500 grams. So it's about a pint, and eight donations is a "gallon," though it's not really, and so on. Basically, then, it means I've donated 64 times since I came here (unless they're also counting donations in a different state, but I think they're by state).
ReplyDeleteVariant CJD is scary as all get out. And Hep isn't fun. I donate, in part, because I can, and I know a lot of people are ruled out for whatever reason, or aren't as lucky as I am in regards to health. And you just hope it actually does help someone feel better or get less sick or recover faster or something.