Give blood regularly

Maybe I’ve beat the “too low iron” problem, at least for now. With the semi-regular addition of multi-vitamins to my daily routine, I managed to pass on the hemoglobin test at the Red Cross last evening.

I also had a bit of an outing with Jimbo. It’s always fun to hang out with him. Waiting in line to do a good thing isn’t that bad, especially when you aren’t in a hurry.

I felt anxious at my last blood donation appointment. On the previous occasion I’d been turned down due to low blood iron, and I was disappointed and a little miffed (what? suddenly my blood isn’t good enough?) I have made an effort to take multi-vitamins and lower the stress level during this summer. Whether those made any difference or I just got lucky, my iron count was high enough to donate again.

Jimbo and I went to give blood again two weeks back but I was turned away because of a low iron count. That’s never happened to me before so I was truly surprised. It wasn’t dangerously low, just too low for donating.

I’m making an effort to eat better and I’ve started to take vitamins regularly. I will try again when Jimbo goes and hope that my iron count is back to the right level.

I donated blood this evening. I went with my partner Jimbo to the new Red Cross facility in our town, and the process was swift and (fairly!) painless. If we stay in the habit of going together, it could become a cheap date night!

I’m eligible to give blood again next week, after the 8th of December. I’m reminding myself.

I gave blood today along with my partner at a blood drive at our kid’s high school. The whole experience has at times taken much longer than I anticipated, and today was no exception. From start to finish, the donation took 2 hours!- which is longer than it should be, but they had a couple of first-timers who weren’t feeling so well, which slowed down the line. Since I wasn’t in a hurry to be anywhere else, I wasn’t terribly inconvenienced. And I had the added bonus of overhearing a half dozen hilarious kid conversations… and maybe helping someone get better- both priceless gifts.

8 weeks and I’ll do it again.

Giving blood isn’t painful, or hard, or work. It does take some scheduling however. I’m going to get in the habit of giving blood regularly.