Blood Donation - My Experiences

Blood Donation is something which I feel every healthy individual should do. Well some people are scared of it whereas some people purposely avoid it. To be honest, I was among one of them.

I still remember that when I was in college, I always avoided donating blood whenever there was an opportunity. I was of the opinion "Apna Khoon hai, Doosro ko kyon deneka?"

I know I was being selfish and now I wish that i never said something like that. My mom often used to tell me "Whenever anyone needs blood you should willingly donate. Its good to donate. You may save human lives and also its good for your body too" Those days whenever mom used to tell me anything like that I used to say in my mind, "Ohh!! What a lecture!!" But whatever she told me about blood donation wasn't a lecture at all. I graduated from college in 2004 and started working since then.

I would like to share few of my experiences:

June 2006

A senior colleague from office told me that his brother is suffering from Cancer and was admitted to Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel. He was badly in need of Blood (especially Blood Platelets). I could recollect my mom telling me about blood donation about 2 years back and i agreed to donate. I wanted to help someone whenever needed.

Donation of platelets is not as simple as donating blood. Initially I was called a day before to fill up a routine questionnaire, conducting a pre-donation blood test and also for checking my heamoglobin levels. Next day in the morning, I was told that my tests were OK and also told me that i could come to donate platelets. I was kinda nervous, scared and excited at the same time. While the preparations for the donation were on, the doctor at Tata Memorial noticed some nervousness on my face. He rushed to me and asked "Is this the first time you're donating blood?" I said "Yes". He asked me "Are you nervous?" I said "Yes". "Don't worry" he said.

He told me that if a person donates with a pre-conceived notion that something is gonna go wrong, then things will definitely go wrong. He told me to be positive and don't have that pre-conceived notion in mind. I followed his words and the donation went on well. It was a lengthy procedure though and the entire process took 90 minutes. But in the end I was satisfied. I donated for a good cause.

November 2007

One of my friend's mom was admitted to Hinduja Hospital. She was suffering from Bone Marrow Cancer. I was indeed very sad to know about it and I was bit shocked at the same time since my friend didn't reveal to anyone about this. Later she told me that her mother herself didn't want anyone apart from the family to know about this. She needed Blood Platelets. I was at work and informed my boss about the situation and he allowed me to go. I met my friend the moment i reached there. We went to the blood bank completed the normal formalities and then the doctor inquired whether I was a Platelet donor and checked my arms and forearms. For some reason, they said that I cannot donate platelets. This was despite telling them that I'd donated platelets before. It was probably something to do with the machine which was to be used. They said they would use the platelets available in the blood bank and told me to go for normal blood donation as they needed a replacement. I agreed to it and I was through with the donation in the next few minutes. Indirectly I donated blood to a patient.

September 2009

A senior office colleague's wife is also a cancer patient. Her blood count was very low and she was admitted to Nanavati hospital. The required quantity of blood was given by the blood bank after which she had recovered and was to be discharged that day. Suddenly few hours before discharge, the hospital authorities refused to discharge her stating that the blood provided to the patient from the blood bank was not replaced yet.

I can understand thats the normal procedure followed as in, whenever blood is taken from the bank the same needs to be replaced. But in such difficult times, people tend to forget about it. In view of this, he called another colleague who in turn informed few people and finally 2 of us from the office left for Nanavati. It was a normal blood donation and the process was over within the next 15 minutes. I felt really good after donation.

I again recollected what my mom had told me. I immediately called her and told her about it. She was happy and so was I.

I may not get time to donate blood regularly like some people do but i do it whenever its needed.

Why am I writing this blog??

I just want to tell people that they should donate blood whenever the opportunity arises.

Its good to donate your blood voluntarily. There are also some helplines, websites where you will have to register your name, your blood group and your contact number. Those people will call you whenever there is a necessity.

I read this somewhere, "Donate Blood - Save Lives"