Donate blood!

In April I donated blood and was determined to be successful this time. (Up until then I've either passed out 50% of the time during the donation or been too anemic to donate...) It's too important and easy of a thing to do to let a little fear stop me from saving someone's life with such little effort on my part.

So I made sure to drink a lot of water for a few days prior to donating and then went with a friend to keep me calm. And I filled the bag in 4 and a half minutes! Wahoo!!!

I just got the following letter from the Red Cross and I thought I'd share it to encourage everyone else to try to donate if they can. (They think it's my first time, so they must not have records from 10 years ago when I donated a couple times in college...)

Thank you for giving blood through the American Red Cross. Your blood donation may have helped save up to three lives.

We'd like you to know that the people you helped save and their families and friends are so grateful for what you've done. People like Molly, 23, who suffers from leukemia and needs frequent transfusions. Or George, father of two teens, whose heart transplant surgery could never have happened without enough available blood.

You really have done something amazing. And now you can do something even more remarkable. Come back, and give blood again. You see, only 30% of first-time blood donors come back to give a second time. We need your help now more than ever. Frequently the blood supply is just 2 days away from running out. And every day in the United States, over 39,000 donations are needed.So we urge you to give regularly.

Has anything else you've done lately made you feel this good? Your current CMV-negative status should make you feel even more special. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is usually a mild infection that causes no harm in healthy people. However, CMV can cause serious problems for some patients who need blood, particularly low-birth-weight infants and transplant patients. You should feel special that your CMV-negative blood can be provided to these types of patients with less risk.

Why not keep that feeling alive b giving blood again? You can help save the lives of even more people, like Susan, a 4-month-old baby, who already knows the pain of sickle cell disease.

Visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) for more information or to schedule your next donation appointment.