O RLY?
I've been meaning to donate blood for years and years, but I'm really afraid of needles...I used to be that kid in the doctor's office with my foot in the nurse's neck trying to avoid vaccinations.
Anyway, I finally bit the bullet and made an appointment for last Friday. I was excited to finally be making good on a promise that I made to myself a long time ago. I went to the place, read the booklet (which I'll talk about below) and even got pricked on the finger for iron level. I just passed the test, I could do it :-).
And then..."have you been out of the country in the last three years?". Damn, I can't give blood because I spent a week in a rural town in Dominican Republic volunteering at an orphanage?! Well that sucks. I was actually really upset about getting rejected (I hate rejection in the first place, but I didnt' even realize that they could turn me down).
I guess I shouldn't feel that bad about it, I mean, that's a pretty good reason not to be able to do it, and at least I tried. At first I thought she said I couldn't try again for a year, but when I realized that I could try again next month I felt better.
I'm slowly trying to conquer all of my fears. That's why it's important for me to do this, not only because it's a good thing to do, but to cross it off my list of fears. It was that very trip to the Dominican Republic where, with the help of a little boy, I conquered my severe arachnaphobia. By the end of the week, I held a live spider in my hand and picked up a dead tarantula, a week earlier I saw that same dead tarantula and was paralyzed with fear just looking at it's carcass (arachnaphobia sucks).
Ha, I was right, in the screening test, if you are a male and admit to having had sexual contact with another male (or a female who had contact with a guy who did), they will turn you away. I think it's ridiculous and outdated. Especially since they don't even have a question on there about having had unprotected sex. If you're going to ask somebody a screening question for STDs, ASK THAT.
Anyway, I finally bit the bullet and made an appointment for last Friday. I was excited to finally be making good on a promise that I made to myself a long time ago. I went to the place, read the booklet (which I'll talk about below) and even got pricked on the finger for iron level. I just passed the test, I could do it :-).
And then..."have you been out of the country in the last three years?". Damn, I can't give blood because I spent a week in a rural town in Dominican Republic volunteering at an orphanage?! Well that sucks. I was actually really upset about getting rejected (I hate rejection in the first place, but I didnt' even realize that they could turn me down).
I guess I shouldn't feel that bad about it, I mean, that's a pretty good reason not to be able to do it, and at least I tried. At first I thought she said I couldn't try again for a year, but when I realized that I could try again next month I felt better.
I'm slowly trying to conquer all of my fears. That's why it's important for me to do this, not only because it's a good thing to do, but to cross it off my list of fears. It was that very trip to the Dominican Republic where, with the help of a little boy, I conquered my severe arachnaphobia. By the end of the week, I held a live spider in my hand and picked up a dead tarantula, a week earlier I saw that same dead tarantula and was paralyzed with fear just looking at it's carcass (arachnaphobia sucks).
Ha, I was right, in the screening test, if you are a male and admit to having had sexual contact with another male (or a female who had contact with a guy who did), they will turn you away. I think it's ridiculous and outdated. Especially since they don't even have a question on there about having had unprotected sex. If you're going to ask somebody a screening question for STDs, ASK THAT.