Give blood

YES! I was allowed again! (last time my iron levels were too low). It went fine, had a sandwich and some juice and didn’t feel dizzy or weird at all. My arm didn’t even hurt much.
Third successful time and counting! :)

I’ve successfully given blood twice, but last time I tried I wasn’t allowed because of low iron levels. However, I’ve tried to include more iron in my diet and I will try again during the holidays.
I will give blood again. I WILL. I’ll keep trying till I’m allowed again.

Giving blood:
- Reduces blood cholesterol
- Lowers the risk of heart attack
- Gives you a chance to check your iron levels / blood pressure

and because of this, studies shows that blood donors live longer than non-donors

‘Give blood, live longer

ALTRUISTS who give blood to help others may be prolonging their own lives, say Finnish scientists. They have found striking evidence that men who donate blood are far less likely to have a heart attack than those who are not blood donors.

Jukka Salonen and his colleagues at the University of Kuopio say the results support earlier findings that people with more iron in their bodies are at greater risk of heart attacks. But they hadn’t counted on the link being so strong. “We were extremely surprised ourselves to find such a strong relationship between blood donation and protection against heart disease,” says Salonen.

The team looked at the medical records of 2862 men over a nine-year period. Of the 153 who were blood donors, only one suffered a heart attack, or just 0.7 per cent. In the other group, the figure was more than 12 per cent.’

Annoyingly I was rejected this time – too low iron levels apparently. Well, guess I just have to eat more steak or something and wait a bit, because I AM giving blood again, that’s for sure!

About time for me to give blood for the third time :) However, got a massive cold at the moment, so it will have to be next week…don’t think you’re supposed to do it when ill. Will do it as soon as I feel better though!

I feel very passionately about giving blood. It’s such an easy thing to do; takes mere minutes of your time and costs you nothing (you’ll even get a free lunch!) but it SAVES LIVES. There is no reason not to do it (unless of course, they’ll tell you you’re not allowed for whatever reason).

All you 1,768 people who wants to do it but haven’t done it yet…just do it! You won’t regret it, it really makes you feel like you’re making a difference.
And also…if you, or someone you love, needed blood today, wouldn’t you want there to be some available? Go give it and there will be.

I’ve done it twice (wasn’t allowed before; weight too low); I’ll do it again as soon as I can…and I intend to keep doing so for the rest of my life.

I have always wanted to give blood but at first I used to be too thin and then I didn’t get round to it. But seeing my boyfriend’s mum going through cancer operation after cancer operation (sadly she passed away this summer) made me determined to get it done, because if I can help one single person getting through what she went through then I have to do it.
And I donated blood for the second time today :) Will do it again in the summer and keep doing it for as long as I can.

I’ll be doing this for the second time sometime next week :)

I’ve done it once (this summer) and I will go do it again this christmas. I wasn’t allowed to do it before (too skinny) but I plan to do as often as allowed from now in. It just takes a few minutes of your time to save a life, there really is no excuse not to do it if you qualify.
And remember everyone, hospitals need a lot of blood during the holidays.

I gave blood today and I’m so glad I did. It hurt a bit, but who cares, it might save a life :)