![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Vegetarian with good iron
Jun. 23rd, 2020 02:00 amI donated blood today for the first time in a while. My attempt last month was unsuccessful - got turned down for having too high of a temperature (due to walking there on a warm day; I checked shortly after I got home and it was normal again). Since it was really hot here today, I pulled out all my hot-weather gear (sun sleeves, cooling scarf, parasol) and went early so I could rest in the shade and drink some extra water beforehand. This time my temperature was only a little higher than normal, so they let me donate.
The nurse who did my physical was very nice and told me some extra stuff about their procedures after I asked her a question about one of them. (Apparently people without fingers or arms can donate, but they have to do a blood draw for the hemoglobin test and then hope there is another good vein they can use.) I warned the nurse doing the donation that I have a tendency to get faint afterward - despite drinking water and eating and having a high hemoglobin count and all of that, and there doesn't seem to be much else to do for it - and the donation itself went fine. Afterward, it was a bad donation reaction day for me and I had to really inch myself towards being able to get upright. Once I got to the point where I could stand, I was fine.
The snacks were generally not as good as the ones at my hometown's blood bank, but I also got a coupon for free ice cream from a local store :D So I don't think I can complain too much! Apparently they are also doing COVID antibody tests on donations.
Other than that, not much is happening. Z's parents visited this weekend to see if they could help out with his car and I finished some code that is hopefully now bug-free. A book I've been waiting on arrived - a second-hand copy of Kimono by Liza Dalby. I read it some time ago for a project and am looking forward to reading it again.
The nurse who did my physical was very nice and told me some extra stuff about their procedures after I asked her a question about one of them. (Apparently people without fingers or arms can donate, but they have to do a blood draw for the hemoglobin test and then hope there is another good vein they can use.) I warned the nurse doing the donation that I have a tendency to get faint afterward - despite drinking water and eating and having a high hemoglobin count and all of that, and there doesn't seem to be much else to do for it - and the donation itself went fine. Afterward, it was a bad donation reaction day for me and I had to really inch myself towards being able to get upright. Once I got to the point where I could stand, I was fine.
The snacks were generally not as good as the ones at my hometown's blood bank, but I also got a coupon for free ice cream from a local store :D So I don't think I can complain too much! Apparently they are also doing COVID antibody tests on donations.
Other than that, not much is happening. Z's parents visited this weekend to see if they could help out with his car and I finished some code that is hopefully now bug-free. A book I've been waiting on arrived - a second-hand copy of Kimono by Liza Dalby. I read it some time ago for a project and am looking forward to reading it again.
