Hello: my quest to do One New Thing each week of 2024 got off to a strong start with me being terrible at donating blood and the lovely nurses at the Red Cross centre being visibly confused at why the process was taking so long for me (entirely my fault, easy to fix, and which I’ll be better at next time - because I’ll be doing this one regularly).
If you’re still reading this, it means you haven’t unsubscribed (yet), so I thank those of you in that category. For those who did unsubscribe, consider this a stern warning!! I’m keeping a list and I WILL seek to cause you a minor trivial inconvenience if the opportunity presents itself in future (although if you’ve unsubscribed, then this warning is not helpful to you - just another benefit of staying subscribed, I guess).
Anyway, now that the customer engagement is out of the way, onto New Thing #1: donating blood.
Giving blood has been on my list for a few years, but I’d just never gotten around to doing it - out of nothing more than sheer slackness - so it seemed like a simple and plain good thing to start with on this little quest I’ve set myself. I’ve got friends who do it, it’s easy and painless, and is a massive help to people who need it; plus, significantly, a family medical situation over the last year has really brought home to me just how valuable these donations can be.
Plus they give you a milkshake and a little treat at the end, so everyone’s a winner baby.
So I jumped on the Red Cross ‘Lifeblood’ website, filled in a few questions, booked a time, and turned up to a centre in Canberra (the website is here, if you want to find your local spot or learn more). It was early January and a few of the nearby centres were closed, so I booked in for a centre that took blood plasma donations.
A total newbie at this, I didn’t realise the process, which was fascinating to learn. You can donate “whole blood” - basically where they take an amount of blood straight from your arm - or donate plasma. It’s the same process, but they separate your blood cells from the plasma in this big whirring machine packed with hoses and dials and screens, then shoot the leftover blood back into your body (more info here).
It takes longer than a regular blood donation, but they can extract far more plasma from a single donation, which is very helpful for people with certain conditions or situations.
One part I didn’t anticipate was that they designate a different donation amount for each person - I’m not an expert here but I’m told it’s based on your height and weight, as well as your experience in donating. Sitting on the reclining chairs in the donation room, surrounded by other people doing the same thing, you can sometimes see the number of millilitres each person is set to donate displayed on the big whirring machines they’re hooked up to - it’s bizarre to admit but I must admit to feeling the barest breath of competition when I saw someone smaller than me set to donate a larger amount.
Your donation goal, and your progress, whirr up on screen like a car speedometer, the millilitres ticking up as the liquid zooms up the hose, into the device, through a little bit that I assume works something like a washing machine to separate out the plasma, before the blood gets pumped back into your arm.
It wasn’t until I saw a guy across from me (who had sat down shortly before I did) get up to leave, that I realised I was somehow doing it a bit wrong. My numbers, they weren’t going up!
The machine starts dinging when you need to stimulate some blood circulation on your own (the little rubber squeeze toy they give you is the main way, but they also recommend wiggling your toes, crossing and uncrossing your legs, turning circles with your ankles). My machine was dinging all the time, to the point where I was getting a lil embarrassed - once or twice, a nurse had to come over because the machine had simply stopped, saying there wasn’t enough blood going in.
“You have to keep pumping,” she said, somewhat confused at why I wasn’t doing better numbers.
Until right at the end, with about 100mL left to give, she looked at my machine - to find I’d been set on a low intake from the start. The nurse asked “do you always have the setting on so slowly?” to which I replied “it’s my first time”.
She cranked up the intake, and the last bit was over in a flash.
I finished the last of my milkshake (caramel - it was very tasty, and free) and got up to leave. A few first-time rookie errors on my part made it a little bit trickier than I expected, but now I know how to make this happen - and hopefully, with a higher speed next time - I’ll be doing this regularly from now on.
Anyway, I know I outlined a minor complaint above, but the process is very smooth, entirely painless (beyond the little needle prick at the beginning) and very rewarding. They even give you a cool bandage at the end that makes you look incredibly tough and stylish.
10/10, would recommend and do again.
Anyway, there’s the first One New Thing of 2024. One New Thing #2 is me starting to take ice baths, coming soon (don’t worry, I’m not turning into a Joe Rogan Elon Musk bodyhack crypto-bro - it’s just nice and invigorating and makes your body feel all tingly).
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Thanks for reading,
Josh