Cool vampire authors donate blood

I donated blood today. It was great!

Why?

So why did I decide to donate blood?

Not that a lot of history is needed, but here goes: I participated in a blood drive in high school, like many people do. I found out my blood type, but subsequently forgot it. Wah wah. This was in 2000 or 2001, maybe? Who knows. I don't have much memory of it, to be honest. Since then, many things have happened. Medically, I'm quite lucky. I've been in the E.R., I've had surgery, but I've never needed blood. Knock on wood.

But. I've spent the past 5 years writing about vampires.

I like vampires in general, and my vampires in particular. The world I've created for them includes all the modern conveniences, including a company (subsidized by the vampire government, cuz we gotta have parallels to the real world, hey) that collects, stores, distributes, and sells blood to vampire consumers. Batta boom. Humans sell their blood. Some are well compensated, some are exploited. Real world parallels, baby.

We don't live in that world, thankfully.

If you need blood after an accident or surgery, you get it from the hospital and don't have to worry about where it comes from. Why? Because people donate!

But I wasn't one of those people. And that started to bug me. Not only was I writing about a process I didn't have firsthand experience of, I wasn't contributing to the very system I'm creating parallels to in my writing. Thus, I decided to donate blood.

What was it like?

I signed for an appointment at redcross.org. There was a way to do the questionnaire ahead of time, but I couldn't get it to work when I tried prior to the appointment, so I just showed up. No biggie.

I did have to answer questions about my health and travel history to determine eligibility to donate, then later I went over those answers with a staff member. She assessed my hemoglobin level with a laser, which was super cool. My hemoglobin and blood pressure were normal, so I was good to go.

The actual process was similar to a standard blood draw done at a doctor's office, just extended for about ten minutes. The staff were super friendly and answered my questions about the process, the beeping of the machines, the exercises recommended to reduce the risk of symptoms, and everything else.

After everything was said and done, I put my arm up for a few minutes, then sat in the lobby and ate my celebratory trail mix.

How did you feel after?

I did feel a bit lightheaded a few times in the hours after donating. That's normal, according to the literature the Red Cross gave me. I took it easy - no exercising, no alcohol, etc. I did have some bleeding about five hours afterward, so I took the steps recommended on the pamphlet and will monitor it. I typically bruise pretty hardcore when I get my blood drawn for cholesterol, etc., so I'm not surprised.

Would you do it again?

Sure!

Am I clamoring to go back? No. I'm not squeamish about needles but at times I do get a little freaked out at the idea of the needle going in and being in, plus the whole idea of something going wrong. Getting over those fears is a component of me doing this, even though I think it's a perfectly normal, human thing to be weirded out by your blood leaving your body.

How to find out more

Obviously donating blood is not going to be for everyone, but if you can, I'd consider signing up at www.redcross.org