what a (good) way to start the new year!

Resolution #1 completed, for a start!

I get my donor card in approximately 6 weeks, which will tell me what blood type I am; that's right - I don't know what my blood type is!

I was quite nervous at first, as I didn't quite know what to expect.

I had to first fill out a very comprehensive form detailing my medical history. Questions asked include if I have ever lived outside Australia (yes), if I've traveled in the last 6 months (yes), if I've been to North Queensland in the last 4 weeks (I wished, but no), if I've ever had surgery and/or been admitted to a hospital (yes and yes), if I've ever injected any sort of substance not prescribed by a medical practitioner (no), if I've gotten a tattoo in the last 12 months (no), if I've ever had sexual relations with sex workers (not to my knowledge!), if I've had male-to-male sex in the last 12 months (no).

Then the (male) nurse took my blood pressure (all good) and a pin prick was made to determine my haemoglobin levels (ie. iron levels) - it needs to be >120 for women; I had 133.

Once all was good and dandy, I was led to a big room with beds, where my blood was taken - 500ml is taken, with 30ml used to be tested each time for infectious disease etc. This process only really takes about 10mins, so it wasn't too bad.

The Husband had accompanied me as he was interested in donating too; however he was deemed ineligible due to him having only 1 functional kidney. It only occurred to him then that it could have explained why he had fallen quite sick both times after he donated blood in Malaysia. I really gotta give it to him though; he was happy to donate even though he had fallen sick on past occasions.

How do I feel, after donating?
I'm exhausted. They recommend no strenous activity for 12 hours and to keep my fluids and food up. I've been very diligent with the above, but I'm just feeling really tired. Like I caught only a couple of hours' sleep the night before.

Hence, good night!