It's time to pick up an old habit: giving blood

For the first time in more than five years, I found myself being tapped for a pint of the red stuff. This afternoon, I pulled into the library parking lot so I could go in and terrorize the internet for awhile. I happened to look across the lot and saw the familiar United Blood Services bus parked there. Normally they announce when and where it will be, but I hadn't seen a notice about today. I thought for a moment as to whether I should try and donate a pint of blood, then decided to go for it. While I did feel a bit woozy afterward, I think I made the right choice.

Back in the '80s when I worked at Statham Transducer Division in Oxnard, they had the United Blood Services (UBS) bloodmobiles stop by every so often. I was a relatively healthy young guy of about 30 at the time, so there was no reason for me not to donate a pint. While I've never had a problem with needles, I wasn't sure what to expect by making a donation. Turns out that it was relatively painless, there are some nice looking young ladies taking good care of you, and you get lots of treats when you're finished. Sounds like a win-win to me.

I made regular donations every eight weeks for a number of years. Somewhere I have my one-gallon and (I think) two-gallon pins. All that blood...I was a lean, mean donating machine.

Then along came diabetes.

Initially, I continued my donations because the medications that I took were on the OK list at UBS. But once I began taking insulin shots, I hesitated making donations. One time, though, I went ahead and went to a donation center and was told that even we insulin-shooting diabetics could still donate depending on what kind of insulin we took. Certain types of insulin that were derived from bovine sources were not OK (because of mad cow disease) and anyone using them could not donate blood or platelets. In my case, since I was taking Humilog® and Lantus®, I was OK. I donated a couple of pints but then just dropped off the map. Over time (and still) I have my days where I struggle just to keep up with basic things that I need to do. When you're not feeling your best and are honest about it during your pre-donation screening, they usually won't allow you to donate. That's for your own good.

Getting back to donating blood was one of the things I missed doing—not for my own benefit, but for the tremendous amount of good it does for others. One pint of blood can be used in so many different ways. If you're able to do so, I highly recommend that you call your local blood bank and make an appointment.

This is a donation that you make quite literally from the heart.