Donation last Friday

[evehow]

Last Friday was Eat With Your Family Day but I took the opportunity to go to the Bloodbank at HSA. This is my 2nd time donating in many years (took an unintended "break" of 5 years) and I was a bit nervous as I wasn't sure if I would meet the haemoglobin criteria (was rejected once).

Filled up the usual forms and answered the usual questions. I think HSA has refined its "travel" list as I found out that the Angkor Wat temples no longer fall under the "malaria watchlist"! I also recently travelled to Vietnam, but the place was located along the coast north of Nha Trang, another "non-malarial" area it seems. So, I'm no longer subjected to the strict 13g/dl Hb requirement for 3 years.

It gave me hope that I would be able to donate blood successfully.

But when I was at the blood testing area, my drop of blood refused to sink! I was nervous as the nurse took more blood to be tested. Finally, the result came out - 12.8g/dl! I heaved a sigh of relief. It must have been the lentils, broccoli and iron tablets I've been stuffing myself with!

The donation itself was fast. I was quite surprised by how crowded the donation room was. I wish every day were as crowded as this! But as I was leaving, the number of people actually trickled.

I asked the nurse if my veins would allow me to donate platelets. She had a look and said no - they were too small. I was disappointed but I comforted myself that my blood would still be able to help someone.

After the donation, I went for the snack. Wanting to get some directions, I returned to the centre and spotted the Bone Marrow Programme office! I had wanted to sign up for the programme for a very long time, but the haematology department at SGH operates during office hours only. So, I was very excited that I could sign up at the blood bank too!

Got my finger pricked again and had a sample taken. Chances of a perfect match with a non-related patient is low but, well, every increase in the database is an increase in probability in matching.

This is only my 6th donation and I'm hoping that my health will allow me to continue donating. It will take me ages to reach 100 donations but it's okay... it's doing the deed that counts.

[Shan Xue]

Thanks evehow for sharing your interesting experience. :)


I asked the nurse if my veins would allow me to donate platelets.

May I know your blood group? The preferred donation for your blood group could be whole blood donation.

[Shan Xue]

I asked the nurse if my veins would allow me to donate platelets. She had a look and said no - they were too small.

Maybe doing some weight lifting can help. i heard from the staff at singapore red cross that a girl after being rejected from blood donation because her veins were too small to even donate blood, did some weight training and came back again in a few months time and able to donate blood.

i went for screening b4 at SGH for platelet donation a couple of years back. the nurse who checked my veins said it was too small. yet at blood bank i can donate platelets. i went back to SGH sometime later. this time round i was accepted, without doing any weight training. so it is actually subjective. even if one's veins are big, does not mean the platelet donation will be successful. vein can still collapse during the donation.

actually i think small veins can still donate. just need to draw and return at a smaller speed. takes longer. if the donor can take it, then should not be a problem.

at SGH, the hameoglobin requirement for donating platelets is lower. less than or equal to 11.5 and you can donate up to 24 times a year, every fortnightly :D

[evehow]

My blood group is O+. I think the preferred type of donation for O+ is whole blood. BTW I do lift weights, have been doing this for more than a year. But somehow, the veins are still too small it seems.