Blood Donation, Saving Lives

Osu. As usual, I let this blog abandoned for months. I was the one who call for YD to start blogging, yet now he’s more active than I do. Despise me. Ugh.

On March 3, 2008 I participated in a blood donation, conducted by HIMSISFO (Himpunan Mahasiswa Sistem Informasi / Student Association of Information System), though I didn’t have any class that day (Yes it was a tough decision for me… I usually DON’T come to campus when I have no class).

Why do I donate?
Well, to tell you the truth, I’m not really sure. But I think there are two main reasons:

• I expect to lower the concentration of my own blood, because in the previous donation I’ve seen it myself, that I have a very thick blood (FYI, thick blood increase the risk of stroke).
• I might be able to save someone from… death. And I really really hope that it is a good person. Someone who are not self-centered. Someone who will be able to change the world for the better. I know it sounds cliché, or even unreasonable, but that’s what I really hoped for. If I can choose the very one person I may save by donating my blood, I’d pick someone who is smart, diligent, hard-worker, self-motivated, etc etc etc… because the world needs people like them. They can make this world a better place.

  Yes, I know that such people is rare and very hard to find. And you ask me, “Then why bother? Your blood would probably transfused to ‘the wrong people”. Yes, I am aware of that. But let me tell you something: if I have to save a hundred bad guys to save one good guy, I’d do it. Then I can think of how to eliminate that one hundred bad guys, with my own way. (Oh yes, I’m a freak, but I am me. You are not allowed to falsify my thoughts).

• There are more advantages for you if you donate your blood. Just google it, and you’ll find quite a bunch (yes, google is a verb. Click here).

Back to the main topic, about blood donation.

A minimum weight for a blood donator is 45 kgs (110 lbs). Though it’s medically possible, but I don’t suggest someone below 60 kgs to donate blood. When they themselves is thin enough to be blown away when the wind blows, I really don’t think they should donate their blood (I’m being serious here).

I asked some friends of mine, if they have ever donate their blood before. From almost 20 friend I asked via YM, only three answered “Yes, I have”, mostly answers “No, I haven’t” and the rest IGNORES me. Hopefully these three guys who answered “Yes” are honest.

Whilst the “Yes”-guys have their few reason:

• “I want to get those blood out of me, to have a ‘new blood’ regenerated inside my body” (read: I want to be healthy).
• “Just tryin’ (I wanna know how it feels).”
• and one refused to say his reason.

the “No”-guys have various reasons:

• “I’m too skinny…”
• “I drive. I’m afraid I’ll feel dizzy when I drive home.”
• “I’m having diarrhea…”
• “I’m afraid of needle.”
• and the most popular answer “I just don’t feel like (donating) it” or refused to state their reason.

and so I ask another question to the “No”-guys:
Q: “Do you plan on donating blood in the future?”
A1: “No, I don’t and I won’t”
A2: “I will donate one day”
A3: “I will donate when I’m not ill”

after I ask that question, most of the “No”-guys feel irritated, so I stopped asking questions.

Unknown to most people, there are also negative effects on blood donation. That is, if you donate blood too often (let’s say, once every 3 months). When you stop donating blood, you’ll feel dizzy, or even sick. Here are some references:
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
(its original page is already deleted; that’s why I can only link to the cached page).

Though it may not be publicly disclosed and only described in a sentence or two (the article itself mainly discusses about blood donation in general), but it’s there. And I have a friend whose father is ‘addicted’ to blood donation, too. I don’t know if this kind of addiction actually exist, or just some ‘mindset’ or so… But just in case, if you want to donate blood, it’s probably better to be done once a year, or twice a year at most. Some parts of the world is short on blood supply, sore wa yoku wakatteiru. I know it very well. But I think it’s now the responsibility of the ones who actually capable of being a donator but chose not to donate.

P.S. Will I be contacted by a Red Cross organization coz I posted the negative effect on blood donation? We’ll see..