For those who may have missed my last post, I talked about how I found motivation to stay hydrated through my weekly plasma donations, as hydration leads to better bleeds times and obviously I want to be the best there ever was.
Well, I did it. Sort of? I jinxed it, actually.
The plasma donation process is done by taking approximately 250-300mls of blood at a time (give or take), separating the plasma from it, infusing that blood with saline, and giving it back to you before repeating this process four or five times till you reach your donation quantity. This is the reason why a) you are able to donate much more frequently than full blood and b) your bleed time takes so much longer.
As I went in for my donation on Thursday (donation number 10! or it would have been, at least), I was done in approximately 90 seconds. A world record, I tell myself. As the machine had finished collecting my first batch of full blood and began separating it, a malfunction in the tubing caused air to get into the system as well as some of the blood to escape the separation chamber, as I like to call it. Because of this malfunction, my blood was classified as "unable to be confirmed sterile" and unable to be given back to me. I thought, not the end of the world, hook me up to another machine and we can keep going. What's another 275ml? Apparently, that is not how things work. I left the clinic having lost approximately 2/3 of a full donation (450ml), and unable to donate for another SIXTY DAYS while my body replenishes the full blood it lost.
From this situation, I have observed two realizations that have occurred to me as a result. Well, one re-realization and the other, just another brick in a concept wall I have been building overtime.
My re-realization is that, blogging is really useful. Yeah, I know we hear it all the time, but I tend to forget just how important it can be. Since Thursday, I have found I have remained quite hydrated, despite not having a plasma donation to prepare for for at least two months. This is because I blogged about it. I feel astoundingly responsible for my hydration now, and my pride won't allow me to say "hey guys, I know I just said I have finally figured it out, but that had some problems and I decided to give up less than a week later". I am a stubborn person, and now that the world of the IHC knows, I shall not yield. I will become so hydrated that the machine that broke on me will become so full of regret it does not get to take part in my great, record-setting return, it shall come to me seeking forgiveness and redemption and I will, in turn, make it wait sixty days before I bless it with my presence. The perfect revenge, all because blogging has held me accountable.
To get a little more serious, my "another brick in the concept wall" realization was that I really, really, REALLY hate wasting resources. Part of this may come from my education, which is very hunting and resource-use heavy. We are taught over and over that every aspect of our conservation enforcement careers revolves around respect for the wildlife and the resource. Only ever hunt what you are guaranteed to consume 100% of, and always conduct yourself in a manner that shows humaninty and respect to the wildlife. To this end, I despise wasting food, especially meat. There is very little respect to be found in waste, after all.
My biggest frustration is how my blood has been wasted. It is not that I am upset MY blood was wasted, to clarify. Rather, I would be upset if this happened to anyone. That little, half-a-soda-can amount of blood I lost could have been used to help someone who really needed it. Rather, it was washed and disposed of and served no use to bettering the world. And on top of that, I cannot donate for sixty days, which is about 8.5 weeks, which is eight plasma donations I am missing out on. At each one being almost 900ml, that's more than 7L of plasma I could have donated. Do you know what could be done with all of that??? I mean, I do not know all the details myself, but I'm sure you can do a lot! There are people who could be helped, who won't be, because of a silly machine. Ugh, I'm getting annoyed again just thinking about it.
To wrap this up, these thoughts about wastefulness and trying to relate them to Kung Fu reminded me about one of Sifu Brinker's most important pieces of wisdom, in my opinion. Knowledge can only be taught to you while the person who has it can still pass it on to you. Once that individual is gone, so are those lessons. Gone, poof, into nothing. This mindset has really helped me with my intent when learning in class and retaining what I learnt, so of course I believe everyone should take it to heart.
For those who are able, I would like to challenge you to at least think about blood donations. Donating plasma every week is definitely not for everybody, and I am fortunate to have both resilient veins and to live five minutes away from the clinic. But donating plasma every month or donating full blood every several months is still all it takes to make a difference. While I am no professional, if anyone has any questions or inquiries I can at least speak from experience.
Happy trails :)
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