6 Gallons @bonfilsdotorg

Well, I mentioned back in January that the next time I gave blood I would get my 6 Gallon pin from Bonfils Blood Center. Well, last night I stopped into a blood bus and donated my 48th pint (which is 6 gallons), and got my "6 Gallon Donor" pin.

Pretty cool, don't you think?

I don't go to the mobile buses as often as I go to donation centers. The other couple times I've given on a bus, it was not very crowded. Last night was pretty busy when I went in and the cramped area seemed more obvious. The bonfils workers did a great job as always, though.

I may have to seek out these mobile buses more often.

47 Pints @bonfilsdotorg

I gave my 47th pint of blood to Bonfils Blood Center today. This means that next time I give blood, I will get my 6 gallon pin. Since 2003, I have averaged giving blood more than 5 times a year, which is a pretty good since the absolute maximum that Bonfils will let me give blood is 6 times a year.

I happen to "like" the Bonfils Blood Center facebook page, and from time to time I'll see them post a picture of someone reaching some incredible milestone. I'm sure I'll get there eventually, but I am always impressed at the dedication of these people. According to Bonfils' website, Bonfils’ highest gallon donor has donated 75 gallons of blood or 600 pints, saving and enhancing nearly 1800 patients lives. Now, that is impressive!  Actually, I'm not sure the math works out on that.

Weekend

I started out my weekend early Saturday by going to give blood. The experience was not quite as smooth as usual. I actually had a bit of a wait, and I did not get quite the same warm friendly feeling from the staff there. I did not recognize anyone. I suppose my regulars could be on summer vacation. They got my blood out ok. I got a beach towel for giving today. One more donation and I will get my 5 gallon pin. That is a lot of blood.

Then after talking for what seemed like forever about what to do for the day, we finally decided to go to the Argo mine in Idaho Springs. My wife and kids were just there a couple weeks ago. Apparently they liked it.  I let my wife drive.  Sort of a weird experience.

Argo was pretty interesting, and since we were in Idaho Springs, we got to eat at TommyKnocker Brew Pub. They still had their Hop Stike ... Black rye ipa, which is the best beer I have had there. Unfortunately it is a seasonal which means it probably won't be around for long.

Then of course we had to stop at the train in Idaho Springs. Connor won't let us skip it when we are in town.

Came home from Idaho springs. Connor has been asking for a long time if he could spend the night in the backyard. Today I finally stopped with excuses and set up the tent for him. When it came right down to it, he decided he did not want to spend the night in the tent by himself. Can't say I blame him.

Sunday, I got up early and bottled some Buckwheat's BPA. As you may recall (but might not), this was my first attempt at brewing all grain. The sample taste was lighter in color and body than I remember the partial mash versions of B BPA. That is ok. I am going to call this the light version. I filled up my 5 liter party keg as well. Hopefully I will have some sort of party or picnic to bring this to. I do not think I can drink 5 liters of beer in one sitting.

I looked at my sisters blog. She cheated again by posting multiple videos yesterday on different entries. I just can't keep up.

Went to church. Mowed the lawn. Worked on the computer. Typical Sunday.

That was the weekend.

4 Gallons

I gave my 32nd pint to Bonfils Blood Center yesterday.

So, I know how to bleed... what do I want ... a medal? Well, actually I did get a medal. Well, not a medal exactly, but a nice pin that looks exactly like three others I've gotten over the years (except this one says 4 gallons instead of 1 2 or 3 gallons).

My wife asked me if eventually I get something bigger and fancier than a pin. I do not know. I guess I need to keep bleeding to find out.

They don't need blood?

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you probably know that I give blood about as often as I am allowed. My church runs a blood drive basically every 8 weeks, and I almost always go.

Today I got a voice mail message saying that my next appointment has been canceled, and if I would like to be scheduled for Abiding Hope's next drive in June, I could call back and they would gladly schedule me. I just went online to schedule the appointment for June. But then, I thought, "Well, I could probably go somewhere else ... I wonder if they can schedule me on the 25th for a different location."

So, I called the Bonfils Blood center and asked the nice lady if I could give elsewhere on the 25th. She asked me where I live and once she looked something up, told me, sure, I could come to the Bonfils facility in Highlands Ranch. Cool, I have to drive about 20 minutes instead of 10, but that is not bad at all. She scheduled me. I'm all set. Just have to remember to drink plenty of water ... blah blah blah etc...

I asked her if she knew why the church drive had been canceled, but she told me she is just in the call center and does not know.

I think that Bonfils is canceling blood drives because they do not need as much blood. The reason I think that is because CHFA (my current client) has periodic blood drives and canceled their last one. CHFA told their people that Bonfils asked to cancel because the blood supply is up and the demand is down. This is due to a reduction in elective surgeries. Can you guess why there are less elective surgeries? There are less elective sugeries because of the crappy economy. So, I guess besides gas prices being down, another plus to no one feeling confident to spend money is that the blood supply is up.

If you give blood or really pay attention at all, you know that blood centers are ALWAYs asking for people to give blood. The blood supply is always lower than they would like. But not now. At least, not now in the Denver Metro Area.

"So, if they don't need your blood", you may ask, "why are you giving blood?"

Well, my somewhat odd feelings (bordering on an obsession really) on giving blood are pretty well documented in this blog, so if you want details, you can search on "blood" and maybe get a pretty good idea. Really, it comes down to the fact that I like giving blood. Obviously, if Bonfils did not want my blood at all, they would not have accepted my "walk-in" appointment, so I do not think it is a matter of they won't be able to use my blood. I figure they have calculated their walk-in traffic is enough for now and they probably still want some people to come in. CHFA did explain that certain types were still needed and that was why some of the CHFA employees were getting phone calls. My O+ blood type is pretty common (I think it is the most common), so they do not care about me so much I'm sure, but like I said, if they decide they don't want my blood they can give me a call and tell me.

Anyway... it is just interesting to me that for the first time I can remember, a blood center is actually trying to reduce their donations.

Blood

I gave blood this past Saturday. The guy who processed my paper work and the girl who took my blood told me that I am up to 3 gallons with Bonfils Blood Center. They were very appreciative. It made me feel sort of good to hit another gallon milestone.
My church has a blood drive 6 times a year and I go whenever I get a chance. I have probably only missed 3 opportunities to give over the past 3 years. So, there are probably some people who give more often than I do, but certainly not many. 6 times a year is the most they will take your blood and I have done it 5 times each of the past few years. At my rate it still takes awhile to get up to another gallon.
For some reason, every time I get to another gallon, I picture milk gallons in our fridge filled with blood. It sort of grosses me out. That is a lot of blood.
Most people I talk to who have not recently given blood seem to be scared of doing it. I try to explain that it really is not that bad, but most people do not believe me. I actually enjoy giving blood. It makes me feel a bit heroic knowing that I may be saving lives. Actually, in my head, everytime I give blood, I am saving 3 people. That is the number of people Bonfils publishes as people I could potentially be helping. I translate that in my mind from potentially saving to absolutely saving lives.
My wife does not give blood anymore because she has had a bad experience. The last time she tried to give they kept jabbing and jabbing and eventually gave up. I guess her veins are a bit difficult to find and tap into because she has had this problem giving blood samples to doctors as well. I think if I had an experience like that, I would probably stop too.
But the worst experience I have ever had giving blood was that the snacks were not quite the selection as usual. They have never had trouble finding my veins. I have never fainted or even felt the least bit woozy. Nothing the least bit unpleasant has happened to me while giving. I never even feel worn down or feel I should take it easy the days I give blood.
If they let me, I would probably give blood more often. Probably not a lot more often but 7 or 8 times a year.
I have heard that it is healthy to give blood on a regular basis. Some of the things I hear sound sort of urban- legend - like, but at least some of them I think are legitimate. The one I can think of right now is that there are studies which show a decrease in prostrate cancer (in men) for those who give blood regularly.
So, it is apparently good for my health for me to give blood.
But that is not why I do it. I do it for the glory that I have built up in my mind.