There was a time in my life when I gave blood regularly. I found out that my blood type was a good candidate for platelet donation so I set up recurring appointments.
Then I began to get frequent migraines. I don’t think they were related to the blood donations but what freaked me out was that I couldn’t have taken aspirin within some period of donating and I stopped the recurrence because I thought, Well, I don’t know when I’ll have a migraine! I’d rather cancel the recurring meetings and schedule them when I’m not in the throes of a migraine.
Two problems with this:
- It immediately fell off my radar when it was no longer on my calendar.
- Something I realized only today when I was filling out the paperwork for today’s donation: the donation center specifically asks about recent aspirin use. I don’t take aspirin for anything! My usual remedy for migraines is Excedrin, which is caffeine and acetaminophen.
🤦♀️
This time around, I’m reading that it’s my plasma that’s in demand but the American Red Cross wouldn’t let me schedule an appointment for that because I’ve never donated with them and they don’t know me from Eve. (I donated via the New York Blood Center before.) So once my blood from today’s draw is tested and typed, I should be able to set up a plasma donation. And if that goes well, I can set up recurring donations again!