I read this article today in the Deseret News about people making ends meet by donating plasma. That was a blast from the past. Back when Scott was in college and I was working at JB's Restaurant, I would donate plasma twice a week and get paid $100.00 a month for my time. I did this for awhile until it started to look like my veins could not take it any more. In fact, on both my arms I have permanent scaring from the repeated needle sites.
Today I am a regular whole blood donor. I do not get paid for it, I do it because I can and it helps others... it is one of the charitable things I do. I am what they call a Baby Blood donor and I have O- blood. That means that I have never had cytomegalovirus (CMV). And being O- makes me a universal donor-- my blood is compatible with anyone. However, I can only receive O- blood and only 8 % of the population have it. Kind of interesting how that all works and a bit frightening.
Unfortunately, I have only been able to donate once in the past year as I keep getting deferrals for low iron count. I am not anemic by any means, just the Red Cross wants to make sure I still feel well after donating blood. So I am trying to work on my diet in that area. I figured that not taking my daily vitamin has been part of the problem and I need to take more Vitamin C so my body can absorb the iron I do eat.
So, if you can, be a blood donor and save some lives! It is a good thing! Go to the Red Cross website for more info.
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