Blood. It's in you give-me!

I guess this couldn't be a blog about Hemophilia without mentioning the importance of Blood Donation.

If you do not donate blood I will die. It's as simple as that. Then you wouldn't have this blog to read! So you see it's very important.

In my life, I estimate that I have had about 2,000 blood transfusions give or take a unit or two. That's a lot of blood.

I've been getting blood transfusions since I was first diagnosed with Hemophilia in 1983 at 7 months old when my head swelled to the size of my body because of a bleed I was having in my head.

Since then I have had a blood transfusion everytime I lost a tooth, fell off my bike or had a period. So it all adds up after 26 years!

I can not donate blood. My blood does not clot properly and I do not have enough Iron so I depend on the kindness of stangers when I need blood.

I've often volunteered at Blood Donor Clinics so I know the process, you get questioned, you get a poke and then you are done!

I lie, it's not that easy, sometimes you get light headed, sometimes it takes more than an hour for your veins to produce a unit of blood and some people get quite nauseated.

But in the long run, it's worth it. You can donate every 56 days and with one donation you can save up to 3 lives. Thats pretty magical. In the time you spend playing around on facebook, you could save 3 lives, plus, the life you save could be your own!

So please please please donate blood! Please!