Give blood, make love and don't think twice
The words are the first line of the song Bread and Roses from a favourite band of mine, Mr Hudson and the Library and particularly apposite for today.
I was feeling a little off yesterday afternoon after returning from my walk and more out of breath than I would have expected. This morning the walk from the car park to the day unit also tired me out more than it should have. I suspected my haemoglobin levels might be a bit low and mentioned this and the slight breathlessness to the nurse.
She checked with the doctor and I am a bit anaemic according to my blood results from Wednesay, with a reading 9.1 when the normal range is 13.5 to 17.5 g/dl for a man. ( That's grammes per decilitre or per hundred millilitres ) It's possible it's dropped lower since Wednesday.
Therefore I'm going to have a blood transfusion of a couple of units this afternoon once they have cross matched my type and got a bed sorted out for me.
I'll be able to go home after the transfusion and the beneficial effects should be pretty immediate.
This is the first of what will probably be many transfusions over the course of my treatment. Especially when I have the stem cell transplant.
I have given blood in the past so in one sense I'm just getting my own blood back, but even so I'd like to make a little appeal to you, dear readers.
Please consider giving blood, as they say on the telly it is an amazing thing to do. To find out if you are eligible you can answer a few simple questions here.
I know you folks are busy but some of you have said in the past "if there is ever anything I can do for you, let me know". Well here is something you can do for me. So go on find out where you can give blood, you know you want to. You get free tea and biscuits.
Thanks very much.
I was feeling a little off yesterday afternoon after returning from my walk and more out of breath than I would have expected. This morning the walk from the car park to the day unit also tired me out more than it should have. I suspected my haemoglobin levels might be a bit low and mentioned this and the slight breathlessness to the nurse.
She checked with the doctor and I am a bit anaemic according to my blood results from Wednesay, with a reading 9.1 when the normal range is 13.5 to 17.5 g/dl for a man. ( That's grammes per decilitre or per hundred millilitres ) It's possible it's dropped lower since Wednesday.
Therefore I'm going to have a blood transfusion of a couple of units this afternoon once they have cross matched my type and got a bed sorted out for me.
I'll be able to go home after the transfusion and the beneficial effects should be pretty immediate.
This is the first of what will probably be many transfusions over the course of my treatment. Especially when I have the stem cell transplant.
I have given blood in the past so in one sense I'm just getting my own blood back, but even so I'd like to make a little appeal to you, dear readers.
Please consider giving blood, as they say on the telly it is an amazing thing to do. To find out if you are eligible you can answer a few simple questions here.
I know you folks are busy but some of you have said in the past "if there is ever anything I can do for you, let me know". Well here is something you can do for me. So go on find out where you can give blood, you know you want to. You get free tea and biscuits.
Thanks very much.
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