Well, the best laid giving plans were foiled. I was to donate blood today. I managed to pull myself together and call a cab and haul myself to the blood donor clinic. They stabbed my finger, and had me go through a long list of screening questions. Then we went through my medications to check in a big book to see if there were any problems there… and… there was. I was eligible honestly and legitimately in every single item but one. One of the medications I take, seroquel disqualified me.

Now, here is the kicker, it disqualifies me because it puts me at risk to give blood, not that my blood places anyone else at risk. Seroquel is a medication that builds up in the body, to a therapeutic level. Giving a volume of my blood will mean that the medication levels in my blood will be reduced and this could cause mood swings for me.  Now it doesn’t matter if my Dr. says it’s okay, I can’t get a note, anything like that, doesn’t matter if it’s my body my medication… blah blah blah. It’s their policy. However, their policy around medications like that is if you don’t take it for the three days prior to giving blood, then you _can_ donate. So… I’m allowed to discontinue my medication for three days and then donate blood. Does this make sense to you? Obviously my blood levels are going to be much worse off this way. It’s not recommended that I do so, go off my meds for three days then donate. However, it’s not dangerous for me, and it’s a decision I’m perfectly capable and allowed to make.

It’s their policy… So.. what am I going to do? Make another appt. to give blood for next time the blood clinic is in Chilliwack, skip my meds for three days, give blood, and probably have some mood swings for a few days… that I wouldn’t have had if they’d just taken my damn blood to begin with. LOL. She assured me it wasn’t that my medications would be bad for the blood recipients, its that they didn’t want to lower my blood levels of the medication. *groan*.

The only thing I managed to give today was a good tip to the cab driver.

I was then feeling rather dejected and sorry for myself for being turned away over something so trivial. I walked in the rain for a few blocks to the local Dicken’s sweet shop and tea shop, bakery, cafe, museum, etc… fantastic little place here in Chilliwack. I consoled myself with ‘high tea’ I had little puff pastries, and little sandwiches with the crusts cut off, and petite fours, and they had a lovely matcha tea available (they have about 150 teas available). I browsed the shop after my tea until Wolfe got off of work and could rescue me stranded in this little haven in the rain.

I then proceeded to further indulge, and we went to the mall, and had shopping therapy, I hit the little accessories store and bought two rings and 5 hair accessories. 30 bucks on shiny things with velvet and lace and feathers… pretty feminine accents.

So.

I have all my blood… Wolfe offered to take some from me, but it’s not the same.

I did get lots of ideas for future giving though. I can’t really complain, out of all the things I like to ‘get’… ideas are my favourites.

Today I gave to a few different click to donate charities through The Hunger Site.

Excerpt from the Hunger Site:

The Hunger Site was founded to focus the power of the Internet on a specific humanitarian need: the eradication of world hunger. Since its launch in June 1999, the site has established itself as a leader in online activism, helping to feed the world’s hungry. On average, over 220,000 individuals from around the world visit the site each day to click the yellow “Click Here to Give – it’s FREE” button. To date, more than 300 million visitors have given more than 500 million cups of staple food.

The staple food funded by clicks at The Hunger Site is paid for by site sponsors and distributed to those in need by Mercy Corps and Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest) . 100% of sponsor advertising fees goes to our charitable partners.Funds are split between these organizations and go to the aid of hungry people in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North America.

All of us here at The Hunger Site are also deeply moved by the humanitarian crisis in Darfur . Learn how you can help!

Hunger: Do You Know The Facts?

It is estimated that one billion people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition. That’s roughly 100 times as many as those who actually die from these causes each year.

About 24,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes. This is down from 35,000 ten years ago, and 41,000 twenty years ago. Three-fourths of the deaths are children under the age of five.

Famine and wars cause about 10% of hunger deaths, although these tend to be the ones you hear about most often. The majority of hunger deaths are caused by chronic malnutrition. Families facing extreme poverty are simply unable to get enough food to eat.

The Hunger Site began on June 1, 1999. In 1999, a year marked by good economic news, 31 million Americans were food insecure, meaning they were either hungry or unsure of where their next meal would come from. Of these Americans, 12 million were children.