This was at the Red Cross station in ACTA Nishinomiya Kitaguchi, Hyogo.
I approached a lady holding a sign soliciting blood donors, and asked if my blood type was needed (Type A Rh D Positive). I asked because apparently my blood type is one of the least wanted types, compatibility issues lol. She said yes and then took me to the vampire's lair with a rather cheeky smile.
Once inside, another staff briefed me on the process and asked what time I went to bed last night, and what time I got up. He checked it on his list, and then asked if I had had a meal before coming. It was 10:20 am and I didn't eat breakfast, so he begged me if I could return once I've had my fill. I asked for 30 minutes and since McDonald's was the only place that was already open, I stuffed myself with a burger and some nuggets, and about 2L of iced coffee.
When I returned, I was thanked for my trouble. The same guy took my body weight, and then sat me in front of a tablet with the questionnaire. The prompts were rather substantial and used quite a lot of difficult kanji. Before this, he asked very specific questions regarding things like hepatitis, HTLV-1 (something I never heard of), and needle-sharing, HIV, and vaccines that I had taken including for COVID-19. He wasn't thorough about the other items on the list he had in his hands, which were reproduced in the tablet, so I figured I could just use my passable skills in kanji-reading to figure out what they meant.
And no, I didn't have my bad proficiency in Japanese questioned at all, like many other foreign donors have experienced.
After this procedure, the same tablet signed me up for a Red Cross donor account, where I got to choose if I wanted to receive notifications regarding my blood tests via snail mail or just an email notification. There is also an option to receive notice via telephone. I chose to receive via email.
It is interesting to note that anyone seeking to donate blood to also find out their HIV status, is specifically barred from doing so to prevent the donation drive from being so abused. But if the test results indicated that you were HIV+, you'd still be informed.
Then, I took a number, to have my blood pressure taken, and my finger pricked for the blood test. I explicitly expressed my concern since I am very very afraid of needles, but the lady was kind and reassuring, as all vampires tend to be at the sight of free meals. And it did hurt like a mofo, but I soldiered through it because I wanted to impress her, hehe. She then separated the blood into two separate vials, and then began to play around with it, making me want to say eww but I didn't.
Next, I took another number for the interview. A doctor was present and looked at the blood pressure statistics. It read 115/74, and I was good to go on that front. She went through a whole lot of checklist, including my birthplace and year, where I come from, where I went to the last time I exited Japan and the duration. I was impressed by her familiarity with medical geography as she immediately understood what kind of vaccinations I would have received being born in a very remote place in Southeast Asia. She was very thorough and professional, but also kind about everything. Anything just to get her hands on my precious elixir of youth I guess.
And then finally, the bloodletting. The nurse asked which arm, so I let her decide since at this point, it was too late to back out of this contract. She recommended an arm that is less dominant, so the submissive me surrendered my left gun. She took her time fiddling with the machine and then told me that I could change the channel on the tiny TV if I wanted to. I didn't care for the TV, but I followed the diagram showing the foot exercise to increase comfort and all that reassuring psycho stuff to secure my obedience. Soon, I was pricked with what must have been a gargantuan pain of a needle. My eyes bulged immediately at the shock, but the pain went away and morphed into a slight discomfort. I refused to look, so I closed my eyes and battled my regrets in silent.
After some minutes, I regained courage, so I looked. My blood looked so dark in the pulsating bag. The girl donor next to me looked like she had just seen a ghost, so in comparison, I was winning, and wanted to let her know it's not that bad lmao. The nurse then came and told me to clench my fists a few times as I wasn't letting blood quick enough. That was disappointing to hear, so I did as told.
It's probably worth noting that the whole time the blood was taken, I felt a strange high. It felt good in my brain and chest, like I stepped on a needle full of Demerol or something. It was quite addicting, and it lasted for a few hours after the procedure. So that's something to look forward to.
Soon, enough blood was collected and I was stamped with a bandage to stop the bleeding. More leg exercises. And then I was escorted out to free beverages and a timer to let them know I was alright to leave the facility. Before that, I was issued a card with a number (ID), and other leaflets (more notes on diseases, benefits of donating, who to contact in case of post-donation issues, what to do in case one feels faint). Right before leaving, I was presented with a choice of free gift of either a bottles drink, some senbei, or a dishwasher liquid. I picked the latter, and then was on my merry way.
At home, I registered the app successfully with the credentials on the card. Less than a week later, the blood test results came in through the app, and the details included:
Red blood cell count
Hemoglobin level Hb
Hematocrit value Ht
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV)
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH)
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC)
White blood cell count (WBC)
Platelet count PLT
ALT (GPT)
γ-GTP
Total Protein TP
Albumin ALB
Albumin to Globulin Ratio A/G
Cholesterol CHOL
Glycoalbumin GA
Note that this will all be in Japanese, and I used ChatGPT to help me explain what the numbers mean. All indicating good health, and since I have been invited with a timer to donate again in about 80 days or so, it is safe to assume I didn't have hepatitis or HIV or HTLV-1.
I intend to donate again when the timer expires. So I hope this post could encourage you guys to do the same whenever wherever you see donation drive near you.
by hotbananastud69