Blood Donation #100 A great inspiring Ruth Johnson

After being delayed since last August, I finally reached the milestone of my 100th blood donation this morning. I was hoping that everything would be OK....especially with being over-tired from holiday and work demands, and sick people all over the place at work (stomach virus, colds, etc.)

But I showed up at the 6:45 appointed time (after eating a hearty omelet from the cafeteria) and everything proceeded flawlessly: hemoglobin 14.8 (excellent), BP 108 over 78 (awesome), and I was still able to answer "NO" to the question that always makes me chuckle: "Have you had sex with a male who's had sex with another male for money or drugs since 1978?" I guess the regulations say they must ask these questions each time, but geez, after 100 donations, do you think I can skip the questions from here on in?

"Hop up in this comfy chair, Ruth and let's take a look at that vein." Normally I request my right arm because it's a much better vein, but this room was set up for a left arm draw and the technician decided the vein looked OK to her.

Donating blood is easy--I just never look at my arm or the needle. I just keep squeezing the little squishy thing in my hand and chatting about what's going on down at Mayo Clinic since I left there 7 years ago.

Today we reminisced about all that's changed with blood donations since I gave my first pint in 1978. When I first started donating, we got paid $25 for each unit. That was pretty neat--$25 went a long way back in 1978--I could fill up the gas tank in my little Hornet Sportabout Wagon two times for $25! Mayo also used to give the donors a little shot of lidocaine to numb the area where that big bore needle was stuck in--that's gone by the wayside too.


After my Sissy got her RN degree, her first job at Mayo was in the Blood Bank. It worked out well that the week she was to start drawing donors, I was able to schedule a donation for myself, so I got to be one of the first donors she drew.

Here's my 100th unit of (A+) blood--ready to go and help a patient at one of the hospitals in Rochester. Mayo also gives a special gift to donors who've reached the 100 Unit milestone. Unfortunately at the IBM donor center, they were all out of gifts today, so my technician made a call downtown to arrange for my gift to be delivered out to IBM.










When I got back from dinner break, there was a message on my phone from Sean asking me to come down to the donor center at 1:30 so he could give me my gift. Wow, how pretty--wrapped and everything! Here it is....a pretty little desk clock, commemorating my achievement. I like donating blood....they always have free cookies and beverages! Of course, the fact that my unit of blood can benefit so many people in a multitude of ways is pretty cool too!








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