A gift from the heart

Valentines day is here again, the time of year when gifts are exchanged friends and significant others. And of course i did the usual exchange with my girl (with extra thought and snooping involved). But the real gift i'm thinking about here is one that is truly from the heart...almost literally. Today i went in to donate blood for the first time, I do hae to admit that i didn't finish the process (due to what i think was just nervousness) the nurse there i guess noticed i was going a little off color...whatever that means. Personally i just felt a little warm, but when i told the nurse this, all of a sudden there were 4 people swarming around me in a flurry of movement which made me think for just a second "oh man...i'm going to die or something". Honestly i felt bad for bailing out, but i have full intention to try again when they come out here again for more blood. But i urge everyone out there to try, it really doesn't hurt at all and it really is something amazing and great that you're doing if you do. And sure i may not have gotten through it this time but next time i know i will. And...because i was reading stuff about all of this i made the decision that i'm going to register to be a bone marrow donor...who knows, i may get the chance to save someone's life some day. Just to leave off here i suggest that you check out the blood service website for more information HERE. As well here's some facts to read over too.

Every minute of every day, someone in Canada needs blood.That someone could be a loved one, a friend, a co-worker—or even you.

In Canada, roughly 137,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every year. We all know that cancer patients often need blood or blood products to survive their treatments.

The number of transplants has increased steadily from 16 per one million Canadians in 1981 to 59 per one million Canadians in 2000. This includes kidney, liver, pancreas, heart, lung and bowel transplants – all of which are lengthy procedures requiring significant amounts of blood.

The number of total hip replacements done in Canada during the same period increased by just under 20 per cent.

Blood- It's in you to give.

-Matt