Biological Donation

Humans are fairly remarkable, in that there are things that we can do biologically that can’t be replicated to a satisfactory standard in a lab. Thus, modern medicine relies on donors for sourcing valuable materials. As a healthy fellow, I figured it reasonable to supply what I can.

I’ve already made it clear that I’d like my organs to be donated when I die, but one of the things I can reasonably donate while alive is blood. Blood has lots of useful bits in it, such as plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, stem cells, and lymphocytes. All very useful and important biological matter that is vital to not being dead. While synthetic bloods exist in various stages, they aren’t yet ready for prime time, so I figured I’d go about donating some of mine.

While donating has been on my radar since my mid-teens, restrictions regarding age and then some rules regarding sexual activity limited my eligibility. Thankfully, those rules regarding sexual activity have since been relaxed, making me eligible.

I was assured by all of the information provided on the website. I’m so glad that they provide the exact details to make an informed decision and are upfront about potential risks, rather than hiding them or downplaying them. There are risks, but they’re rare to occur, fairly minimal and well documented. The availability of in-depth detail and appeal to logic is very conducive to the way I think.

Booking had to be done on their website, which wouldn’t accept my email address using my custom domain. The site on the whole was a tad buggy – perhaps they just didn’t test in Firefox? Between no less than 6 emails and a few other hassles, it was a bit of a faff. I did manage to book a donation for the 8^th of August, 2025.

The preceding day, I took care to drink lots of liquid, mainly water. On the day, I once again drank lots of water, especially in the few hours immediately preceding my booking. I also ensured I ate a solid meal, avoiding anything too fatty or sugary. I found it most interesting that drinking water immediately before donation is beneficial, as it stretches your stomach wall, thus increasing blood pressure.

When I arrived at the donor centre, I provided my identification and answered a few basic questions: ‘Have you had a savoury meal?’; ‘Have you drunk several glasses of liquid today?’, etc. Then I was presented with some reference material no different from that on their website and a tablet with a form to fill out. The questions were as you’d expect, mainly asking medical details, recent travel, drug usage, sexual activity, etc.

After filling that out, I waited for a few moments before being called into a private room. They work a prompt and well-oiled machine. In the room I was followed up on the answers to some of my questions by one of the lovely staff members. I was there given a blood pressure test, followed by an entirely painless finger prick to test haemoglobin (I was within range), and my heart rate was tested. Unfortunately, my heart rate was too high (110, falling down to 103 – sub-100 was the requirement), even after waiting for a brief while. They checked with an on-call doctor, and I was told to return another day.

I believed this was due to my fast natural walking speed, rather than any nerves. I certainly didn’t feel nervous or anxious at all. I’m no stranger to needles. I took a significant (~5mm) needle into my hand when I got my biomagnet installed, and for vein-related work they usually use a ~1.7mm needle. I’ve also never had issues with vaccinations. I’m well educated on the procedures – enough to know the risks and how minimal they are. Before sending me on my way, I was advised that some people have higher heart rates early in the day and that it may be best to book a later hour.

A week later, I made another attempt. An almost identical experience, although this time I gave myself more time, walked slowly to the donor centre, completely avoided caffeine and alcohol in the 24 hours before ¹, and did breathing exercises beforehand. I was also careful not to read/listen/watch anything preceding that might excite me. Once again, my blood pressure was good, haemoglobin was good, and everything else was good, but my heart rate was elevated – 113. After a quick doctor consult, I was again turned away, and one of the nurses advised I monitor my resting heart rate.

Following this advice and interested to see if my heart itself was perhaps playing up, I took to measuring my pulse from my wrist at a few assorted moments over the following days; my heart rate was indeed much lower than 100.

It seems I must be subconsciously nervous, despite not feeling so at all. Unfortunately, my mind being the enemy makes this a hard thing to address. It isn’t particularly easy to rewire one’s irrational, subconscious stress response. The reality is that no matter how well-informed and emotionally prepared I am, my body might still react independently.

I’d like to make another attempt in the future, but I’ll leave it for a while and perhaps try another donor centre when I do with the hope that a new environment might not trigger the same subconscious response. I’m conscious of wasting the time of staff and being an inconvenience.

Footnotes

1. I very rarely consume alcohol, and the average half-life of caffeine in healthy people is ~5 hours, which puts me far in the green. ↩