Here at Mas des Brun, the leaves are bright red on our blueberry bush. They are also a reminder of our upcoming appointment this morning! Read on!
TODAY'S WORD: donner son sang
: to give one's blood
ECOUTEZ – Listen to Jean-Marc pronounce today's French word: Download Donner-son-sang
Aujourd'hui, Kristi et moi nous allons donner notre sang à St-Cyr-sur-Mer.
Today, Kristi and I are going to give blood in St-Cyr-sur-Mer.
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE
Jean-Marc is giving his blood again this year–and this time he is dragging me along with him! If I am going it is because I am all out of excuses (real or imagined)….
One, I am not underweight. Two, No longer hypoglycemic (got it under control with so much snacking!), and Three, I am no longer a poule mouillée (the French term for wet chicken, or scaredy cat as we say back home).
But this isn't back home, this is France. I wonder what the experience will be like in the land of Bon Sang!? And I wonder what one needs to do to prepare for a blood-giving session. A handy google search gives me a few astuces. Before giving blood:
: drink at least 12 ounces of water
: eat iron-rich foods
: wear a loose-sleeved shirt so the manche can be rolled up
Finally, if anxious, do something distracting: talk to the person giving blood beside you, or bring along some reading material (I plan on reading these blog comments. Extra credit today if you can make me laugh!).
I have my doubts about the water-drinking bit…and can already see myself needing to sprint to the W/C – but for the tube stuck in my arm! So now, in addition to the mental games going on in my head (to keep my mind off that blood-sucking tube), my eyes will be darting around the room, scouting out the nearest exit. Come to think of it they're not going to let you just pop up immediately giving blood!
Also, does the oatmeal we had for breakfast have any iron in it? Or should I finally cook up that magret de canard in the back of my frigo?
Finally, this latest google search has brought up a new concern: whether they'll let me give blood after all! I have just failed the Puis-je donner test at Donnerdesang.fr with the following question: Avez-vous voyagé dans les 4 derniers mois ?
Yes! Three months ago I visited my Mom in Mexico!
Zut! I was honestly pumped to finally be giving blood. And now I wonder if they will turn me away today. More than a wet chicken, I'd be crest-fallen!!
* * *
I would love to read about your positive experiences giving blood. (See the comments link at the end of this post). And this reminds me, one of the tips I saw on line was this: If you are nervous about giving blood, begin to think about all the people who need it, and how must they be feeling. What are our fears in comparison?
FRENCH VOCABULARY
une poule mouillé = wimp, coward, sissy
une astuce = tip
manche = sleeve
le magret de canard = duck breast
le frigo = fridge
puis-je donner = can I give?
Avez-vous voyagé dans les 4 derniers mois ? = Have you traveled in the last four months?
Our foutas, yesterday on the beach in Les Lecques…
Here is a picture I took of Jean-Marc after writing the post Gone Fishing for oursins.
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I have given gallons of blood over the last 40 years in the US so I was eager to make a contribution to the French blood bank after arriving in Saint Malo four years ago. Giving blood is way more fun in France and here they are always looking for donors, after completing the initial questionnaire which was more inclusive than the screening in the US, they give everyone a bottle of water while waiting for a free table. The process is efficient and fast and he wonderful nurses monitor your progress through- out.
Afterwards it’s like a huge party, des sandwichs jambon fromage, galettes, chocolat, jus du fruit, coke, et un grand choix de buissons du café et du thé. Et comme d’habitude everyone sits around and visits.
In the US I was in and out in 1/2 hour with juice and a cookie. Here, I budget and hour or more simply for the ambiance.
Salut Kristi,
I was afraid of needles when I was young, but after a couple of hernia operations, a knee replacement, prostate cancer and open heart surgery, I’m pretty used to them. Ongoing blood tests require 4 vials of blood each time.
I’ve been on both sides of the blood issue. Given a chose, I rather give blood than receive it. I was thankful that there was blood available when I need it.
The last time I checked, they didn’t want my blood because of the medications I take. I think the blood thinner was the problem. It may be that at 86 years old they felt I didn’t have it to spare!
I tried to give blood in France a few years ago, when my wife and I were staying in a small town in Provence. I didn’t speak French very well at the time.
The blood center was in a large hall near the mayor’s office. First, all the donors sat around a big table and filled out a long form (how the French love their paperwork!) Then one by one we were called into a small room in the back. I watched my fellow donors go into the room, spend a few minutes there, and then go to the donor station. Hm, I wondered, what’s going on in that room?
When my turn came I found a doctor in the room, looking at my paperwork. He gestured for me to sit down and started asking questions. I learned later that this private interview is required by law, to make sure you have not been participating in risky behavior (sharing needles, unprotected sex, etc.) During the AIDS crisis, tainted blood had gotten into the French blood supply and people had died. Now the French are extra careful.
The doctor spoke quickly and had a thick Provençal accent so I couldn’t understand his questions. After a few minutes he shook his head, wrote a note on my file and said I could leave. I knew enough French to ask, “I’m not going to be able to give blood, am I?” “No,” he said, “your French isn’t good enough for the interview.”
My blood was rejected due to insufficient command of the French language! That’s got to be a first.
And as I walked out of the hall without giving blood, I could tell that everyone was looking at me, thinking “I wonder that the heck that guy’s been up to.”
I acquired this very good habit from my dear mother, who donated so much blood in her long lifetime (passed away a few years ago at 90), the Red Cross gave her pins, certificates, and plaques! I donate whole blood every 56 days (the minimum you must wait between those donations) and I donate platelets as often as I can afford the longer time that takes (2-3 hours) in between whole blood donations. An incredibly easy-to-offer gift of life to others. I hope your donating experience went well and that you’ll continue to help others with your precious gift!
We (my husband myself and two children) are not allowed to give blood here in Australia, because we lived in England in the 1980s when ‘Mad Cow Disease’ was around and they are worried we will pass on CJD (Creuzfeldt Jacob Disease). I am sure if we had it, it would have manifest by now! I used to give blood before then (and just after I returned to live in Australia before they banned me! I would love to donate and help others.
Oh, Julie — what a wonderful share of both events! I popped into Comments to mope that I am no longer allowed to give blood, a donation that always meant a lot to me, but MOPING is done with the reading of your experiences of being upstaged by a sensitive spouse. Merci beaucoup!
Drink plenty of water so it’s easier for them to find a good vein.
Run around the block beforehand, or do something to get your body pumping blood so that it is a quicker process.
Good luck!
I used to give blood and was on the bone marrow donor list, but my diagnosis of melanoma put an abrupt end to that. I was told I had to take myself off the bone marrow donor list and could never donate blood again. I am in the US, but I wonder if France would also have the same rule.
Since we lived in Germany between 1984 and 1987, no one in my immediate family has been able to donate blood. This has upset me as I have an O negative blood type, often referred to as the universal blood type. A lost opportunity to help others…
Many years ago when I was a very poor college student, the local hospital had a great deal; donate blood and get a free turkey or 6 steaks! Because it was Thanksgiving and the friends I was going to visit were just as poor as I was, I donated blood for the first time and got our Thanksgiving turkey. It actually turned out to be fun because half the college was at the hospital to donate blood.
Another great “blood donating” memory was from when my younger brother was a poor college student. It was our older sister’s birthday and he didn’t have money to buy her a birthday present, so he donated blood and got paid for it (back when they paid you for your blood!). He used the money to buy her a present. Our older sister has always been one of the kindest, sweetest people on the face of the earth. It bought her to tears.
P.S. It was because of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April of 1986. We were told not to eat beef raised in Europe at that time…
Bonjour Kristi at Jean-Marc,
I too donated at the V.A. Hospital here in L.A. My husband had leukemia and needed the platelets that make up the blood in our veins. So it was my contribution to be a donned of the very thing that kept him alive for two more precious years. Now I am the recipient as I qualify for blood transfusions. So go with a smile. They treat you as someone special which YOU are and it is a don for everyone.
Bisons, Patience in L.A.
Lisa, Yes, it is because of the Mad Cow thing. Me too! I ate smuggled English beef at a house party in Greece in the late 90’s. Also if you were ill in any third worl countries they will turn you away as well.
I’ve never given blood but not for lack of trying. For a number of years, I didn’t weigh enough. Not a problem these days but now they won’t take my blood because I lived in England in the early 80’s. Mad cow disease is the culprit. When we had blood drives at the high school where I taught, my students would ask whether I had given blood. I told them my blood was undesirable and warned them that if I ever started foaming at the mouth and looking crazier than usual, it would probably be the mad cow disease kicking in! 😉 Hope you’ll be able to give now that you’ve psyched yourself up for it!
Bonjour Kristi, Thank you for sharing your life with us and now your “sang”. You will see that it only takes 15 minutes to donate and save lives.I am old, 4’11″and have donated about every 8 weeks for decades. I have to stay healthy and in shape. I cannot donate for a year after visiting certain countries and if I don’t make an appointment I get called by La Croix Rouge because I have O+ universal donor blood. Do yoga breathing and think of the children you can help. C’est le meilleur cadeau de Noël!
I’ve had two unrelated cancers, including a stem cell procedure, and a few times had 30 vials taken from my bloodstream. It’s not that bad when you consider the alternative. I just hope you won’t be surprised at how expensive your future medical bills will be in the US, where there are yearly deductibles, copays at times of service, extremely expensive medications, hard-to-deal-with insurance companies, for-profit hospitals with arcane rules. Is it possible you don’t know the facts about the US medical “system”? I still can’t find any reason you may have to leave France and your beautiful home. Soon we will have an uneducated, insane, insecure “president” which I don’t think you would enjoy. I know people who were educated in France and in other countries in Europe and I know what the educational levels are in the US. And this ignorant crazy person and his band of devils have had longtime contacts with Russia. Why, oh, why do you want to come to this miserable country.
I gave blood a few times a year for over 40 years. In spring 2011 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a lumpectomy and radiation, though no chemo. So no donations during that period. I’ve now passed the five-year mark, which is often considered the “survival” marker. I am planning to get in touch with the Red Cross, which used to call me all the time, to see if I am eligible to give again. If not blood, maybe platelets. There is a crying need for blood, especially around holidays when people travel and there are more accidents. We’ll see if they’ll take me. If they can’t use my donation for people, maybe the occasional pint could be used for research.
I have a couple of words of advice.
Re “exercising” beforehand: I recommend not getting too active. My temperature was always taken before a donation, and if it was even slightly above 98.6, it would be taken again. If it couldn’t get below, say, 99, I would be unable to donate – and particularly in warm weather, one can be healthy but still have a temperature a tad above normal.
Also, I highly recommend not rushing the donation. I gave quickly a few times, and nearly fainted afterwards. So I started squeezing the ball (which helps squirt the blood into the collection bag) more slowly, and deliberately stayed prone for a few minutes after the bag was full. I made my way slowly to the snack table afterwards, and took my time eating a cookie with juice. Everyone’s body is unique, but there is nothing to be gained by dashing through the experience, and you will be in better shape if you don’t hurry.
My husband David gives blood regularly in NYC. For some reason they like his platelets A LOT……After donating for many years, one day he got a call that they needed his platelets for a sick child at a cancer center….MY GOODNESS. It was on Thanksgiving morning and they sent a car to pick him up and drive him back….A sick child, on Thanksgiving…who needed that blood immediately……These are the sort of things that make you realize what life is all about. I sat and meditated on the parents of that child……..YOU CAN BE A HERO, JUST FOR ONE DAY….There are so very many ways we can contribute to this world while we are living and breathing…And so many reasons to be thankful that we are able to do so……LOVE YOU BOTH MUCHLY, Eileen XO
Yes, give blood. Think of the person who will benefit from the blood and how important it will be to them. Yes, drink the water and visit the Ladies just before donating. Your blood will be quickly be replaced by your own body. I know you will do just fine.
Jane, RN