my soap box

listening to the radio and what do I hear, a commercial for donating blood. Now I am all for donating blood but I have a bit to vent about. I finally screwed up enough courage to go donate blood a few years ago and even made the appointement for right after work so that I'd have to walk past the building to get home. I go in, they take my name, my SIN card and a bunch of other information down, give me a blue paper to fill out and send me into a room to wait for the nurse to come. I fill out all the questions, medical history etc and wait for the lady. The first thing she notices on the sheet is that I have marked down heart condition as I have one. So many questions later she refuses to take my blood unless I get approval from my cardiologist. I go home call the Dr., get his receptionist to fill out the forms for me and head back a few days later to the blood clinic. Again we fill out forms and I am waiting for the nurse. She is pleased to see that I have the signed forms and moves further down along the list of questions stopping at the tropical disease section. Well, I had malaria a few years ago (like 1995) and duly have mentioned it on my form, but lo-and-behold Ms. Nurse tells me that this now negates my ability to give blood even though I am O- (the most needed type of course). I tell her that I have been cleared, am in remission etc and can get signed forms saying as such but NO I am ushered out of tyhe clinic and told that I can never give blood, even for myself because I had Malaria! So now all these guilt trip add make me upset.
anyway that is my vent for today. Please give blood to make up for the fact that I can't! Especially after I worked up the courage to go. (for those of you that don't know - I HATE NEEDLES anywhere near me)