A Drop of Blood to Go a Long Way | Steemph Uae Bleeds with APO

I have always wanted to...

... but i never had the chance.

Until last Thursday, June 7th.

We made a call three weeks ago to all Abu Dhabi/ UAE based steemians to join us as we support the APO (Alpha Phi Omega) blood-letting campaign.

Apart from being a part of this noble cause, it also became a chance for us to meet again and spend some time together. Hey, we even had a few who came all the way from Dubai. Thanks @iamdeth, @paluchie, @lhyn and @donaldd for coming over, enduring the almost 2hrs trip.

Honestly, I was also too tired, I was having second thoughts about going. Thankfully, I managed to drag myself out of bed. Haha

The Banana Cake.

Straight from work, I went to the kitchen to work on the banana cake I promised to the gals. I did not want to disappoint @iamdeth. She was actually coming for the banana cake, not the blood donation. Lols. Seriously, there is a deeper history about the banana cake that I do not want to share yet, until we are ready and when the @steemph.uae core have finalized it. Ehem, ladies... meeting?!

Anyway, I was already busy mixing when I realized I did not have any more vanilla. 😢 For me, vanilla matters a lot. So I hope I still did justice to these little treats.

I packed 12 of these goodies for them.

8:00pm Call Time.

The venue, Abu Dhabi Blood Bank is only 5 kms away from our home so needless to say, we came late. 😅 The Dubai peeps were already there when we came.

@lifediaries2nd, our Community Manager from @steemph.uae, was there early for she was a part of the APO event organizers.

@kennyroy talking to @lhyn and @donaldd while the @divinekids were enjoying free juice.

We have already registered online so we just signed the registration sheet when we came, and waited for our turn to get our details inputted on the Blood bank roster and have our questionnaires printed.

The questions were personal, which ranged from medical history, sexual activity, travel history etc., which were fair enough since they needed to ensure that only qualified people will donate.

We had to wait after a long queue of donors for our turn at the examination room where we would be tested of our blood pressure, hemoglobin and BMI. Ohhh, the dreaded moment when I had to step on the weighing scale. Arrghhh, disappointing. Huhu.

The test of heart.

Anyway, the initial test was good and I was led to the room where the actual blood donation happens.

It is now a matter of laying down the bed for the extraction or run away. 😅 You see, I already had a lot of free fruit juices and water plus the tshirt and certificate. Can I back out now?!

(c) @prinsepong

Oh, yes! You know I won't.

Well, this Kabayan (term for a fellow Filipino) nurse was very warm and nice. He kept me (us) calm throughout.

He answered our naïve questions, like what the small bag (not the main bag)of blood was for - he said it was to take blood samples for routine tests so as not to contaminate the big bag of donated blood.

Beep! The alarm rang to alert that I was done. 500cc of blood. That was not too bad. I did not feel any different, though we were asked to stay on the bed for at least 10 more minutes.

Long and eventful evening.

It was a long and eventful night, though it still seemed short, justifying how much we enjoyed it.

We separated at past midnight, overjoyed and fulfilled, knowing that we just contributed to a great, life saving cause.

Of course, we will not leave without a groupie. We missed you here, @iamdeth and @paluchie!

(L-R) @divinekids, Tina, @pingcess, @prinsepong, me, @donaldd, @essan-san, @kennyroy, @lhyn, @lifediaries2nd._{image (c)prinsepong}

The first time, and will not be the last time.

A healthy person can donate as frequently as every three months. I sure hope I can keep it up. It feels great, knowing thay I can potentially save a life with my blood.

Truly, an ounce of blood to donate is worth a pound of life to save.

Until next time!

❤ Arlyn

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Check out more of our photos here.

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_{Cover photo pics grabbed from @prinsepong. Rest of the photos are mine, unless otherwise stated.}

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