Volume 15 - Day 53/312, 2023 - Wednesday

I am of the opinion that there really should be a better way. I may have mentioned to you that, I am trying to find out if I am eligible to be a 1). Blood Donor, 2). Organ Donor and/or 3). Bone Marrow Donor. It seems that there is a real need for this right now, and in the mid to late 1970's I had hepatitis. It was not a severe case, I was off work for a couple weeks, and had jaundice, but that was it. I have always assumed that I was not eligible to donate blood because of that. When I lived in Memphis, I had been a frequent blood donor, but quit after that spell of hepatitis. I called my primary care physician (not really, you cannot call him, I had to e-mail him) as asked if the hepatitis he knew I had eliminated me from being able to donate. He said it depended on what type of hepatitis I had, and I asked him how we could determine that. We knew I did not have Hep C, because I had been tested for that. That left, apparently Hep A and Hep B. Well, he said, go donate blood and they will test your blood and let you know. In my little pea-brain, it seems like there should be just a simple blood test to tell me if I can donate or not, BUT NOOOO. You have to do the whole thing and then, if you got da bad blood, they will send you a registered letter letting you know. Seems like a long way around just to figure that out, but I caved and donated a pint this morning. I will let you know if I receive a registered letter from them. Otherwise, not a bad day, it hit 91 degrees here in central texas, but it will cool off a bit tomorrow, and go back up over the weekend. Stay tuned.