30 October 2011

Give and take

If you follow me on Twitter you'd know that i've been asking for people to help out on this.
"Dear all, my friend requires URGENT Blood and Platelet Transfusion by today and the supplies in the Blood Bank are low. We appeal for help.

Please go to Blood Services Group. Health Sciences Authority, 11, Outram Road (within SGH Grounds) Opp Outram MRT station.

Mention Tan Boon Chong (S7011332E) n intention for donation in view of urgent Blood n Platelets. Blood Donation Centre closes @ 8pm today."

This is Tan Boon Chong 陈文聪.

To you he could either be the old-school TCS (now call Mediacorp) actor, or you might have heard of him for producing some of the local TV variety shows you've seen (like "有话好好说", "食在好源头", "国记交易所" etc. He could also be just another guy around, that you've never heard of.

To me he was a great script-writer and assistant producer for a TV program i joined three years ago. The whole filming process took 6 months. And all the contestants (myself included) have to see the crew almost EVERYDAY.

I don't know much about him.. But all i remember from the time, in the ten thousand meetings we had, and all the rehearsals, i remember him to be always smiley, friendly, helpful and assuring.

He'd come and help us memorize our lines.. Shorten it for me if need be. Haha. Usually need to, cox i can't remember long lines. And he'd help with our Q&A, the "A" part.

In short, he's great to work with. And he just gotten married last year.

But just two days ago.. We all were told he has leukemia and is in critical condition now. He's in the ICU now. And as mentioned.. He needs blood and platelet. A lot of it. Three months of blood-transfusion.. Or until he can find suitable bone marrow.

When i woke up to the group chat involving all the contestants.. The first thought i had was.. "NO WAY i'm gonna donate blood. I'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry. No way i can do it. I'd just help RT it. I'm sorry"

Yeah, that was the truth. Anything that has to do with needles, i'd count myself out unless i really have to. I AM SCARED of needles. And pain. Plus i take extra long to get over the soreness after every jab. Cox i'm giasi also.

But after going following the convo for a while, it's a sad fact that most of them couldn't donate due to various reasons. Some underweight, some has too low of iron-count in the blood, some can't donate cox the green vein is too small/ too shallow.

So i thought to myself.. "Okay.. They tried to help. I tried to help by tweeting. I guess we all tried." But no man. I know i haven't tried. I'm just trying to make myself feel less guilty that i don't want to go donate blood cox i'm afraid of the pain.

So i asked among my own friends if it's gonna be painful. Mich's bf told me not painful. And he's a honest guy so i trust him. And so i went =OOO

But say real one, it was a 50-50. Like mixed feelings. Half of me would really wanna be able to help. Another half wish that i'd not pass some of the blood donation criteria and then i'd be spared of the pain and fear etc.

My purpose of telling you this grandmother story, is cox i wanna let you know i'm not a saint who went to help becox i wanna save the world and be an angel. I think of myself too. And i had struggles within myself on whether i should shrug it off as "I tried within my comfort zone" or to really go help by donating blood.

Somehow, i passed ALL the tests. When the nurse told me "Yeah you can donate!" I went, "Oh, i can..?" She's like "Yeah, happy???" I was like.. Laughing and laughing and laughing awkwardly. No real one. I laugh cox i am happy i can help and i need to show the nurse i'm happy cox i don't want her to think i'm some selfish bitch coward who's not willing to part with my blood lol.

But awkwardly becox in my heart i'm like "OH FUCKING SHIT I AM SO SCARED I CAN VOMIT NOW. HOW BIG IS THE NEEDLE OMG OMG OMG"

BUT TURNS OUT. My worries were all unduly.

Deng deng deng~ Not painful one! Or okay, if you must count the discomfort, it's only 2/10.
Bandaged up after the donation!
Resting and having my blood pressure checked after the donation.

Easy-peasy. Plus.. Your blood can save someone. I'd of course ask you to donate for Boon Chong cox this is why i'm involved. But if you wish to donate for the general blood bank, it's still a good call. Take your time to decide! Staggered blood donation is good cox then the blood bank and have sufficient blood all the time.

Bloodbank@HSA is Located at:
Blood Services Group
Health Sciences Authority (opposite Outram Park MRT Station)
11 Outram RoadSingapore 169078

It's within SGH ground. Pretty easy to find if you follow the direction signs. So please do help if you can? If your worry is pain.. It's not painful okay. The nurses and doctors are really helpful and friendly. And they thank you for helping to donate all the time. After the blood donation you'd be given a refreshment coupon. You know, to help you stay strong and fit! =))
I really really hope Boon Chong can recover from leukemia. It was really heart-warming to see the the bloodbank waiting area FILLED with his colleagues, family and friends. This shows how much a nice guy he is. But the sad thing is.. Most are not able to donate. So if you try.. You stand a chance to help at least. Thank you in advance. Family and friends of Boon Chong will be very grateful to you too.

And i not shy i say okay, I FEEL LIKE A SUPERHERO after donating blood *sheepish smile*
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Right after the blood donation, i was already rushing to attend the award for outstanding Small Medium Enterprises. Congratulations to Milly's and Milly for winning one of the prestigious awards!
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The fund-raising flea for Gentle Paws.
Look at the amount of masks and accessories. It's madness!
VERY delicious cuppies from Baked by Lace. She (Lace herself) is SOOOoooooo sweet!!! She came with extra cuppies for me and my nephew and for people at the shelter. Cox she knows my nephew major LOVE her nutella cuppies!
Moutain-full of brand new clothes. And please note the pack of tissue papers, Lace brought them for everyone to use cox we might get dirty and messy eating cuppies. HOW THOUGHTFUL IS THAT!!!

Super big thanks to the sponsors who helped and all of you who came down to support buy getting the calendar to raise fund for the shelter!

4 comments:

Line said...

I'm a blood donor as well as an organ and bone marrow donor, though I've only donated blood so far. I'm not a big fan of needles either and seeing blood makes me queasy. However, a couple of years ago my mum was told she couldn't be a donor anymore because of hypertension and the medicine she has to take daily. My mum was really passionate about being a donor so I decided to become one as she no longer could. The nurses are always really sweet and tell me to look away before they poke me and make sure to cover the needle before they leave. I really enjoy donating blood now and I always go home with a good feeling :)

Xynn-eigh said...

OH my gosh yes please help him! His Father in law is collected/friends with my mom he actually recovered already but it relapsed. If you can't donate please pray or something. ABs can take ANY blood type so no excuses!

Anonymous said...

I think it's really admirable that you went to donate blood despite your fears! I donated blood once in school and it wasn't as bad as expected. Yay now that you've blogged about it i'm sure more people will be open to donating :)

QiuQiu said...

Line, i know what you mean about the good feeling. There's some problem with my bruise healing thou. Like now it's this big bruise shaped in "L". Quite big. Don't know when it will go off.