Damn. Rejected for low hemoglobin. Within normal range for a lady, as always, just too low to donate. I knew I was pushing it coming in right at eight weeks; I usually can’t recover that quickly, but I was taking iron supplements and thought I could compress my usual 3-4 month timeline. Ah, well, I’ll try again in a few weeks.
I’ve been trying to give blood for months now, but it’s always booked at the local Red Cross center. And the Red Cross site really sucks. It will say there are openings, but when I go to look it’s only power red, which I don’t qualify for. I keep trying to tell it only do blood donation, but it will not listen. I’m glad I got an appointment, but man you’d think they would make it easier to donate.
ISTM that your perspective on this is unnecessarily guilt-inducing. Your donation certainly would help others and facilitate their ability to recover from healthcare emergencies, but your inaction doesn’t cause them harm or limit their ability to recover.
You haven’t said so explicitly, but I get the impression that perhaps you used to be a regular donor. If so, then you should cut yourself some slack; you’ve already done good in your life, and you shouldn’t be faulted for sitting on the sidelines for a bit. I haven’t donated since January - but I’ve already donated more than 9 gallons over the years, so I don’t feel terrible for taking a break.
I doubt very much blood banks would get down to zero supply. When supplies get really low, like they did in the middle of March, the blood bank will send up a flare through the media and then everyone comes out in droves. Unless you’re a regular donor, donating blood is not top of mind for most people.
Friday was the fourth anniversary of the Pulse Night Club shooting and our area blood bank was giving out commemorative T-shirts to donors. I understand they had a great turn-out.
Missing a donation is not going to mean someone dies, so don’t fret. Just get back to it when you can, or encourage your friends and family to donate.
I tried to donate on Monday and for the first time ever was refused. My hemoglobin was too low. What’s particularly odd is that literally every other time over the last several years, including eight weeks ago, my hemoglobin was so high that they asked me to do the double red cell thing.
They tried two finger sticks and they both came out barely too low. It wasn’t like my level was dangerously anemic but it was barely too low to donate. There have been no changes to my diet or activity level. I am going to try again today.
I just donated another double unit of red blood cells and my blood bank (Wilmington, NC) doesn’t have the hemoglobin sensor, they still do the finger stick, in my case, twice. The first one came up at 13.2 which is low for a Power Red. the second one came up at 13.7. I gather there’s a lot of variability in the sampling process, too much squeezing can milk out some extracellular fluid and dilute the sample. From my point of view the finger stick is the most painful part of the process, followed closely by ripping the hair out of my arm when they remove the tape, so I’d be grateful if that could be avoided.
Our blood bank in Florida has an Orsense to test iron. It’s a little cuff that fits over your thumb and squeezes it. Thank you for donating…maybe next time you can ask them about the device.
Four months after my last whole blood donation, and two months after I was rejected for low hemoglobin, I just barely squeaked by today. And they’re giving free COVID antibody tests now, which is cool.
I just hit the “gallon” mark for the year last night (I do either double or triple units of platelets, so it’s not actually a gallon of blood). My Red Cross location added Netflix this year, so I’m catching up on shows that I otherwise haven’t had time for.
At my previous appointment, the finger-stick said my hemoglobin was 12.8, just below the 13.0 limit. So they stuck my other finger, and that one came out 14.6 (more typical for me). A lot of variability, indeed.
Wow! That IS a lot of variability. Hmmm…