I wish I could donate, but I have crappy veins. The poor nurses at my dr’s office have a heck of a time getting the requisite 2 tubes at my annual physical. I won’t even get into how tough it is to get an IV into me.
I’ve just checked and apparently anyone who has traveled to the USA or Canada during West Nile season is excluded from giving blood in the UK for a period of a few months.
Interesting!
I can’t see myself putting on 10lbs just to be able to give blood, so that is me out.
That makes sense. I did sort of figure it out on the way home the other night, trying to remember all the questions. In the U.S. do they have the question about monkey fluids?
Me, too. I gave blood regularly when I was younger before having a bout with Hepatitis A in 1987. I had a full recovery, but any past hepatitis infection (even with an acute, non-chronic, temporary infection) is permanently disqualifying.
I always answer “Yes” to the “have you come in contact with anyone else’s blood” question - I’ve got 3 young kids, and it’s pretty certain I’ve had to deal with a nosebleed/scraped knee/other minor injury on one of them since my last donation. I explain it to the interviewer, and they’ve never barred me from donating.
Formerly I was a regular donor. After I started having tropical vacations I was no longer wanted.
Used to, in a previous employed life. Today, I would still, but am hardly motivated by the occassional sightings of blood drive signs to drop in and give up a few drops.
That makes sense. I thought my situation would be a passable exception, too. Oh, well.
That was me!
And I had quite the harrowing donation just yesterday. It’s very unusual for platelet donors to faint, but I greyed out on the way to the cookie room. Skipping lunch and an additional plasma donation are likely to blame.
Aiiee! I’m glad you’re okay.
When I get back to the city, I’ll have to give another donation… apparently Type O is popular.
Have gone several times, always anemic, now I don’t bother.
I donated regularly for about 18 months until I got married last fall. Got my 1 gallon pin…
I need to start again, just haven’t had the time that I did before I was married. They called me recently and I had to defer them because I’ve had some problems with bleeding where I was told not to donate for a bit.
I have O+ blood, so the Red Cross loves me. They call me every 8 weeks, like clockwork, to schedule an appointment. I hate needles, but I donate anyways.
FairyChatMom I’m your opposite. I have veins like garden hoses. (Isn’t that an attractive thought?)
I answered Fool of a Took 
because I don’t give blood, I give platelets. The percentage of people who can/will give blood is small, and the people willing to spend the time to have their platelets spun off is even smaller! It takes around an hour and a half to two hours. I haven’t been in a while because of long-term nursing my child, but since he’s finally weaned I’ll be going back soon. I’ve donated platelets for more than 20 years! (This is different from plasma donations, for which you get paid.)
I’ve worked blood drives before, so I know pretty much every legitimate reason why people can’t or aren’t allowed to donate, but never heard of this. The institutional bias against gay men and women in the US never fails to blow my mind.
I feel pretty guilty about it, but I’m permanently excluded - my veins are teeny tiny. The few cc’s I have taken every year to re-check my (slow) thryoid are taken from my hand with a butterfly needle.
Whaaaaat? You get paid for plasma??? Damn! They often take a plasma when I donate platelets (the machine can do both at once, so there’s an extra IV bag collecting goo). I’ve never been paid for plasma! They just give me a cookie!
:mad: Cheapskates!
Oh, and here with the new apheresis machines it’s about 50 minutes. But if you have a low platelet count, or you’re small, it can take longer.
Re: Gay blood donation.
Senators: Lift ban on gays donating blood
Now whether or not it will actually get anywhere is another question entirely. But at least the issue is getting some attention.
Me too. I think I could do it without adverse effect, but the weight restriction is 110 pounds. When I weighed 112-115 I donated once a year, no problems. I just can’t get the pounds back that I lost when I had that gall bladder problem.
I think what we do is tie it to UHC coverage. In exchange for passing UHC, we throw the Republican senators a bone - gay people can donate to public blood, and if you get public blood you have to take whatever they got. If you opt for private blood, though, you can specifically ask for white Christian non-gay blood.
I used to donate blood every 56 days and platelets even more regularly. My blood was like gold and the local center loved me because I could hop off the table and leave without any needed recovery time. However, my current job requires me to travel to Costa Rica once a year and the wait time for donating after visiting Costa Rica is one year. By the time I can almost give again, I am back there. It’s sad actually, because it was something that I enjoyed being able to do.