My 6 year old daughter, Naomi has been kept alive by blood and platelet transfusions. She has been battling cancer for over three years now. During her bone marrow transplant, she needed a transfusion every few days. Now she needs one every three or four weeks.
To all doners, thank you.http://groups.msn.com/TheFauxFamilyDavidandPrajna/thedisneycruise.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=348
(Naomi’s picture)
Wow… Thanks for all the help, guys. I’m home, now.
It turns out I was rejected because my pulse rate was too high. They want you to be in the range of 50-100 beats, and I was at 108. They even had me sit out in the food area, relax, drink some OJ, mellow out, and try again, but no go.
So I’ll make another appointment another time. No harm, no foul.
I did get my finger pricked; they said it was to test red-blood-cell count. I was OK in that area.
One of the contributing factors to the rapid pulse was that I got lost getting there. In DC, this clinic is right near a Metro train station. But I got off at the wrong one (a stop early), then got turned around as to where the ##@ I was (even though I had a map!). So I was late, and probably stressed as a result.
But as I said, no harm, no foul. Will try again soon.
Possibly, but if you get aroused, you’ll have less blood available for the donation.
I’ve got about 45 donations in. 5 more and I get a free car wash.
Oh no, I’d still have it. She’d just have to find another way of getting it out. 
I know they’ve mentioned the medical history thing in prior posts, but I cannot stress it enough – when you go in next time, have your entire medical history memorized. I take too darn long trying to recall medical history, they get irritated, I just say no to everything, then 10 minutes later I remember something significant and by that point they want to throw me out, I think. I try to donate blood on occasion, but I wish I didn’t have to feel like an idiot doing it.
Ooh, I get so excited when I get to give blood. I’ve given 5 times and been turned down 5 times (4 for iron being too low, the first time was because I was only 16 and as much as I pleaded and begged, they wouldn’t let me give). It’s fun! In a nonconventional way of course, but I think it’s so neat to give blood. Here’s to hoping you’ll be accepted next time you try!
The thing that weirded me out the first time I donated was how warm my arm started to feel as soon as they put that needle in. I know it’s normal because all that extra blood is flowing there, but talk about an icky surprise feeling. Also, I used to eat a bowl or two of Total about an hour or two before giving blood (gets the iron count up there) and it would be rough because when I tried to eat after donating, I had no appetite and couldn’t force much food or juice down. And it is so important to get some food back into you, I remember those times I would get dizzy and terribly nauseated when I didn’t eat much. However, if I laid off on the cereal and ate a good bit afterwards, I was absolutely fine.
For me, it always hurts for about 15 seconds after they put the needle in my arm - it’s not a sharp pain, more of a strong ache and then it fades and I don’t feel anything. It’s not bad at all, and it’s really neat to watch the bag fill up. I am counting down the days until Nov. 18th when I can give again. Can’t wait to hit the gallon mark! And I hope you get to give next time, Dan, it is a wonderful thing to do!
Make sure you eat and drink (non-alcoholic beverages) before donating. Don’t ever donate on an empty stomach…that’s just begging the Fainting Fairy to pay a visit to you.
It also helps to keep talking to the needle dude during the process. Keeps your mind off of the needle in your arm, and generally makes the time pass quicker. I also tell myself before any needle in my arm that it’s going to feel like a bee sting, and then I tend not to notice the pain. I’m too busy saying “bee sting bee sting bee sting” over and over.
I’ve also donated blood with a friend. Gives you someone else to talk to, someone to pick on if they faint, or someone to get you juice if you faint.
I will note that I haven’t given blood for 5 years. Not because I don’t want to (I think I’m probably the only person on earth that doesn’t mind needles) but because I would faint every time I gave blood. After my third fainting experience, I received a letter from the Red Cross stating not to donate…because it wasn’t really healthy for me. For me, I would start out laying on the table, talking away…and then as the bag got filled, I would notice how the tube carrying the blood to the bag felt like spaghetti and how it was really warm and I really wanted it off of me. And then I would stop talking, start getting really hot, start sweating, get really nauseous, see colors, then I was out. It would take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour for me to be able to stand up on my own, and a day or two to be back to full strength. So, if anything feels weird or off, say something…never know what will follow.
dantheman - good for ya! 
I’ve been donating since i was 16 - doesn’t hurt one bit, n’ there’s nothing much to worry about. Just sit back, and let the vampires get to ya.
The people who will be on the other end, receiving the blood you donated, will be eternally grateful.
I know I am…
E.
I just got my two gallon pin last week!
Just wanted to brag…
For those of you that are really into giving blood, I’ve heard that if you really want to be a brave soldier, contact your local hospital about donating bone marrow. This is a bigger deal than the monthly blood drive at the office, because they have to find out what kind of marrow you have, and then match you to someone who needs it, so they take it only when they find someone you match with. But you’d be helping to save someone’s life: major Good Karma points there.
Don’t rush me. Once I get this blood thingy done, my next step might be the tissue donation. Then maybe marrow. Heck, take the whole body.
When the Red Cross calls me 8 weeks and 1 second since my last donation and proposes that I come to the donor center about a 30 minute drive from my house, I now counter by asking them for a blood drive in my town or a neighboring one, there always is a much handier location in a week or two.
Another option, which I’ve been doing for about five years, is pharesis, or platelet donation. It takes longer, because what they do is drain blood from one arm, filter out what they need, then return the “blood light” to the other arm. This can take up to two hours, depending on your blood flow. You can also do it more often, IIRC as soon as 48 hours apart but no more than 24 times a year. One of the uses of the platelets, as Roadwalker mentioned, is when someone is getting a bone marrow transplant; once I was asked to come in once a week for five or six weeks because they had someone scheduled for a bone marrow transplant and they needed a guaranteed source of platelets for the course of his treatment.
i can’t donate (i don’t weigh enough), but have accompanied friends several times.
everyone was fine, and nobody fainted.
except macho-guy-friend, who can’t deal with his own blood (and yes, he’s a med student!)
in dublin you get a free glass of guinness…what a stunning idea
Actually, plasma donations are more useful than whole blood in many cases. So much so that our local donation center has signs for the staff to remind them to ask whole blood donors if they would consider donating plasma. They have a chart which tracks their whole blood and plasma donations relative to thier goals, and thier goals are to have more plasma than whole blood. Why? Consider the following from a blood collection center FAQ
Add onto the wider usage possibilities of plasma the fact that it keeps longer and can be used across the blood types and you’ve got an extremely valuable substance. Here’s some info on how long the various blood products keep, from a Canadian donation center
[quote]
The blood supply must be replaced regularly to keep a current
inventory of fresh blood and blood products. Blood products are
refrigerated and have a shelf-life of:
[ul][li]Ten years for source plasma [/li][li]One year for fresh frozen plasma [/li][li]Forty-two days for red blood cells [/li][li]Thirty-five days for whole blood [/li][li]Five days for platelets [/ul][/li][/quote]
Wow, plasma is really good stuff, both because it keeps and because it’s got a wide variety of uses. This doesn’t mean whole blood isn’t useful, it’s downright necessary in many cases, but unless your local blood collection center is low on your type, please consider donating plasma. It’s a gift that keeps on giving, long after the whole blood would have to have been thrown out.
Enjoy,
Steven
Well, I made another appointment, this time for 4 pm on Monday, Nov. 11.
Now that I know precisely where it is, getting there should be no problem!
Oh, and if anyone out there wants to accompany me, I’m all for it.
LurkMeister brings up a good point as well. Platelets are important for a great many types of operations and medical treatments. A couple of things to remember about platelets. First, they don’t keep very long. This is due to the nature of platelets, they are very fragile, think of thin balloons of glue that pop pretty easily. The very process of centrifuging(seperating) them and putting a bunch of them in a bag ruins many of them. Secondly, they need to be matched donor to patient like whole blood does. They’re part of the immune system and bad things can happen if there is a mismatch between certain characteristics of the donor and recipient. Again, from the Canadian blood center I mentioned earlier.
So while it’s not a problem to donate platelets, it’s more useful to offer to be a platelet donor in the future. They’ll do some tests and put your name on a list of donors who have certain characteristics, like they did with LurkMeister, and when they have a patient who needs platelets their body won’t reject, they’ll call you. It’s virtually impossible to keep a stock of platelets, the on-request donation is the best thing a donor can do if you want to donate platelets. It is difficult to match donor to patient with platelets, your combination of characteristics will match roughly 1/10,000 other people unless you’re related, then the chances go up to a staggering 1/4. The majority of platelet donors are relatives of the patient. So if you sign up to be a platlet donor, unless one of your relatives, or one of the tiny fraction of the rest of the population you’re compatible with comes in, you won’t be called to donate. But, if one of them DOES come in, then you’ll probably be called over and over. Platelets are extremely important in the treatment of Hemophilia, cancers in general, and Lukemia in specific, because Lukemia attacks the bone tissues and the bone tissue is what produces platelets.
Enjoy,
Steven
Since everyone seems to have given you a good rundown on what to expect … enjoy your cookies n juice! Stay away from alcoholic beverages afterwards … it’ll hit ya quite hard. (ummm well ok so I know this first hand).
dantheman hope your second attempt goes well, and even if it doesn’t, from one who’s been a recipient of blood donations from strangers, we thank you!
Thanks. It’ll be fine this time, especially since it’s later.
(Note to self, drink plenty of liquids, but nothing with caffeine . . .)
I began donating whole blood in 1984, went fairly continuously until 1991 when the military had pumped me full of stuff and I had to take three years off. Back to bleeding in 95, then pheresis starting in 1997 or so. I have no clue how many gallons, I never kept track and gave in 6 different districts over time. I am a regular at the center down here, they always tell me who the donation is for, the name, age, and condition of the recipient. Too many kids need this stuff.
Thanks, dan. You the man.