spooje! I knew the was another apheresis/pheresis donor on the boards. Two hours of of your life and all the Tums you care to eat.
Unfortunately, I’m on a hiatus because of this stupid lump in my breast (got rid of one, found another). Not sure if I’ll be able to give again: I haven’t gotten a straight answer yet… 
Damn I miss donating.
Pheresis donors: The Few. The Proud. The Machined.
I first got suckered in while at Cambat Training for the Marines when someone told us that if you donate blood, you get early liberty. :mad: They lied and I had a sore arm for the remainer of the training cycle (though I was still #2 in our platoon.) After that, though, I donated about two or three times a year.
I’m A+ and I have “great veins” so I suppose I need to get donw to the Red cross sometime, it’s been about a year since my last trip.
screech-owl, I’ve never been given Tums when I’ve gone in for pheresis. What are they for? I get Nutter Butter cookies, and they make me happy.
For those of you who don’t know what pheresis (platelet donation) is like, it goes like this:
Blood is taken out of one of your arms, spun through a centrifuge to remove the platelets, then the platelet-less blood is sent back into you via the other arm. It takes about two hours or more than twice as long as giving whole blood.
The returning blood is significantly cooler than 98.6 degrees (37 C), so my lips usually turn blue and I get this weird numb/tingling sensation all over.
Jinxie, is your anemia a dangerous condition? Odd, I’m 5’7", 145 lbs. and a vegetarian, but I never have trouble with low iron.
GingerOfTheNorth: Lose the cats! But I could never! Are they really a dealbreaker?
Last time I checked I was up to 7 gallons of B+ donated, However, that was before Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. Since I was in England for over 6 months during the inclusive dates, I’ve been indefinitely banned from donating.
This sucks. I miss the cookies.
I’m also on the bone marrow donor list, but I don’t if the BSE scare excludes me here as well. I think it probably does.
Every 60 days or so…I’m CMV negative so they really like my blood. I’m only 32 but am already at about 3.5 gallons. When I hit 5 I get my picture on the wall at the donation center.
**
THAT’s what the Tums are for. They take care of that weird tingly feeling. Bring some in (the multi-fruit flavors are the best) and ask them to feed you a couple when you ask for them [when your mouth starts to tingle during the procedure]. Obviously you cannot feed yourself while strapped down.
One other guy who donates regularly has a ‘nose-stick’: it’s a thin dowel (about 18") wrapped in rough leather at the end (I think it’s leather). He holds it in one hand and uses this to scratch his face when it gets itchy (a slight drawback to pheresis, but not that it would stop me from donating). Darned clever device.
I’d LIKE to give blood, but… well, we’ve been over this before. Oddly, they seem to have no problem keeping me on file to give bone marrow.
I’m getting queasy just reading this thread.
I’m A+, and can’t get near a needle. I also have problems giving so much as a blood sample without repeated attempts, so I don’t.
I’m a B+ CMV- with over 7 gallons to his credit. In fact I give again next Friday. Where I work (about 8,000 employees) they bring in the Red Cross and we actually get to give blood on the clock. The snacks kinda suck, juice boxes, donuts, vending machine crackers (when I lived in NH, we got pizza and weenies).
I never knew about the whole CMV thing until I got a replacement donation card that identified me as a CMV- “hero”.
I still feel icky. In the entire time that I have been donating blood, I have never felt this poorly for more than an hour. I think I may have to eat liver and spinach for a week straight to get my iron count back up. Bleah
Yes.
I was under the impression that the anticoagulant that enters your bloodstream prior to the returned blood (or plasma, if you had a red cell apheresis) binds to calcium which causes the tingling. The cooler blood is part of it, but the chemical reaction causes lips and gums to tingle. Munching on Tums is a quick way to restore the lost calcium.
(Secondhand information, gleaned from the nurse the last time I was there.)
These people just wouldn’t let me give during my period. Something about losing too much iron [like my body hasn’t accounted for the monthly loss by now…] and blood all at once. I think they didn’t want any possible liability, and I didn’t feel like arguing.
Gah, thanks LNO. That’s what I get for not paying attention to preview. I typed in a new section but must have done something wrong. Thanks for the correction.
I love Tums.
** I’m so happy to see so many other pheresis donors! My next appointment to donate is tomorrow. I’ve been giving since 1988, though I took several years off while pregnant and/or nursing. I believe I have about 40 donations, but I haven’t looked lately. They love me there – well, at least I know they love my veins. The term ‘garden hose’ comes up fairly frequently. 
I hope everyone had a chance to look at the bone marrow registry links. This is a very important life-saving procedure which could be done much more frequently if there were more donors, especially minorities. Please help!
screch-owl – Lump?? Being taken care of?
Ellen - Yup. Thanks.
My Ex-Girlfriend works at the local blood center…
I can never go back…
I used to give a lot. They liked me as I am O Neg. About a month after the last time I gave (about 4 years ago) I got a letter from the Red Cross. Apparently they got a non-negative result on one of their tests. After follow up with my doc and more rigorous tests it was found that I do not have the virus they are concerned with. Unfortunately they still have me on the “do not take under any circumstances” list. I know because I tried last month. They said no way.
Has anyone ever gotten off the black list? It seems a waste to have a good source of O negative and not use it.
Also, I was turned away once because I did not have an appointment. It seems silly to me that they make no accomodation for walk-ins. I guess beggars can be choosers.
John
I give blood when I can. Last time I did I ran into Gaudere!
I was the blood drive coordinator for my employer for a couple of years, so gave about every three months. O+.
Sorry, says the blood bank. No queers.