I have an appointment on Saturday the 25th, but I’m not someone who wouldn’t otherwise donate, so Opal will have to keep trying to rack up those numbers.
I give whole blood, but someday I hope to be brave like UncleBill and give platelets. He’s a better man than I am.
Register one more pint of O neg on January 21.
Got turned down on monday - hematocrit level was 36%, but I’ll try again before the month is out.
(It’s very depressing to get turned down. On the way home, I started seriously questioning their "only x% of eligible donors donate statistic. I doubt it. I am willing to bet that it’s a much higher percent who do donate, because it’s so easy to become ineligible.)
Very timely, I was considering not donating tommorow because I have too much stuff on my to do list, but now I will make the time for sure. I’m O+ so I try to give 4x per year at the least. I am working on my 5th gallon.
They don’t like my blood. Well, actually, they don’t like my body’s stupid “pass out at ANY invasion” crisis management. I was fine giving blood–just doing my thing, reading a magazine, ignoring the needles, which don’t bother me–then the next thing I know everything is white, people are yelling at me to open my eyes, and there’s a nurse repeating, “I really recommend you don’t give blood again.” To summarize my experience in the words of a nurse friend: “Oh my God! You totally Vegeled!”
I wonder if changing the time of month, or eating more, or drinking more water, or something along that line would work.
I’ve been three different times when they couldn’t get the blood out of my arms. Each time they told me to come back. I guess the veins are doing what they’re supposed to, they just don’t let blood come out. I just gave up last time.
Why can’t they get the blood from anywhere else on the body? I asked the person and they just look at me and tell me to come back so they can try again.
Any suggestions?
Donated my O+ 29JAN2003
brian
aeropl: Suggest the neck next time ;D
I gave last Saturday and already have my appointment set for my first day of eligibility. I just found out where this donor center was, but now I’m going to go every two months like clockwork.
–Cliffy
I’m running (and donating at) a blood drive at my synagogue on Feb. 16th. I won’t make Opal’s deadline, but what the heck . . .
Gave blood last Friday (1/24) - 1 point over the minimum iron/hematocrit level… the iron pills paid off!
Small bruise on inner arm – note to self: do not exercise at pool AND go speed-walking the day after you give blood… felt crappy the rest of the day!
So how many pints have we collected so far?
One more on the pile. I go on Monday for apheresis. Woo!
Add my pint of A+ to the list. Donated a couple of days ago. Like usual (I’m up somewhere over 3 gal.), they had trouble finding my deeply buried veins. What’s unusual is that they had to switch arms after sticking me once. I got a couple of funny looks from people out running errands that day with bandages on both arms (different colors). The phlebotomist who successfully hit the vein said that I should just ask for a supervisor every time.
I did apheresis Friday. At one point the machine started acting up, and I was afraid they were going to have to abort (which is what happened last November) but they were able to get it reset and finish the procedure. I may also be donating blood next weekend (which will delay my next aphresis, but I think my veins may need a rest anyway).
BTW, I just got a certificate from LifeSource for donating platelets over five times last year. It came with a coupon good for a free cooler; last year I also got an umbrella and t-shirt for donating in September.
So one more pint to count up…
I hate needles and tend to pass out for anything vaguely related to doctors, medicine or hospitals… but I figured I’d suck it up and do it anyway because it helps people… even though my mom thinks I’ll get AIDS because thge stupid news people on the spanish channel said they reuse needles and that I’m going to get fat… now if they would only send me a donor card that didn’t have a birthdate that says I’m 15 and ineleigible to donate…
So yeah, one more pint on January 30, 2003
Kitty
So, a little past the deadline, but when you’re in the middle of nowhere, you have to wait for the the drive to come to you.
So, +1 pint A+ blood to the Straight Dope total, and hoping this effective bump might remind some others to donate…
I haven’t been able to donate - I’ve been too sick with migraines the past few weeks. I’m hoping for sometime next month (providing the new meds don’t disqualify me and the iron levels are good).
As one who works for CBS (Canadian Blood Services), thank you to all.
Reporting back as promised.
My HCT was 36 (two points shy of acceptable) in spite of sporadic iron supplementation. I’ll try again on the 23rd of May, though I don’t plan to revive the thread about it.