Giving blood..or your life! [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

†Seer†

2008-01-31, 05:22 PM

Decided to share with you all some current going ons.

Yesterday there was a blood drive, so I decided to go to donate mine and to find out my blood type. Filled out the forms, got registered, and did the screening test. Everything checked out fine.

They took me to the bed they have you lay on while they draw from you, and my EMT (ironically) came over. Talked for a bit, then we got started.
I know some get nervous when you watch so I look out the window as he's inserting the needle, and I notice that it hurts more than it should. I mentally shrug, as it's been a long time since I've been stuck w/ a needle, then I hear another person there kind of sigh and I hear, "I'll...get you some more guaze."

Turn out the guy doing my extraction was a)new, and b) I have really thin veins where they needed, and thus...he hit an artery >.< I had 4-5 people around me getting it under control, but now it's all bandaged and healing, although extremely sore.

So now I am somewhat unable to function for the next few days. Back to focusing in Accounting, just felt like sharing :)

The Orange Zergling

2008-01-31, 05:51 PM

This is why I never plan to give blood.

Hope you get over it soon, though.

Mordokai

2008-01-31, 05:56 PM

Ah, this things happen. I know, bad for you when they do. But, don't let this turn you away from blood donoring. Of course, if you have as veins as thin as you say than you probably won't be able to be blood donor at all.

I've given blood ten times up until now and am planing to do so in the future as well. As long as I feel healthy I see no problem in it.

SMEE

2008-01-31, 06:04 PM

I donate blood fairly often, and always donate it on my birthday.

It's not too terrifying, actually...

FoE

2008-01-31, 06:09 PM

This is why I never help my fellow man! To hell with the bastards! Shoot 'em all and let God sort 'em out, I say! :smalltongue:

Amotis

2008-01-31, 06:09 PM

Happened to me once, I have really thin veins too.

Speaking of giving: I'm thinking about entering the bone marrow registry. Has anyone else done this?

Smeik

2008-01-31, 06:10 PM

I'd love to donate blood. But unfortunately, nobody wants my blood, as it would be too expensive to transport and store it.:smallbiggrin:

Well, at least I'm an organ donor should i die.

Green Bean

2008-01-31, 06:13 PM

I wish I could donate blood, but I can't. There's some rule here that says you can't donate blood if you lived in England within a certain time period, which I unfortunately did. I'm not entirely sure why, but it might have something to do with that Mad Cow scare a while back. It's a real shame, too, because I'm a universal donor.

B-Man

2008-01-31, 06:23 PM

I want to donate blood again, but I don't want to risk passing out again. I donated my litre of blood in 6 minutes, went to the cookie eating area, passed out. It was scary, 'cause I knew I was passing out, but I couldn't do anything. It was like I blinked and then people were trying to hold me up instantaneously. It was very scary.

SMEE

2008-01-31, 06:26 PM

Happened to me once, I have really thin veins too.

Speaking of giving: I'm thinking about entering the bone marrow registry. Has anyone else done this?

Yes. I'm a registred bone marrow donnor. :smallsmile:
I entered it last year. :smallbiggrin:
You should totally do it, Amo.

North

2008-01-31, 06:31 PM

Ive donated a couple times. I hate needles but if it helps someone else its a small price to pay.

Raistlin1040

2008-01-31, 06:50 PM

I'm too young to donate (as far as I know), but I'll probably do it when I can.

Aren't there some rules about donating though? I think I'm O (Universal doner right?), but that's all I know.

RandomLogic

2008-01-31, 06:56 PM

averagejoe

2008-01-31, 07:00 PM

I like giving blood. You get free cookies. Free. Freaking. Cookies. How can any sane person turn that down? Plus I have the type O negative, so my blood is in high demand.

Happened to me once, I have really thin veins too.

Speaking of giving: I'm thinking about entering the bone marrow registry. Has anyone else done this?

Yes. I'm not sure what more to say; it's really no biggie. You just swab your mouth, fill out some personal forms, and make sure to inform them if any of your information changes.

I'm too young to donate (as far as I know), but I'll probably do it when I can.

Aren't there some rules about donating though? I think I'm O (Universal doner right?), but that's all I know.

You should be able to get your parent's permission, unless there is some sort of age cutoff I'm unaware of. I imagine if you're too young then a pint is just too much.

And, yes, type O is the universal donor. Well, O negative. O positive can donate to anyone with a positive blood type.

SweetLikeLemons

2008-01-31, 07:11 PM

The places where I've lived you have to be 17 to donate. They usually have a weight requirement, too. Also there are lots of rules about where you've lived and traveled, whether you've had various illnesses (from serious illnesses to a cold in the past week), whether you've ever used intravenous drugs, etc. You don't have to know your blood type, they'll type it for you. You are supposed to have eaten a good breakfast before you donate, and it is a good idea to be very well hydrated. It makes it easier for them to find the vein.

Every time I've had trouble with a donation it has been at least partially my fault, usually because I haven't had enough to drink, making my already thin and squiggly veins even harder to poke. The first time I donated, the lady only nicked my vein (after several attempts) and I ended up with a huge bruise from my elbow to my wrist. I really wanted to donate, though, so they fed me a couple cans of cranberry juice and were able to get a vein in my other arm just fine.

I've only fainted once, and that was just because instead of resting like they told me to, I volunteered at a concession booth at the hockey game to raise money for my school. Standing for long periods of time in a hot kitchen after giving blood is not very smart.

I've also had plenty of donations go perfectly smoothly, leaving me with that nice smug feeling of having done something to help another human being.

And also free cookies.

Raider

2008-01-31, 07:15 PM

Too young, I will when I can though

Helping people FTW

Syka

2008-01-31, 07:23 PM

Can't donate under 17. I tried when I was 16, I was taller and weighed more than my mom...I had her permission...and they wouldn't let me. *sigh*

I used to donate fairly regularly, but I haven't had much of a chance since coming up to school, since the two times before I moved I got faintly ill after donating (nothing major, just needed to stay seated and limit movement for a few hours), so I can't risk having to walk home alone. I'll probably try again over Spring Break.

I've only been turned down once, because my pulse was too high. For a good reason. I'd had an appointment to donate (they were on my campus) and I was walking across this area, during a thunderstorm. When I reached the pavilion in the middle I saw a flash and literally, the first thing in my mind was "Oh s***...*BOOOM*" Lightening had struck the radio tower that wasn't more than...oh, say within a football field of me, rough estimate. I kinda walked in a circle for about half a minute while my brain tried to pick up the terrified pieces of itself. I still tried to donate, but they took my rate the first time, waited 15 minutes, tried again and it was still too high. :(

Worst experience: Everything started off good, then I look down and go, "Hey, my blood isn't doing anything." because, evidently, it just...stopped flowing. So they nurse lady takes the needle and started JABBING IT AROUND IN MY VEIN. I clenched my teeth and put up with it. But they still couldn't get it flowing. They took the bag, weighed it, and determined I had gone over the capacity to start a new bag (and couldn't finish off that one). So...intense pain, little less severe than my old period cramps, for nothing (except I did get a cookie). I had a multi-colored bruise covering half my forearm for over a week. Oh, and two days after this I went up to visit my ex and got to meet all his friends...with a giant yellow/green/purple bruise on my arm. :smallsigh: But that's the only bad one I've had.

At one point I went frequently enough that I actually got to know one of the techs on the donation bus pretty well (since they were on campus every few weeks, and I went as soon as I could).

But yeah, I wanna donate again. :)

Cheers,
Syka

Jagg

2008-01-31, 07:25 PM

My family are strange when it comes to giving blood.

My older brother was so accident prone as a child and young man that he had several tetanus shots (just to be sure) when he was growing up. When he gave blood for the first time, they called him up and explained that he had 1000 times the "normal" amount of tetanus antibodies in his blood. They explained how important this is because these antibodies get used on patients who cannot get a tetanus shot. He used to go in once a month, where they would drain a pint, stick it in a centrifuge to separate blood cells from plasma, put the blood cells into saline solution, and pump it back into him. He did this for two years and he said it hurt every time because they used a much bigger needle.

My wife has very unusual blood. She's a universal donor, but apparently as you move out of infancy, something changes in your blood. "G" factor I think it's called. She never lost it. So not only can her blood be used on anyone, it's especially good for babies and infants. The hospital has her number on speed dial and she gets big warm fuzzies when she donates blood as she knows where it's going. I always knew her blood was worth bottling :smallbiggrin:

phoenixineohp

2008-01-31, 07:42 PM

I donate! Been doing it for 5 years now. Also its a good way to make sure you are all free and clear of std's! heh, because they do all those tests on your blood.

My best time for filling a bag was 3 minutes flat! And I walked away afterwards :smallbiggrin:

Umm, yes they test for some std things, but not all of them. And they won't necessarily call you if they do find something. Just get the actual tests done.

Jagg, that's amazing. Give both of them a hug for me. But that makes me wonder why we don't get a few people taking tetanus shots rather often and then milk them. Hmm...

h_v, yes, it's because of mad cow and prions. Considering how scary prions are, I'm okay with that rule. :smalleek:

I think giving blood is very very important. So since I was the right age I kept trying. "It's in you to give", well apparently not. I have been turned down because of: weight, iron count, travel, piercings, and a recent cold. And mostly more than once for each. So when I was finally allowed, I was thrilled.

Now, I used to be extremely anemic, so I'm quite used to having blood taken and have a nice vein for it. So the sheer amount of pain I was experiencing during the donation tipped me off that something was wrong. I told a nurse 3 times during the 20 or so minutes that it was exceptionally painful and they just kept telling me to move my arm up and down. Finally it was over and the nurse took it out, which was painful enough to almost make me cry. (Though some of that may have been relief.) She notices my distress and realized that I too have very thin veins. So each time I moved my arm, the needle grated against the walls, which was causing all the pain. I had a decent bruise and the mark didn't go away for a few months.

That was 4 years ago. I still think donating is really important, but I'm not sure if I can again. It could be that something is giving me the hint that I need to just stop trying. :smallsigh:

SurlySeraph

2008-01-31, 07:46 PM

I've always wanted to give blood. But all the local blood drives are in the winter, during wrestling season, when I need all the blood I can get. :smallsigh:

Syka

2008-01-31, 07:54 PM

Oh, I forgot to mention...I once had the needle pretty much suction on to the wall of my vein. I could feel the blood pulsing out each time, so I asked the tech (the guy I had gotten to know) about it to find out if it was normal. He said it was and it had happened to him too.

It was freaky but kinda cool. I also learned how to tell, without looking at the bag, when it was done. I could feel the blood stop going out, and I've taken to letting them know when it does that because if I don't and they don't get to it right away, it hurts like the blood is backing up or something.

Cheers,
Syka

MeklorIlavator

2008-01-31, 08:10 PM

I've never given blood, even though I could. My issue is that I have this severe fear of needles. I can barely stand shots, and once to draw blood for some tests they had to hold down my arm(I was 5 at the time). It seems to have gotten better recently, so I might give it in the near future.

ZombieRockStar

2008-01-31, 08:34 PM

I always give blood. Seems like the good thing to do.

I am also on the bone marrow registry, and have possibly thought about becoming an organ donor. *shrug*

You know, every time I do the questionnaire, and they ask "have you had sex with a man even once since 1977?", I'm tempted to say "no, but there was that one time in 1976" (for reference, it's quite obvious I was born a good deal after then). They really should stop asking that.

Raiser Blade

2008-01-31, 08:41 PM

I have donated before my blood type is AB- I think It's a certain blood type where I can take any kind of blood.

My mom donates a lot because she has B- negative blood.

Jagg

2008-01-31, 08:46 PM

Jagg, that's amazing. Give both of them a hug for me. But that makes me wonder why we don't get a few people taking tetanus shots rather often and then milk them. Hmm...

I did say they were strange...apparently it's not unheard of, but it is unusual to have that amount of antibodies. The techs said that he probably fought off Tetanus at one stage in addition to getting all those tetanus jabs. (So one of the rusty nails he'd stepped on actually would have killed him if he hadn't had a jab) and his immune system went into overdrive.

It might be hard to encourage people to get milked for their antibodies if you have to stab them with a rusty nail.:smallbiggrin:

JAGG

averagejoe

2008-01-31, 08:52 PM

I have donated before my blood type is AB- I think It's a certain blood type where I can take any kind of blood.

My mom donates a lot because she has B- negative blood.

Not quite; you can't take AB+, A+, B+, or O+ blood.

To everyone, because a lot of people seem unsure, the way it works is that blood can have A, B, both or neither antigens, as well as a rhesus factor that you may or may not have, which is what the positive and negative indicates. Basicall, if your blood lacks an antigen type or the rhesus factor then you can't accept blood that has it, though if you have an antigen or the rhesus factor then you can accept blood that doesn't have it.

So, take Raiser_B1ade's mom, for example. She's B-, which means she has the B antigen, lacks the A antigen, and lacks the rhesus factor. This means that she can give to anyone with AB+, AB-, B+, and B-, but not to A+, A-, O+, or O-.

Ya Ta Hey!

2008-01-31, 08:53 PM

The one thing that surprised me when I gave blood was the secret "Don't use my blood" sticker they give you in case you don't want to admit to having AIDS or hep in front of whoever's driving you home.

I mean, I understand the respect for privacy, but that could be bad news if they were your significant other and you were keeping that under your hat :smalleek:

Jagg

2008-01-31, 09:05 PM

OO I forgot one... this one is classic.

One of my cousins is a bit of a mutant. He has what they affectionately called "c type blood". There isn't such a thing BTW. But he had AB+ blood with some associated strangeness. After taking a nasty fall from his BMX bike when he was twelve they typed his blood (because he needed surgery) and got sorts of strange reactions they weren't expecting. After they had removed part of his impacted liver, and used nothing but saline solution in the surgery (because they didn't want to kill him giving him the wrong blood), they thoroughly tested his blood and it was decided that the only person who could donate blood to Nick.....was Nick.

So at the age of thirteen he started giving blood and they would keep it for his personal use. The doctors also told him that he was to give up all dangerous sports activities and try not to get seriously hurt.

This is how strange his blood is. His wife has O- type blood. His parents are A+ and B+ respectively. His kids both had 0- blood. So not only did his kids have negative Rhesus when he was positive (which is just weird), he SHOULD have given them either an A or B marker....and didn't.

Reminds me of that joke... We have good news and bad news. The good news is we're naming a disease after you.....

captain_decadence

2008-01-31, 09:08 PM

Happened to me once, I have really thin veins too.

Speaking of giving: I'm thinking about entering the bone marrow registry. Has anyone else done this?

I am in the bone marrow registry and I gave bone marrow. It's very rewarding and I think everyone should be in the program. Most of the time, you don't even do the old way where they have to put the needle into your bone, it's just a few shots and then a process where they filter your blood.

Raiser Blade

2008-01-31, 09:09 PM

Not quite; you can't take AB+, A+, B+, or O+ blood.

I may be AB+ then can AB+ take any kind of blood? All I remember (Besides the fact that I was ABsomething) is that they said I was lucky because in an emergency they could give me any kind of blood.

phoenixineohp

2008-01-31, 09:21 PM

Thanatos 51-50

2008-01-31, 09:26 PM

Every time I give blood, I start to pass out and get REALLY REALLY dizzy.
I get sweriously sick to my stomach and stuff.

Probably becuase the AF Blood Program have to take enough of your blood to bathe in or something. Its a good cause, and I'd love to do it, but my body and mind can't handle it.
'Tis very sad.

thubby

2008-01-31, 09:53 PM

I may be AB+ then can AB+ take any kind of blood? All I remember (Besides the fact that I was ABsomething) is that they said I was lucky because in an emergency they could give me any kind of blood.

AB+ can take any blood, yes

im O-, universal donnor, as such i donate frequently. though at times I think the nurse gets a bit overzealous.

RandomLogic

2008-01-31, 10:09 PM

Anyone donate plasma? They always asked me but I never have time. I heard its kind of odd with the blood coming back in at room temperature.

Serpentine

2008-01-31, 10:21 PM

I'm Be Positive! :smallbiggrin:
I haven't donated yet. My sister found out that she has this genetic blood disease thing, where your blood is sort of too good at taking up iron, which is then dumped into your liver, eventually - as in, after decades - causing liver failure. It's treated by 1. eating less iron (which the sister doesn't eat much of anyway), and 2. having your blood removed every so often. Unfortunately, the disease means your blood cells are useless, but your plasma is still okay, so that's something.
Anyway, I've had a couple of opportunities to donate but I figured if I was going to have to have a big fat needle stuck in me every few months I may as well found out for sure before I did it voluntarily. Turns out I don't have it, which means I've run out of excuses :smallsigh:
I'm particularly worried because I have horrible veins. The woman who was taking the blood test for this disease didn't believe me, until she tried to find it. She ended up sitting there squeezing and slapping my arm for about 5 minutes. When I was little, I had to get some tests for appendicitis. They put this local anaesthetic cream on the inside of my elbows, inside of my wrists and the backs of my hand. I think they ended up getting the blood from my elbow, but not before struggling with my wrist and hand. The cream meant it didn't hurt, but it wasn't exactly pleasant feeling the needle scraping against my bone...
I always look away when needles are going in, but I find it quite interesting to watch the blood coming out. I do tend to feel a bit woozy, but I think that's because one isn't supposed to see one's own blood, and the physical sensation of it being sucked out is a bit weird.
Anyway, I suppose I should go do it sometime.

OP: Faaaaark.
Marrow donors: ugh, you're all nutcases *shudder* That friend of mine who was around for a bit, Mr. Conrad Poohs, is on the lists. That mental philanthropist.
Jagg: Wow. Your family's a bunch of freaks :smalltongue:

Copacetic

2008-01-31, 10:37 PM

Too young to give blood( I was gonna make a "Young Blood" joke but it just wasn't worth it) but When I'm old enough they won't have any problems finding my veins. My veins almost pop out of my skin in my wrist and espcially on my chest. My veins are so close to my skin you can see this huge green line streech from should to shoulder and almost down to my stomach sometimes. It's pretty crazy. I should take a picture of it sometime. :smallcool:

thorgrim29

2008-01-31, 10:55 PM

I'll be giving blood sometimes next month at school, first time for me, a bit scared, cause they'll probably want to take a lot, not sure about my blood type, but I figure at 6"3, 275 pounds, I have slightly more blood in me then the average guy....

captain_decadence

2008-01-31, 10:56 PM

Marrow donors: ugh, you're all nutcases *shudder* That friend of mine who was around for a bit, Mr. Conrad Poohs, is on the lists. That mental philanthropist.

No, we're not nutcases, just bored.

Jagg

2008-01-31, 11:05 PM

Jagg: Wow. Your family's a bunch of freaks :smalltongue:

YUP :smallbiggrin:

Of course it's also a LARGE family (the last big gathering of the clan which was over a decade ago had over 1000 people and those were just the ones who could be bothered to turn up and were in the country), so it's a rather small percentage who are abnormal really. Basically if you were born in a certain part of Oz you're related to me. Probably not you though. We never infected NSW with our genetic material for some reason. But be afraid...some of us live among you.:smallwink:

JAGG

Bor the Barbarian Monk

2008-02-01, 02:49 AM

I wish I could donate blood, but diabetic blood is not on their list of "things to get." :smallsigh:

Still, I urge people to do what they can, provided they're in good health. Donate blood, become an organ donar (even if the person receiving it can't play the organ), and bone marrow donar. Some blood clinics even give money for donating blood!

One of the little miracles in my life is Lizzie. She was 12 when I met her, and was technically being eaten alive by leukemia. Thanks to lots of transfusions and a bone marrow transplant, she's alive and well...and frightening gorgeous for a 16-year-old. :smalleek: (Last I spoke to her, I asked she become ugly like me, thus I could worry less.)

Mordokai

2008-02-01, 06:02 AM

I always look away when needles are going in, but I find it quite interesting to watch the blood coming out. I do tend to feel a bit woozy, but I think that's because one isn't supposed to see one's own blood, and the physical sensation of it being sucked out is a bit weird.

I did the same, but now I look even when the needle goes in. It's not as bad as you think, once you get used to it.

Kind of funny story. When we were on a physical in first year of college, there was this student who needed blood for some test and she asked us if we would give her some. Strictly volunteers. Most of us decided to do that. There was this girl, with thin veins. She was stabed five times and they still couldn't find her vein. So the nurses call the doctor and when he comes, he takes a look at her and says: "Well, there's always the vein in the neck." Needles to say, we were :smalleek: Luckily, he was just joking. Eventually, they found her vein and she could give blood.

Next was a friend of mine. He comes up, pulls his sleeve up and they found his vein right away. The nurses reaction to this? "Oh how I low the boys with strong" [few seconds pause] "veins."

I sware both of them were blushing just a wee bit :smallbiggrin: Perhaps I have too vivid imagination, but it was funny :smallamused:

Hell Puppi

2008-02-01, 06:09 AM

I have an unfortunate condition where I get poor blood flow to my extremities, so blood donation I've always been a bit leery of doing. Who knows? I might be fine and I'm just being a wuss.
Unfortunately, I happen to get tattoos a lot, which also disqualifies me.

Still on organ donor...I'm doing one good thing! (I wonder if any of my organs will actually be useful once I'm dead...I'm not very kind to them. Kidneys should be okay...maybe bone marrow...)

Edit: Forgot I'm hypoglycemic. Not sure if that's part of the poor blood flow thing (which, as it turns out, is inherited, but as far as inherited things go it could be worse). Been trying to manage it, but I haven't had a check-up in a while. Kind of afraid of learning I've wandered into diabetic territory.

Okay, this has turned into an entire post about my problems, the point was, I guess, that if someone needs my blood or body parts, they must have run out of other donors.

FoE

2008-02-01, 06:13 AM

I had a buddy who had to donate blood because he had too much of it. Seriously. I think it was because he stayed up all night drinking it. :smalltongue:

I have a vision of him going to donate blood, some nurse sticking a needle in his arm and getting a spurt full of hemoglobin in his face. That's the sort of thing I would pay to see; it always gives me a good laugh. :smallbiggrin:

Ranna

2008-02-01, 06:20 AM

sounds like when i tried to give blood, my vein collapsed instead so i couldnt move my arm for the next day - fun fun fun (it was my writing hand too so technically i became useless for 2 days)

And they use much bigger needles at the blood drives than they do at hospitals you were very brave not to faint (i always faint when things go wrong)

Rasumichin

2008-02-02, 05:07 PM

Anyone donate plasma? They always asked me but I never have time. I heard its kind of odd with the blood coming back in at room temperature.

I donate plasma regularly, as well as full blood.

I don't really sense a temperature difference during the return cycles, except for the last one where they inject a certain amount of natrium citrate that's about 20° celcius cold, which gives me a rather uncomfartable chill.
Also, it's quite time-consuming.

On the other hand, in contrast to a normal blood donation, i don't feel like fainting afterwards, since there is no actual blood loss involved (effectively, you just lose some proteins which can be easily replaced via normal nutrition).

bosssmiley

2008-02-02, 06:08 PM

Registered organ donor since 16.
Blood donor since university.

The swashbucklery goodness is just too much for one body. :smallbiggrin:

Fin

2008-02-02, 06:25 PM

OO I forgot one... this one is classic.

One of my cousins is a bit of a mutant.

*Falls of chair seriously injuring head due to laughter*

That is the funniest line I have heard all day, cracked me up!

But in all seriousness I would give blood and will do in the future, it pleasing to see that there are so many people who are this considerate that also happen to be interested in the same thing and so share the same forums space!

Also why can't you give blood if you've been in england... I have lived here forever and I'm not a mad cow!

CrazedGoblin

2008-02-02, 06:34 PM

When i can i will :smallbiggrin:

phoenixineohp

2008-02-02, 08:26 PM

Also why can't you give blood if you've been in england... I have lived here forever and I'm not a mad cow!

Like I said, it's because of the scary scary prions that could be in your blood. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prion)

Serpentine

2008-02-02, 10:21 PM

Mmmm prions. The cause of my favourite food-related illness: Kuru :smallbiggrin:
(as opposed to my favourite sex-related illness, which is syphilis :smallwink:)

Mauve Shirt

2008-02-02, 10:27 PM

I'm not allowed to give blood because of the various medications I've been on over the course of my life. And because I lived overseas for more than six months.

PollyOliver

2008-02-02, 10:49 PM

I'm a universal donor (O negative), but I don't give blood because I don't meet the minimum weight limit. I'm an organ donor, though.

Vella_Malachite

2008-02-02, 11:01 PM

I want to...when I'm old enough...but I don't think I'd be able to hack the whole needle thing.

Cowardly me.

I had an operation a couple of years ago (just adenoids removed if you must know), and they had that catheter thing in my arm. I only saw it when it came out; through the whole thing I could sort of feel it, but they took it out and I was like "!!!!:smalleek::smalleek:!!!!"

It was about 5 times longer than I had expected and covered in my blood. Now my elbow feels really weird when anyone so much as mentions anything to do with catheters or needles. Seriously, I feel like I can't bend my arm properly right now :smallyuk:.

I'd so donate blood if I could psych myself up, though.

Bag_of_Holding

2008-02-03, 07:11 AM

I'm AB positive! So only other AB+ can accept my blood who can, coincidentally, accept any types of blood (regardless of their rhesus factor even). Nevertheless, I don't donate blood 'cause needles don't like me... :smalleek:

Fin

2008-02-03, 08:14 AM

Like I said, it's because of the scary scary prions that could be in your blood. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prion)

:smalleek: *starts looking at self suspicously*

Serpentine

2008-02-03, 08:17 AM

Why? You been eating brains lately? :smallconfused:

SnowballMan

2008-02-03, 09:47 AM

Anyone donate plasma? They always asked me but I never have time. I heard its kind of odd with the blood coming back in at room temperature.

That's not what you should be worried about.

I gave many years back while I was out of work. I don't know if things have changed but at the time they were paying for it and I really needed the money. Plus I gave blood (sporadicaly) so I didn't think I would have a problem with the procedure. The problem instead came from the staff.

First of all when I called ahead to get the info, I specifically asked if there was anything I should know before coming. Nope. Then afterward when it was taking far longer then the hour they said it would, one of the attendants tells me that eating anything with a lot of fat before hand makes the process take longer. Gee, wish I had known that ahead of time so I would not have eaten a hamburger on the way there. Then there was the fact that "one" of the attendants wasn't the only one attending me. And I would have to say that out of the seven or so there, I only would trust one of them to be dealing with my blood. The rest seemed far too inexperienced and/or inattentive for that kind of work. To add insult to injury(literally) I had brought a book to read knowing it would be at least an hour and couldn't concentrate on it at all since they had the TV up too loud playing a movie by an actor I hate.

So to sum up, if your planing on giving plasma (and there are good reasons to) find out what kind of staff they have. I suggest conning a friend to go first and going along as 'morale' support. Then scope out the place. Also, lots of water before, food after.

Personally though, I plan to stick (pun intended) with giving blood. Not only do I trust the place I go to, I also know that if they screw up anything with my blood, at least it's not going back in my body.

Also, for all those wondering about blood typing, there's a nifty little chart here. (http://www.bloodbook.com/type-facts.html)

phoenixineohp

2008-02-03, 09:58 AM

Well I'm A- and that chart is slightly depressing. Go O- peoples! Donate, donate, donate!

The percentages chart is neat.

And yes, I hate needles. However, it's injecting needles I can't stand. My phobia is specific to them. Taking out things is fine. Putting them in? Good luck. :smallannoyed:

Rasumichin

2008-02-03, 10:27 AM

That's not what you should be worried about.
So to sum up, if your planing on giving plasma (and there are good reasons to) find out what kind of staff they have. I suggest conning a friend to go first and going along as 'morale' support. Then scope out the place. Also, lots of water before, food after.

I totally have to second that.
BTW, some institutions still pay for donations, as they did when you where giving plasma (at the place where i donate, it's 20 Euro per session).
In fact, especially plasma donation can be quite businesslike, given the fact that you are able to donate up to 38 times per year and that, at least in some places, the whole stuff is going to the pharma industry.
There's certain medications that can only be produced from human blood plasma, so even if there's money involved, there's still good, morally unquestionable reasons for giving plasma.
However, it might still be slightly different from going to a charitable organisation and giving a full blood donation.

So, if you want to deal with professionals buying your body fluids to sell them to the industry, check out that it's trustworthy, reliable people you're "working" with and that they maintain high standards as far as personnel, donors, medical support and hygiene are concerned.

Sisqui

2008-02-03, 10:37 PM

O- is universal donor. AB+ is universal recipient.

I am O-, CMV- (cytomegalovirs negative) which means my blood is liquid gold, lol.

Plasma donations are a pain. It takes me at least three hours and I freeze the whole time b/c they have the temp set so low in the facilities and theyu reperfuse you with room temperature saline. But, I can't honestly expect blood and platelets to be there for me if I need them if I don't do my part to provide them for others, so I just suck it up and do it. 3 gallon pin!!

phoenixineohp

2008-02-03, 10:57 PM

Awesome Sisqui! That's fantastic!

wadledo

2008-02-03, 11:05 PM

Wow:smalleek:
I now promise to donate blood on my 17th birthday in 3 months and 10 days time.

Huh, Tuesday.

sktarq

2008-02-04, 07:11 PM

I can no longer give blood here in the US due having lived in UK between 1980 and 1996 for more than six months. I had been giving blood for a couple years when the rule was put into effect. In theory it's related to mad cow. The 2 month visit just after my birth put me over even though i was breast feeding at the time and the prions havn't shown they can carry to a baby that way. Even more stupidly one of best friends got cut at the same time even though she while was there she was a practicing vegan. Stupid I tell you. To add insult to injury they wrote me a letter asking me to give resume giving blood because they were running short due to the new England rule. Seems there is some correlation between going to the UK for 6+ months and giving blood in the US. Now I'm on some list somewhere that if they ever develop a blood test for mad cow they will let me know.

Funny giving blood story about what you SHOULDN'T do.:smallredface:

Woke up wednesday and walked 2-3 miles to class from the dorms (uphill both ways wippersnappers! At least it wasn't winter with 4 ft of snow -30 degrees and 30 degrees of windchill) had to bring all my books...spent the evening rigging lights for the upcoming play...but the main electrical box had issues, the lighting designer found out they would have to leaving in the morning to go to a funeral so ALL rigging had to be done pronto. This rigging involved scaffolds, 10-40 lbs (5-15 kgs) highly delicate objects being held in strange positions etc and was rather stenuous. We had a "dinner" of a hot pocket each and worked through the night. Grabbed an early breakfast of a single bagel because I was running late to class. Leaving class and thinking about grabbing some food on my way to bed I saw the blood drive was on campus and remembered it was the round I was to give blood (8 weeks between giving and drive was there every 4). So before I even got lunch I donated a pint of blood. Instead of waiting around the snack table after I told them I was off to grab some lunch and they wished me well, a couple of them wondering how I was still upright. Slightly woosy I got somthing to eat. Being woosy wasn't good for my appatite so I only ate lightly. Started to walk back to my dorm, there was a fraternity I pass on the way that several of my friends had joined who were just about to repaint their house after the harsh winter and asked me to help removing the great big letters over the front porch. I told them that I wasn't up to climbing around rooftops but would help if I could. I ende up being the catcher as they lowered these things down. They wieghed at least 50 to 70 lbs apiece (23-32 kgs) being made of plaster, cement, and plywood. Finnally making it back to my bed (and never having more trouble with the idea of living on the third floor) I fell asleep. When I woke up in the middle of the night I was horribly weak having to lean against walls to make it to the bathroom. Normally spry and hyper I could barely get out of bed the next day. Amazingly my girlfriend at the time brought food to my dormroom as my suitemates laughed.

So take it as a warnning. Don't do ^