Giving Blood

[empath]

You are SOOO awesome!



(Oh, and the "Fuck you, Ottoman" part was damn well DELICIOUS, too )

[Lord Hosk]

Way to go! Im super jealous. I used to give blood twice a year from about 20 until I joined the army, Alas I am not allowed to anymore and it makes me sad.

stupid exposure to bad things...

I can however sell my blood for $125 a bag once every two weeks... to a research team near Fort Benning in Georgia...

[iamafish]

well done Faylli

I can't remember whether I posted in here first time it was a thread, but my general attitude to needles goes along the lines of a big giant NOPE. I tried to give blood once and they literally couldn't get any out of me because my body pretty much went into shock. I hope to try again some day, but I'm not sure whether there's any point at this stage. I'd really like to give blood, because let's face it, there are people out there ho need it far more that I do (well, not all of it, but I can spare an arm-full every few months!), but I just cannot deal with needles.

Also, to all the trolls who want to tell people who are afraid of needles that they should just stop, I refer you to this:



that is how ridiculous you look to people who actually understand mental health problems.

[My pseudonym is Ix]

I keep meaning to go donate blood, but I never seem to be able to: a couple of times I've just not had the time to get down when they've been doing it near me, quite a lot of the time I don't find out it's on until too late, and the one time I did sign up, go down and all that I got turned away because I had a cold. Muh

[RedNightmare]

Go you Fayili, that takes some serious courage to give blood even though you are terrified of needles.

@Ix: Too bad man, but keep trying. it's just a matter of time. I'm just glad you can walk in whenever within a two week period over here. Which reminds me, I need to remember going next week.

[ElFuzzy]

I remember back in high school there was a day you could give blood and they'd give you a cookie. So my friend did it, but they saw he was O+, if I'm remembering correctly, and took probably more than they should of. He was kinda out of it for the rest of the day, but he got 2 or three cookies.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

If I didn't find needles in my veins so uncomfortable, I would gladly give blood.

There's also that Bisexual thing which would stop me.

[MinniChi]

I wish I could stand needles long enough to give blood, but my iron levels are usually too low to donate.
My boyfriend on the other hand, the nurses always get super excited when he gives blood because he's O+ and has really fine hemoglobin.

[mariomario42]

I've been forgetting to donate blood for a few months now. My number changed and I haven't gotten around to giving them my new number so they can call me to ask. It's probably ok though since I've been extremely busy the last few months and probably wouldn't have had time anyway.

That being said, I have already donated blood 11 or 12 times now. They love my O+ blood. It's such a wonderful feeling to help those who need it.

[Drecon]

I've been giving for a few years now. I figure that if you can save at least a single life with little to no cost to yourself there's not really a choice there.

[empath]

Hell, do it for selfish reasons:

"This way, I know there's at least ONE pint in the blood bank that's guaranteed to be compatible if I need it."

[Kapol]

Or do it for more selfish reason. Like getting a free pint of ice cream for it. They did that at a nearby Culvers for a while (I think they still do). You go in, donate, and they give you ice cream on top of the normal stuff.

I used to give blood. I've done it... like 3 times. The fourth time they just annoyed me too much. They waited until I was in the truck with everything ready to go to decide I can't give blood. I had a bit of a rash on my arm, so it looked spotty and they wanted to be safe. I understand that. Except I had just driven 50 minutes, been told multiple times it'd be fine by their staff, and waited for an hour just to be turned away at the last minute. It was enough that I didn't want to go back because of how they handled it.

That said, I do need to get in the habit of doing it again. It's a good thing to do.

[JustAName]

They gave me a movie ticket to the theater near here. They give good incentives, but that's not why I did it.

[Kapol]

Same here. It's nice to have a benefit of course, but it's a good thing to do (I had been doing it since high-school anyways, I just stumbled into that when looking for a new way to give).

Or if you want to convince a really greedy person to donate.

[Hepheastus]

I've been donating ever since I was Eighteen I think. I was terrified that first time but afterwards I found it fascinating to watch as the blood comes out (I'm not a serial killer promise). I signed up to the bone marrow register about six months back. I might have to do a stem cell transplant before Christmas, I'm actually kinda looking forwards to it!

[Werdnae]

Congrats on getting over your phobia and donating Fayili. Takes a lot of strength to do that.

I started donating blood on my 16th birthday, because there happened to be a blood drive at my school that day, and 16 was the minimum age to donate. I donated semi-regularly for a few years, just donating at blood drives, then started going to a blood donation centre regularly. I can recommend that you go to a permanent centre over a mobile one if possible, the chairs are much more comfortable (and don't feel like they're going to tip over when they recline them), and they're generally better organised and more efficient. Also make a booking if you can (Here in NZ you can book online, may be similar elsewhere), reduces the chances that you'll have to wait around for ages before you start.

I'm O-, so they really like my blood. I'm also a Paediatric donor (my blood can be given to infants). There are three additional criteria for being a paediatric donor in NZ, there's an age-related one I don't remember, you have to have given blood within the previous six months, and your blood tests negative for cytomegalovirus (CMV). CMV is harmless for healthy adults, something like 40% of the global adult population has it. Infants and imunnocomprimised people can be quite badly affected by it though. I've given 13 donations so far. Here in NZ you get a keyring with your blood type on it for the second donation, a travel cup thingy for your fifth and nice metal drink bottle for your tenth. Those were nice surprises, though not why I donate.

I'm fortunate that I don't have a fear of needles. On the other hand, I have a decent enough startle reflex that I always insist on watching them put the needle in, out of fear that it'll surprise me and I'll jerk my arm and make bad things happen. Sometimes it takes me longer to persuade them that I'm more comfortable watching it than it does to actually draw the blood (~4 mins for me). For me, the worst part is the finger prick for the iron test.

[Avistew]

I'm actually totally fine with needles (I used to have blood taken several times a year for tests... Less so nowadays) but I'm not allowed to give it... Or maybe I'll be soon?

I used to give blood, then my iron got too low. Then my iron got better, but I had been in North America in the past 6 months, so I wasn't allowed to in France. Then I was in North America but had been in Europe in the past 6 months. And so on.

Now they probably would refuse it due to my being poly, but I guess I haven't actually tried in a while.

Go people who do donate, though, especially if you're afraid!

[My pseudonym is Ix]

Went along to a donation session on Thursday. Last time I couldn't donate because of a cold: this time my veins were too small :I

As my mum said, 'they really don't want your blood, do they?'

[Amake]

Around here you can get a bit of cash for donating (or slightly more value in coupons valid in most stores), as well as your fill of coffee, sandwiches and such. So I have a permanent gouge in my elbows from all the needles. I like to donate blood plasma which takes 30-60 minutes and gets quite uncomfortable with the repeated sucking out blood and pumping it back in, but you can do it every two weeks and you get paid more. In fact it pays more per hour than any job I've had. And you can watch a ½ movie. Plus, you know, the common good.

It has its fun moments too. You get into competitions with the nurses over who can be more stoic in the face of the blood and pain. This one time when I was done I got a badly patched vein and started gushing when I was halfway out the door, and I turned back and held out my t-shirted arm to the nearest nurse and said "I think I've got a leak here" in my best Chuck Yeager voice, and she darted in with a handful of gauze without raising an eyebrow and everyone felt really cool.

Every time I go, I have to lie about the amount of wieners I touched as a child, but that's another story. Silly legal restrictions shouldn't keep healthy responsible donors from doing what's right I think.

[empath]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: even if you're a totally selfish bastard, here's one good reason you should STILL donate blood if you're capable:

At least this way you KNOW there'll be one pint that's guaranteed to be compatible with you!

I'm going to be taking a week off work in January; I'm planning to stop by CBS and get my iron checked (last times I tried I was working in a call centre; I imagine the work stress was wearing me down - during a nice rest after the holiday season should be perfect. )

[Ptangmatik]

I used to give blood when I lived within walking distance of a permanent donor clinic in Newcastle. Now I can never seem to remember when "donation events" are taking place, but I promise to look into it more closely in the new year. (Not as a resolution, just as a matter of course)

[Kapol]

I dunno Ptang, that sounds suspiciously like a resolution...

Thinking about it, I'll likely try to give blood before too long. But I'm still getting over a bug that's left me feeling a bit crap for the last... month or so. It's not bad enough to be annoying, and I think the reason it's not gone away is because it keeps spreading among my family. But I'd rather not risk giving 'dirty blood.'

[empath]

See, the permanent clinic is 5km away across town, so it'd have to be a planned excursion.

And as for the cold, if you think you're not quite over it, that'll make it more likely for the nurses to turn you away (for your own good, too, to be honest - if you're fighting even just an annoying cold, taking a pint of blood out of your system just makes it more difficult )

[Avistew]

Huh. I thought you could donate blood in any hospital. That's what I always did when I was still able to donate it, just walk into a hospital and ask where their blood donations were.

[empath]

Maybe, in my case it's moot - the nearest hospital is just a block away from the Canadian Blood Services office.