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Blood donation

CJinherPJs

CJinherPJs

Professional Weirdo
V.I.P Member
What are your thoughts on blood donation? Do you have experience of giving blood, or if not, would you consider it?

I want to donate blood one day but at the moment I'm not old enough; I'm 17 now, and in the UK you have to be 18 to donate. I want to give something back too, as both of my grandmothers have received blood transfusions when they had surgery, and perhaps would not have survived without them. Personally, I find it quite humbling that just a few minutes of someone's time could potentially make the difference between life and death, and if I'm eligible to donate then I definitely will.

Oh yeah, and you get a free biscuit too. :p
 
I give as often as I can with the American Red Cross. It's not a big thing at all, you answer a few questions lie down and they do everything.
 
Blood donation is a fantastic thing to do. I encourage everyone to do it at least once - you can really save lives from it. There's a lot of uses for blood transfusions. Some people need it for emergency use, some people need regular blood transfusions to stay healthy...

I would do it more regularly myself if I wasn't so freaked by needles. Also, the one time I did donate blood, the people messed up my needle, heh. They had to prick me twice because the first needle was done incorrectly - which didn't help me at all.

Another benefit of donating blood is that you get to find out your blood type. I'm B+.
 
I used to donate blood regularly until I was told that I am not welcome for blood donation, due to the amount of toxins in my body as I have some conditions. Oh man
 
I gave blood for the first time earlier this afternoon. I'm glad I did it. My donor card should come in the post within the next few weeks. :)
 
I cant give blood. My blood itself is fine, but I have terrible circulation. My hands get cold so fast and get numb even faster. During the winter months I constantly have to be careful of getting frostbitten fingers. I was told by the hospital that if I ever suffered a major blood-loss or gave blood it would be a serious risk.

I love the idea of donating blood though, it's a great thing to do and I have a lot of friends that are still living today just because of people that give blood :)

And I hear giving blood has some health benefits for the donator too. Not to sure about the specifics.
 
Dropped_Rock said:
I give as often as I can with the American Red Cross. It's not a big thing at all, you answer a few questions lie down and they do everything.
Click to expand...

Hello, Dropped_Rock. I donate blood myself with Canadian Blood Services (which took over responsibility for Canada's blood supply from the Canadian Red Cross in the wake
of a scandal involving people becoming contaminated with HIV through donated blood). I answer a few more questions to ensure that my blood can be donated, but then
I too sit down while they too take it from there.
 
Hi,

I donate Platelets at the Red Cross. Platelets take about 2 hours on the machine. They put an IV in each arm but because my veins are hard to find one IV they use the back of my hand. I hear the needles are smaller than donating blood and it really does not hurt that much. I am CMV negative which means they need my platelets for pregnant mothers or babies. So I donate every two weeks. Usually every other Saturday.

Now just so you understand, they take the platelets from your blood and it returns to you via the other IV. That is why I can donate so often but most donate them once a month. Also, you can do single needle platelet donation. It basically reverses direction taking blood for a while then returning it.

I started with blood donations but when they found out my blood type and CMV negative they begged me to try platelets. I was so scared but I couldn't sleep worrying about babies dying. Been doing over five years and I never had an issue. I drive there and I drive home.

Bill
 
I would happily give blood, but cannot due to medication I must take. I am O neg. and my type is always needed. I wish I could do it!
 
CJinherPJs said:
What are your thoughts on blood donation? Do you have experience of giving blood, or if not, would you consider it?

I want to donate blood one day but at the moment I'm not old enough; I'm 17 now, and in the UK you have to be 18 to donate. I want to give something back too, as both of my grandmothers have received blood transfusions when they had surgery, and perhaps would not have survived without them. Personally, I find it quite humbling that just a few minutes of someone's time could potentially make the difference between life and death, and if I'm eligible to donate then I definitely will.

Oh yeah, and you get a free biscuit too. :p
Click to expand...

Now that you are of age (3 April 2013), CJinherPJs, have you had the chance to donate blood?
I gave my 75th donation in March of this year.
 
70 and 75, you guys are great!

I began donating blood the day I turned 18, and am now giving regularly (going at 19) after having break because of illnesses. Some times ago I started to wonder if I should stop because of my skin allergies that I haven't made a big fuzz about earlier. I should consult a nurse when I get nerve to. I'd hate to get disqualified because of that. I'm O+.
I'm also on a bone marrow donor list and previously had organ donor agreement, nowadays it's a default for everyone living in here.
 
I started donating blood my senior year in high school. I donated a gallon at Life South before I no longer had the time to make it over there but I plan on starting up again.
 
My church is having a blood drive in June, and I've giving very serious thought to donating for the first time in my life. On the chance that they don't accept my blood for whatever reason, at least I'll know what my blood type is. :)
 
Douglas_MacNeill said:
Now that you are of age (3 April 2013), CJinherPJs, have you had the chance to donate blood?
I gave my 75th donation in March of this year.
Click to expand...

Yes, I've given 5 units now. The last one was 2 weeks ago.
Congratulations on your 75th donation, Douglas_MacNeill.
 
I give blood as often as I can. Lately I have not been able to find the time/gas money to go down for a couple of months (the closest one is an hour away), but normally I show up to donate within a day or two of receiving the phone call saying that I am eligible again. Frankly, I love the experience. I am not afraid of needles, as back when I was on lithium I had to get my blood drawn once a week, so I am used to it. They have televisions but when I am the only one there I ask them to turn them off and just read on my Kindle. Plus, free sugary snacks afterwards!

I must be honest, too...It annoys me a little when people say they do not donate because they are afraid of needles. I do not think they understand the meaning of, you know, "giving," and how much people rely on these blood donations for their very lives. Unless there is some traumatic experience involved, I wish people would open themselves up a little bit to the experience. A little discomfort is nothing compared to the life-and-death situations where that blood of yours would really come in handy. It seems...very selfish.

Okay, someone else can have the soapbox now. :cool:
 
My blood has been getting vast thinner during the years even that I keep taking iron supplements and it doesn't seem to really correlate on how I eat. My Hb values are still high above average, it's just something I've always been best in, to have highest Hb in a class at school or such, and I'd not want to lose it. Not that it'd be anything I've actively attained.

And I've troubles waiting until June due to my 90 days cycle. Last time I tried to go a month too early and they giggled me out of the clinic.
 
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