Give Blood!

Doctor Q said:

They make me wait 56 days between whole blood donations. Exactly 56; I know because I tried to go on Day 55 once. How long do you have to wait after a double donation?

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No clue, I only did a single of whole blood.

sycho said:

Weird... Instead of taking my whole blood, they only take my plasma, and instead of wanting you whole blood, they only want your red blood cells... Why don't they just take whole blood from both of us?

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Well, I know that sometimes, only a unit of plasma is needed for some patients, but I guess you have a point. Why not just collect whole blood and separate the parts later? There must be some sort of problem with doing it that way...

And for the record, I'm not sure what blood type I have, (it's not even listed on my donor card ) but I think I was told it was some sort of B last time I donated.

so who has received blood here?

Picture time!!!!




If someone can turn those into an animated gif, that would be grand.


"It's feels funny!!!"


515 CC's of Andrew right there!
Ok, that photo is being bitchy and won't rotate to the normal upright position.


Linky to photo's as per flickr guild lines.

haha i think thats funny

They won't let me. (I don't weigh enough)

I'm in the bone marrow donor bank though, which is probably even better.

That's hilarious sycho.

Doctor Q said:

Thanks to forum member Blue Velvet, who helped me in another thread, here's an animated version.

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W00T!!!!

That is so fricken great. That will be my avatar when I can have one.

Doctor Q said:

I think that's iodine on his arm, which is used to sterilize the skin. sycho can confirm this for us.

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Yup. First and alcohol swab thingy, then the iodine. And excellent new, the bruise on my arm is not purple any more. It should be gone in a week or two.

Just recently they opened up a Plasma donation center in my college town. $30 per donation and you can donate twice a week. Definitely going to start doing that.

cycocelica said:

Just recently they opened up a Plasma donation center in my college town. $30 per donation and you can donate twice a week. Definitely going to start doing that.

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Ewwww, twice a week? Honestly I am so glad that people donating in Canada aren't paid. Seems to promote honesty quite a bit. That's just how I think, give me crap if you want, but remember that I donate every week and don't get paid.

sycho said:

Ewwww, twice a week? Honestly I am so glad that people donating in Canada aren't paid. Seems to promote honesty quite a bit. That's just how I think, give me crap if you want, but remember that I donate every week and don't get paid.

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Thats all well and good, but I still donate when I can and have never gotten paid. This is for plasma, not blood.

Its not like I wouldn't donate if there was no money involved, its just that the money is another incentive. I have been donating since I was able to.

sycho said:

515 CC's of Andrew right there!
Ok, that photo is being bitchy and won't rotate to the normal upright position.

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cycocelica said:

This is for plasma, not blood.

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Doctor Q said:

Thanks to forum member Blue Velvet, who helped me in another thread, here's an animated version.

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I just noticed that the first two pictures are out of order...

It goes like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22454863@N00/533984539/in/set-72157600096248686/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22454863@N00/533984583/in/set-72157600096248686/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22454863@N00/533884572/in/set-72157600096248686/

So, maybe, yeah... (you guys know what I am getting at...)

Doctor Q said:

They have a newer technique that is less scary.

The process seems a bit like magic, but it works.

For those willing to donate if and when a patient in need turns out to match you, here is the information about joining the National Marrow Donor Program. I did!

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Thank you Q...The place I donate blood is in this program. I should have mentioned my concerns to them a long time ago!
Cheers,
Kat

Thursday next week will be my 19th donation according to the questionnaire I've just filled out. Type AB+ (easy to remember: "Hey, be positive!")

Mainly I go to chat with the nurses. Always manage to have a bit of a laugh with them. I rarely miss an appointment and it's got to the stage where they always send over the trainee blood nurses to 'do' me, so to speak. One girl, bless her, managed to really screw up the needle insertion. Not sure how it happened, but my blood sprayed all over her. In her surprise, she yanked the needle out sharpish (pardon the pun) and left my arm pouring copious amounts of the claret. She was very, very apologetic. I just put my finger on the puncture and asked for a steri-wipe thingy to clean myself up. At least I was wearing a red shirt...

Giving blood's got to be one of the most direct ways you can help the ill. You know that once your blood's in that bag, the next time it comes out will be for something important, whether it be research, a routine operation or during some emergency.

Plus, I love bourbon biscuits and cheesy Quavers which you get for free after giving blood

edit: apologies if it's been posted elsewhere in the thread, but there's a nice chart of UK National Blood Service supply levels here. The site's also got a load of information about how blood groups work -- who can be given what, etc.

Interestingly, despite my AB+ blood only being in 3% of the UK population, what little stock of that group they have is enough for 10 days -- much more than the larger stocks for other groups. I suppose it's because AB+ blood is only suitable for AB+ patients and there's so few of us anyway!

Doctor Q said:

Trying again...

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Thanks.

I went in for my Plasma donation number 20 today. It was bad from the start. Temp on the top end of the scale, no blood coming out at first... Once it was going, not much plasma was being collected, then the return started... Oh boy that was painful. My blood didn't go into my vain and went into my tissue. They had to throw out my blood, almost as much as in a whole blood donation.
I can't go back for 56 days now. I got some things to think about, some choices to make in that time...

A negative blood type here.

I've been donating blood since I was 16 (you can do that here if you have parental consent). The second time I donated, I actually passed out. And by "passed out" I don't mean got light-headed or hot, I mean I actually lost consciousness. I had finished donating and was sitting down eating my cookie and started to feel funny and got up and attempted to get one of the nurses but didn't quite make it.

I've kept donating though, it seems that I'm one of the few my age who does (I'm 19 going on 20). Whenever we have a blood drive on campus, I try to get my fraternity brothers out to do it since I'm our philanthropy chairman, but only a few of us donate, some of the guys can't donate and most of the others are afraid of needles.

Maybe I'm just used to it since I've been doing it for so long, or maybe because I was sick a lot as a child and am used to getting shots. But I've never understood people who are afraid of needles. This is especially the case with some of my brothers who are over 6 foot tall and pretty big guys, but they're afraid of a little needle.

Doctor Q said:

What scares people is the anticipation of pain.

Which of these do you fear more?

1. Getting an injection.
2. Hitting your toe on the coffee table.

Which of these hurts more?

1. Getting an injection.
2. Hitting your toe on the coffee table.

Typical answers: #1 and #2.

The stubbed toe hurts more, and for longer, but the encounter is over before you know it happened, so it causes no dread. But when the doctor is to give you an injection, your thought might be "oh no, unavoidable pain about to be inflicted!"

I'm no different. I cringe if I see a needle approaching someone's arm in a movie or TV show, because it's gonna hurt. But when it's my turn to get the needle, I know from experience that it's barely any discomfort. A little jab might feel like nothing or might cause a momentary sting, but it's thinking about it that is hard for people. I got over it by gritting my teeth the first few times, until I realized it was nothing to worry about.

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I guess I should have clarified what I meant a little better. I don't understand people's fear in the face of helping save the lives of other people. I'm not going to say that I love the feeling of getting jabbed with a needle, but I'm glad that I can do that simple act (and yes, deal with the discomfort of the procedure) to help others in need.

What I was actually getting out when I made my initial post was the fact that usually the guys in my fraternity that won't give blood because they don't like needles are the stereotypically macho guys whom you would assume to be "man-enough**" to handle a donating blood.



**I struggled when using the phrase "man-enough" because I don't mean to convey to anyone that I'm some sort of chauvinist "frat boy." When you're in a fraternity, you often times contend with people's preconceived notions of the stereotypical frat-boy.