I was due for my next regular donation today, however I decided I wanted to go to the gym after work instead, so I just rebooked for next week. No heavy lifting 8-10 hours after a donation, so I had to choose! 
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Blood Donation
- Thread starter cycocelica
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It's the other way around, if you give RH+ blood to an RH- patient, the blood cells carry antigens which the recipients immune system will react against.
I'll be dontaing for the first time in a few months, when I 'come of age'...
If you don't want to make the every whatsoever days committment try donating whenever there is a major disaster and when demand rockets, it will make you feel like you played a massive part in making everything better. However, donations are always welcome, and saving Joe or Jane from something terrible can feel just as great.
If you don't want to make the every whatsoever days committment try donating whenever there is a major disaster and when demand rockets, it will make you feel like you played a massive part in making everything better. However, donations are always welcome, and saving Joe or Jane from something terrible can feel just as great.
True, however I would argue that when blood is needed by someone, it's needed by someone, and whether it's a car crash or a major disaster, the need is still the same - there are not varying degrees of "need". That's why I always donate as often as I can. I know that my blood is helping someone in need no matter when I go, so I always get a great sense of satisfaction from it.
Blood
I started giving blood at uni - i feel somewhat like its 'the right thing to do'. While I can - I do.
As others have said, there are reasons why ppl can't give blood, including having recieved any.
While I'm young, I've give plenty - so that in the (God forbid) circumstance I need some, I'll work out to be pretty even!
Bit like bitTorrent really
I'm usually given the new medics/nurses because of my 'fat juicey viens' but I haven't been bruised once!
I started giving blood at uni - i feel somewhat like its 'the right thing to do'. While I can - I do.
As others have said, there are reasons why ppl can't give blood, including having recieved any.
While I'm young, I've give plenty - so that in the (God forbid) circumstance I need some, I'll work out to be pretty even!
Bit like bitTorrent really
I'm usually given the new medics/nurses because of my 'fat juicey viens' but I haven't been bruised once!
Good for you, FireArse. Over the years, your donations will do a lot of people a lot of good.
Someone offered me a T-shirt that said "I give blood. What do YOU do?" but I didn't take it. Donating is good if you can do it, and it's worth encouraging those who might consider it, but I don't think it should be made some kind of demand or guilt trip. The same with giving money to charity (or MacRumors, for that matter).
I have pretty good veins in my left arm, but they can never find any veins in my right arm. I think I may have been born with a mannequin's right arm!
Yes, if you're going by general compatibility guidelines you shouldn't give an Rh-negative patient Rh-positive red blood cells. However, if a critically bleeding adult male or non-child bearing age female's blood type is unknown, uncrossmatched O+ RBCs are typically given to conserve O- for children and child bearing age females. O+ blood is much more common and the risk of a transfusion reaction due to Rh is very low.
My goal is to reach 40 donated units of blood by the end of 2007. As long as I keep donating every couple of months, I will succeed. Giving myself this challenge in public will force me to do so!
i don't weigh enough (by more than a few pounds) to give blood.
this is a shame, because i would love to do it.
i don't guess there is any way to get around the weight restriction (except to gain more weight)?
by the way, i think that this is awesome. keep up the good work.
this is a shame, because i would love to do it.
i don't guess there is any way to get around the weight restriction (except to gain more weight)?
by the way, i think that this is awesome. keep up the good work.
I don't think so. If your body is small, you have less blood, so they can't safely take a full pint out of you. It's probably not worth their expense/time/trouble to collect less than a pint at a time, or to have non-standard-size units to process.
One time when I tried to donate on a very cold day, I had not been wearing a sweater, and the nurse told me that was making my blood flow very slowly. After a certain number of minutes, they told me I had "timed out", unable to give a full pint before blood coagulation was beginning. So they disconnected me and I felt like a failure. I've dressed warmly on donation days ever since.
Since you are a grad student, you are fully grown (unless you're one of those whizkids who started college at age 10!), so I suggest getting married. For some reason, that always adds a few pounds!
i suppose you are right, though it is a tad bit disheartening!
i am definitely fully grown. 22 years old.
do you think marriage could/would add 15 pounds?
Probably not quite that much (unless you make an effort or marry a great cook), but weight does tend to increase after college. Maybe it's because you're more likely to be able to afford food again!do you think marriage could/would add 15 pounds?
I've never given blood, wish I could, I'm too much of a wuss! Last time I had blood taken they cocked it up, the contraption broke, blood was squirting out of my arm, I freaked out... never again.
Hate getting shots... hate anaesthetic, drips, bungs, all that ****..
boooo
my folks in law cant give blood, but they can give 'plasma' which is good, apparently! So for those that think they cant give blood, ask about plasma!
Hate getting shots... hate anaesthetic, drips, bungs, all that ****..
boooo
my folks in law cant give blood, but they can give 'plasma' which is good, apparently! So for those that think they cant give blood, ask about plasma!
i do. it's important. our touch football team went in support of one of our players who had gotten sick. some guys couldn't hack it, but we managed.
i have the team record for fastest bag filled at 5 mins 22 seconds. of course, the last time i did that, i pumped the bag nonstop and 2 days later, i had a massive bruise around the needle insert point. i mean the bruise was the size of a large softball on my arm. i almost went to the dr. about it.
needless to say, i won't be 'pumping' it the next time i go.
it's also important to donate platelets too. apparently, those go almost directly to cancer patients and you can go every 3 weeks (and soon after giving blood too). they strip the platelets out and put the other stuff back in so it's less taxing on the body.
i have the team record for fastest bag filled at 5 mins 22 seconds. of course, the last time i did that, i pumped the bag nonstop and 2 days later, i had a massive bruise around the needle insert point. i mean the bruise was the size of a large softball on my arm. i almost went to the dr. about it.
needless to say, i won't be 'pumping' it the next time i go.
it's also important to donate platelets too. apparently, those go almost directly to cancer patients and you can go every 3 weeks (and soon after giving blood too). they strip the platelets out and put the other stuff back in so it's less taxing on the body.
It's not just cancer patients who can use platelets, it's anyone who is low on platelets and therefore has a decreased ability to fight off infections.
You are correct that platelets are given to patients promptly. With their short shelf life, platelets can be in short supply at hospitals.
After donating blood, you may feel a little tired or sleepy; that's expected and normal. "Do not operate heavy machinery." After donating platelets, which I've also done, you feel very much the same as when you started, because you aren't low on oxygen or fluid volume, as you are after donating blood.
Your body regenerates platelets and blood cells all the time, but it takes only a few days to regenerate the platelets you've donated, while red blood cells don't fully build up again for over a month, even though you won't know the difference after the first day.
do you think marriage could/would add 15 pounds?
Yes. Let me make that more emphatic. Yes.
Pregnancy also does that for both involved parties.
L
Lau
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Our work is doing a group donation next week, and so it'll be interesting to see if it has the same effect on me as last time (I caught a horrible cold a couple of days after giving blood). I haven't wanted to risk it since, as I was in my final year of uni, but now I'm at work I may as well see what happens.
Doctor Q is an inspiration. I was origanally told I was not allowed, but that was false and donated my first pint with trepidation in 2006, I am scheduled for the 2nd in 2 weeks. It wasn't as bad as the anticipation made it out to be and I had no bruise or anything - I have O positive as well so they encourage me to continue to donate. I have a little vampire at work who signs me up and 'forces' me to go - I guess it is more like a buddy system.
40 pints - Doctor Q - that is quite alot. Maybe I can get there one day, but it is a good thing and in knowing that you save lives with it makes you feel good about doing it.
The population donating seems to get smaller and smaller thanks to tatoos and piercings as well (think it is a year removed from those things before you can try) - so if you are doing that - perhaps donate then tatoo or pierce and then go back a year later...
Do it and save 3 lives today...
40 pints - Doctor Q - that is quite alot. Maybe I can get there one day, but it is a good thing and in knowing that you save lives with it makes you feel good about doing it.
The population donating seems to get smaller and smaller thanks to tatoos and piercings as well (think it is a year removed from those things before you can try) - so if you are doing that - perhaps donate then tatoo or pierce and then go back a year later...
Do it and save 3 lives today...
35 pints but I figure at this point I am banned for life.
Recurrent Metastatic Cancer.
3 pints in.
Lots of really ugly Chemotherapy.
Recurrent Metastatic Cancer.
3 pints in.
Lots of really ugly Chemotherapy.
Sorry to hear it. Best of fortune to you.
I think a persons is automatically out of the donation game the moment they've been transfused. That leaves me out too. Five units in for me.
I'm sorry to hear that, MongoTheGeek. However, if you talk somebody else (e.g., a friend or relative) into donating, we'll give you full credit because you'll have caused it to happen, and the recipients get the blood either way.
I've encouraged a few friends to donate, and two of them discovered they had low blood counts themselves when they went to give blood. They couldn't donate but, more importantly, they knew to check with their doctors in case it was a sign of a serious problem. It's best to catch problems like that as early as possible. In both cases, they seemed to be just naturally low, and they didn't get any kind of scary diagnosis or need treatment.
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