MacRumors 2015 Blood Drive!

[Doctor Q]

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The Sixth Annual MacRumors Blood Drive runs for the month of May 2015. We ask you to donate blood and platelets this month, register for the bone marrow registry, and/or register as an organ donor. We welcome first-time donors and we'll be glad to explain what to do, give you tips, and congratulate you afterwards. Remember that every donor was once a first-time donor, and every donor is a hero every time they donate.

We hope to top our Blood Drive results from our five previous Blood Drives, which have collectively recorded donations of over 250 units of blood and platelets, and a number of new members of organ donor and bone marrow registries.

Your blood or platelet donations will help other people survive or recover from injury, surgery, or illness. Your registration as a potential bone marrow or organ donor gives you the potential to cure someone of a life-threatening disease or preserve the life of someone who suffers organ failure.


How to participate in the MacRumors Blood Drive:

1. Donate blood or platelets, in May if possible. Register as a bone marrow donor. Register as an organ donor.

Since we're in cyberspace we don't collect blood ourselves. Donate blood or platelets at a donation center or hospital in your area. Pick a day when you can spare an hour or two and make an appointment.

See our Blood and Platelet Donation page for details and donor centers by country.

To register to be a stem cell or bone marrow donor you typically fill out a form and have your cheek swabbed. Nothing to it!

Registering as an organ donor is just as easy. Depending on your country, most of it can be done online by filling out a form. You may be asked to sign a donor card or put a sticker on your driver's license.

See our Organ, Tissue, and Bone Marrow Donation page for details and donor programs by country.
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2. Let us know about it

The reward for donating or registering is personal satisfaction that's hard to describe. But we want to add to your reward by giving you a well-deserved pat on the back.

After you donate, post to tell us about your donation or registration experience. If you donated blood or platelets, tell us how many units and if you're a first-time donor. Tell us if you've just registered as a bone marrow donor or an organ donor. You can post photos too if you want.

We're keeping an Honor Roll to give you public thanks for your generosity, and to encourage others.
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3. Spread the word

• Not everyone can donate blood. Some people are unable or ineligible based on the eligibility rules in their country. Even if you can't donate blood, you can probably register as a marrow and organ donor. Please support our drive whether or not you can donate blood yourself.
  
  Let others know about the need for these donations. Convince a friend, relative, classmate, or coworker to donate blood. If you do, tell us about it. We want to recognize your actions.
  
  Many potential donors are still frustrated by the U.S. restrictions on gay donors, which are out of line with the U.K. and most of Europe. That's expected to change in 2015 and we have a discussion thread for it: Blood donor eligibility.
  
  
• Copy/paste this line into your forum signature:
  
  :) [b][color=red]I support the [thread=1876781]MacRumors Blood Drive[/thread]![/color][/b] :)​
  It'll come out like this:
  
  I support the MacRumors Blood Drive! ​
  
  
• If you're eligible for an avatar, use our Blood Drive avatar this month:
  
  ​

 

[Doctor Q]

Blood Drive Honor Roll

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The following MacRumors users have reported their blood, platelet, or plasma donation in this thread. Members who have just registered for the bone marrow registry or just have registered as an organ donor are also listed.

Please help us congratulate and thank these forum members for doing their part to help people in need!

• happydude: blood donation
  
  
• justinthesommer: blood donation
  
  
• brianjones2007: platelet donation (2 units)
  
  
• tsmyther: platelet donation
  
  
• ajlei: blood donation
  
  
• Pilon: blood donation
  
  
• hofer: blood donation
  
  
• NotAdvisable: blood donation
  
  
• Kaylor: blood donation
  
  
• Comeagain?: blood donation (2 units)
  
  
• cjmillsnun: blood donation
  
  
• DavidWildJnr: platelet donation
  
  
• MartyCan: blood donation
  
  
• chaleyer: platelet donation
  
  
• DarknDevious: plasma (2 units)
  
  
• Timelordprime: platelet donation (2 units)
  
  
• dWolfers: platelet donation (3 times)
  
  
• JamesMike and his team: 18 blood donations
  
  
• MacToddB: blood donation
  
  
• rcappo: blood donation
  
  
• DavidWildJnr: platelet donation
  
  
• aardwolf: blood donation
  
  
• brianjones2007: platelet donation (2 units)
  
  
• SteveLazarus: platelet donation
  
  
• Doctor Q: blood donation
  
  
• dynamojoe: platelet donation
  
  
• 7thson: platelet donation (3 units)
  
  
• NOTNlCE: organ donor registration
  
  
• hallux: blood donation
  
  
• jbachandouris: blood donation
  
  
• G4-power: blood donation
  
  
• chaleyer: platelet donation
  
  
• brianjones2007: platelet donation (2 units)
  
  
• ajlei: blood donation
  
  
• dynamojoe: blood donation
  
  
• hulugu: blood donation

Totals

Blood donations: 39 units
Platelet donations: 21 units
plasma: 2 units
Total units: 62

Newly registered organ donors: 1
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[happydude]

donated blood yesterday so...still count for may?! also on bone marrow registry (Be the Match - in the U.S.). and an organ donor. #trifecta

 

[kennethson]

Can't donate blood (because I might be a mad cow), but I've been registered as an Organ Donor since I've had a Driver's License, and I'm also registered at Be The Match for Marrow donation!

 

[Doctor Q]

donated blood yesterday so...still count for may?! also on bone marrow registry (Be the Match - in the U.S.). and an organ donor. #trifecta

Your donation definitely counts, especially for the people who receive it! A public thanks is the least we can do.

Other recent donors are welcome to post too.

 

[justinthesommer]

Just donated a pint of blood on Saturday! One more time and I will have donated a gallon! Give a Pint, Save up to Three Lives!

 

[tsmyther]

Just gave a unit of platelets yesterday

Glad to see this! I'd never noticed it before, but I congratulate you guys on encouraging this. I've given well over 5 gallons of whole blood, several double red cell donations, and just finished my second Platelets donation yesterday. I prefer Platelets for two reasons: Your body recovers faster and you can give more frequently, and they have a shorter "shelf life" than the other products, so are always in need.

On a personal note, my dad, who passed away almost 30 years ago, had to get platelets for a spleen issue a few years before he died. I wish I'd have known how important it is to have a good pool of donors for this, as he would have passed away 2-3 years earlier if he'd not had those. Yes, it takes about 2.5 hours to give, as opposed to 45 minutes for whole blood, but the need is greater and it just feels better in that happy place in your soul.

Queue up a bunch of podcasts on your iPad, make the appointment, and save a life! Who knows, maybe you'll need them in the future. What better way to "Pay it Forward?"

 

[ajlei]

Just missed it! I gave blood on April 14th, and it was my 8th pint, which means I've donated a full gallon! This is a big deal since my hemoglobin has historically been just barely too low to donate. I'm due again to donate on June 9th so I won't make the May cut-off.

I'm already registered as an organ donor, and I registered with BeTheMatch earlier this year. I had a friend that died from acute myeloid leukemia last year and she never was able to get a bone marrow match before she died.

This is awesome of MacRumors to bring this to light. I think people too often think that these types of donations/registrations take too long or are too much work, but it really is rewarding to help people in this capacity.

 

[dWolfers]

I donate platelets every two weeks. My next appointment is tomorrow morning. Since there happen to be three Saturdays in May, you may put me down as contributing three donations to your drive!

 

[Pilon]

Too early #

Made my 14th donation on the 24th of last month, so I'm going to have to wait until August for my next one. But congratulations to all of you who make a donation this month.

 

[hofer]

I am not eligible to donate blood in May. I donate regularly every 8 weeks, and it just so happened that my last donation was on April 8, so my next donation won't be until June. Donating for me is easy. I work at a university, and the blood bank here sends a mobile unit here every 2 months.

 

[ajlei]

Made my 14th donation on the 24th of last month, so I'm going to have to wait until August for my next one. But congratulations to all of you who make a donation this month.

It looks like England has different time period restrictions between donations in the US (12-16 weeks according to blood.co.uk vs. 8 weeks in the US according to the Red Cross), even though it looks as though they draw the same amount of blood (~470ml). I wonder why there's such a difference in the time periods?

Kudos to a fellow donor!

 

[NotAdvisable]

Donated blood on the 20th of April and I'm also a registered organ donor here in Australia

 

[OverSpun]

Glad to see it going!

 

[Kaylor]

Donated a pint of blood on April 9th so I'm not eligible until June, but it's always encouraging to see how much attention these threads get every year.

 

[DavidWildJnr]

I donate Platelets every 2 weeks in the UK, you can even find out the hospital your last donation was sent. The staff at The Blood and transplant service in the UK are great, especially the folks at Norfolk House Manchester on Saturday mornings.

"Do Something Amazing, Give Blood" (in the voice of Sean Bean)

 

[Doctor Q]

It looks like England has different time period restrictions between donations in the US (12-16 weeks according to blood.co.uk vs. 8 weeks in the US according to the Red Cross), even though it looks as though they draw the same amount of blood (~470ml). I wonder why there's such a difference in the time periods?

That's correct, and a little odd. U.S. blood donations seem to be a little larger in volume yet donors are deferred for a shorter period.

The U.K. Blood Transfusion Advisory Committee's recommended blood donation interval is 12 to 16 weeks and at most 4 donations/year for men and 3 donations/year for women, or at most 2 donations/year for 2-unit donations. They give the typical volume as 450 mL.

The U.S. guidelines here stipulate an 8 week interval for blood donations and 16 weeks for 2-unit donations, which means you can donate 6 or 7 times per year. The typical volume is about 475mL, but may be up to 525mL according to this report. U.S. donors with lower-than-average hemoglobin levels must wait longer between donations.

I donate Platelets every 2 weeks in the UK, you can even find out the hospital your last donation was sent.

That's nice to hear. When did you last donate?

 

[JamesMike]

My training team donated blood today, 100% of the team gave a pint each for a total of 18 pints. We are all ex-military and use to giving blood during our military tenure.

 

[MacToddB]

Nice thing to do.

I just gave April 30th. Also an organ donor. I wrote about it here:

http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/2458/apple-watch-blood-pressure-monitor-par-human-expert

 

[I14]

I just wanted to post and say Thank you to everybody who is donating, or has ever donated or signed up for the bone marrow registry.

After donating 42 units over the past years, last year I became a recipient with many units of blood and platelets and finally a bone marrow transplant as I battled Leukemia. One of you may have saved my life, for that I’m am very grateful.

You will probably never meet the recipient of your donation, but they will be very thankful for your time, effort and your donation.

Thanks again.

 

[Comeagain?]

Double red blood cell donation back on the 30th as part of a school blood drive. Also an organ donor.

 

[cjmillsnun]

Donated whole blood for the 35th time last Thursday.

 

[DavidWildJnr]

That's correct, and a little odd. U.S. blood donations seem to be a little larger in volume yet donors are deferred for a shorter period.



The U.K. Blood Transfusion Advisory Committee's recommended blood donation interval is 12 to 16 weeks and at most 4 donations/year for men and 3 donations/year for women, or at most 2 donations/year for 2-unit donations. They give the typical volume as 450 mL.



The U.S. guidelines here stipulate an 8 week interval for blood donations and 16 weeks for 2-unit donations, which means you can donate 6 or 7 times per year. The typical volume is about 475mL, but may be up to 525mL according to this report. U.S. donors with lower-than-average hemoglobin levels must wait longer between donations.





That's nice to hear. When did you last donate?

Last Saturday. Due again next week.

 

[drewsof07]

Double red blood cell donation back on the 30th as part of a school blood drive. Also an organ donor.

The cold plasma being pumped back into your vein definitely takes some acclimation, but double satisfaction at the end of the day.

 

[MartyCan]

I'm next eligible May 21 and my Appointment is already booked.