MacRumors 2017 Blood Drive!

[A.Goldberg]

Thanks to everyone who has donated! I am truly grateful to those who have taken the time out of their schedules to altruistically help others.

When I was young I was diagnosed with ALL (a form of leukemia). I received blood transfusions as part of my treatment which was truly life changing. I am ineligible to donate due to my history of leukemia (23 years later...) so I encourage everyone to at to least try donating blood once.

Keep up the good work everyone!

 

[FloatingBones]

Donated whole blood this week -- third time this year. It's cool that the American Red Cross now lets you do the health questionnaire online beforehand. I got in and out in 35 minutes yesterday. I vastly prefer the ARC's center to a blood drive.

Years ago, the Museum of Science (Boston) had an exhibit "donating blood". They offered free admission for any donors; I was a regular customer. They had a step-on scale that approximated the number of units of blood. I distinctly remember the youngsters who were surprised to see that the scale went down by far less than 1 unit after they donated. Folks: we were in a museum of science: we must put our STEM thinking caps on. Eventually, the MOS removed their blood-donation exhibit and their uniquely calibrated scale.

The American Red Cross RapidPass webpage is one of zillions of old websites that use custom Flash code to display headers on the page. This is astonishing: I have no idea why there was a requirement to do this, and it's clear that nobody inside or outside of the ARC is telling them to get rid of this cruft. Does anybody -- maybe Google -- have a program to eradicate these stupid uses of Flash?

 

[wiesel59]

I donated a pint of B+ whole blood on May 4, 2017 in Charlotte, NC.

 

[aardwolf]

I just gave whole blood today.

 

[Doctor Q]

I just gave whole blood today.

That's an excellent way to start out the week!

Added to the other donations on our Honor Roll for the first 7 days, we've tallied 28 units of blood, platelets, and plasma so far in this Blood Drive.

 

[hallux]

28 units in 7 days? WOW! Awesome job, fellow donors.

A week ago I got an email that my donation went to a local hospital and has I presume it's been used already. That it's used that quickly shows how urgent the need has been, making the donations all that much more important!

 

[JamesMike]

Got 4 more positive emails from teammates.

 

[7thson]

Donated a triple unit of platelets yesterday. Took about 90 minutes but overheard the nurses that some people can do it in 45 minutes.

 

[Slade Mahoney]

Donated yesterday. Had raisins for my snack.

 

[bunnspecial]

Donated a triple unit of platelets yesterday. Took about 90 minutes but overheard the nurses that some people can do it in 45 minutes.

Interesting-the Red Cross office I visit says 120 minutes for a 2 arm triple and 135 for a single arm triple. Granted it does tend to wander down, and I usually end up at about 125 minutes.

Still, I have an unofficial "standing appointment" every other Tuesday at 5:00. I usually show up at 4:45 or so with a Rapid Pass in hand, and it's generally close to 8:00 by the time I leave. By the time they've done the prescreening(BP, pulse, hemoglobin), set-up the machine, and have me "stuck" and the blood vials drawn it's usually 5:30 or 5:45 before I get started.

I'm not complaining at all-I just lay there and watch the evening news or talk to the staff(I've gotten to know them all fairly well, and I enjoy talking) but that's how long I'm there.

In any case, I have another triple scheduled for tomorrow. I should squeeze in one more-on the 30th-before the end of the month(and of course I'll keep it up after as I was doing before the blood drive here).

 

[7thson]

Interesting-the Red Cross office I visit says 120 minutes for a 2 arm triple and 135 for a single arm triple. Granted it does tend to wander down, and I usually end up at about 125 minutes.

Still, I have an unofficial "standing appointment" every other Tuesday at 5:00. I usually show up at 4:45 or so with a Rapid Pass in hand, and it's generally close to 8:00 by the time I leave. By the time they've done the prescreening(BP, pulse, hemoglobin), set-up the machine, and have me "stuck" and the blood vials drawn it's usually 5:30 or 5:45 before I get started.

I'm not complaining at all-I just lay there and watch the evening news or talk to the staff(I've gotten to know them all fairly well, and I enjoy talking) but that's how long I'm there.

In any case, I have another triple scheduled for tomorrow. I should squeeze in one more-on the 30th-before the end of the month(and of course I'll keep it up after as I was doing before the blood drive here).

Yeah, I was pretty incredulous at that kind of time, but apparently if one has an outstanding platelet count it can go that quickly. I too enjoy socializing with the staff. We get along well and that helps pass the time. I also bring my iPad mini to read, surf, etc.

 

[Timelordprime]

Donated blood platelets on 26 April 2017 and again on 10 May 2017 at Canadian Blood Services in Toronto. Both donations were double unit donations (100 ml each day IIRC).

 

[JamesMike]

Got 4 more positive emails from teammates.

 

[bunnspecial]

Did another triple of platelets this afternoon.

I have another appointment scheduled for the 30th of May, so I should be able to sneak 1 more triple in before the drive is over

 

[Doctor Q]

The blood drive has reached its midpoint. The Honor Roll has tallied 57 units of blood, platelets, and plasma!

 

[trimblet]

Another two units of platelets coming out now!

 

[Doctor Q]

Another two units of platelets coming out now!

How do you decide if it's going to be 2 units or 3 units?

 

[T Coma]

Did another triple of platelets this afternoon.

I have another appointment scheduled for the 30th of May, so I should be able to sneak 1 more triple in before the drive is over

I know you mentioned this before - and I thought I was going to do the same, BUT... I had a 1-arm apheresis failure on my most recent attempt.

Due to my odd vein arrangement, they were only able to find one that they were comfortable with for the platelet donation. Now the in/out through one arm worked fine last time, but this time there was some infiltration, which in this case was the fluids being pumped back into my vein on the return cycle escaping the intended vein and "leaking" into the surrounding tissue. FYI - after a few successful in/out cycles, my arm and hand started to feel like it was inflating and was expanding like a balloon (it wasn't). Of course, being the type to just grit my teeth and deal with it, I let this go on for a little longer than I should have. The tech came back after a few minutes and noticed that it was not going correctly, and admonished me a bit for not having alerted her. Oops. As payment for my machismo I was rewarded with a nice baseball-sized bruise. Although I guess I should consider myself lucky - she mentioned that she has seen infiltration bruises that run the length of the entire arm.

Unfortunately, due to medical policy in this case, apparently due to the fact that the machine was not able to return enough fluids, I was classified as having donated whole blood, and therefore would not be able to donate for a couple more months.

How do you decide if it's going to be 2 units or 3 units?

You don't decide - it's the techs at your blood center that decide. In my case (at least the last time I did this) they decided that due to a slow return flow, it would take too much time for a full 3 units. The computer on the apheresis machine itself advised a 190 minute estimate at the rate I was going.

Donated a triple unit of platelets yesterday. Took about 90 minutes but overheard the nurses that some people can do it in 45 minutes.

According to the folks at my local Lifesource, it's all about the vein configuration. For example, although my veins pop out of my arm looking like a roadmap, apparently they are laid out like a city street grid rather than a straight shot expressway. In other words, the veins that aren't loose are too kinked to flow they way they need em. So it looks like it's back to whole blood donations for me.

 

[bunnspecial]

YI - after a few successful in/out cycles, my arm and hand started to feel like it was inflating and was expanding like a balloon (it wasn't). Of course, being the type to just grit my teeth and deal with it, I let this go on for a little longer than I should have. The tech came back after a few minutes and noticed that it was not going correctly, and admonished me a bit for not having alerted her. Oops. As payment for my machismo I was rewarded with a nice baseball-sized bruise. Although I guess I should consider myself lucky - she mentioned that she has seen infiltration bruises that run the length of the entire arm.

Unfortunately, due to medical policy in this case, apparently due to the fact that the machine was not able to return enough fluids, I was classified as having donated whole blood, and therefore would not be able to donate for a couple more months.

I've been in the exact situation more than once. One of the times it happened, it hurt like heck and I flagged them down because I knew something wasn't right.

Even so, in both cases it did knock me out for 56 days-which as you say is the same as for whole blood.

BTW, both times I've had an infiltration it was with the same lady. She's also stuck me three additional times and wasn't able to get a vein-I'm batting 0 for 5 with her . As I mentioned, I've gotten to know the apheresis staff pretty well and I joke with her every time I go in that I want her to stay away from me. Apparently when my name comes up on the schedule for the day, she tells everyone that she's not touching me. It's all in good fun.

Yesterday when I went in, this particular lady's sister was there from another Red Cross office, and she was the one who stuck me. She got it with no trouble, so naturally that just gives me more ammo

 

[LethalOptical]

First time donating platelets very interesting experience! B+

 

[Doctor Q]

First time donating platelets very interesting experience! B+

Congratulations on your first platelet donation!

It's interesting that the number of blood and platelet units are so evenly matched so far in this Blood Drive. We were at 29 units each, then you broke the tie, giving platelet units the lead with 30.

 

[bunnspecial]

Congratulations on your first platelet donation!

It's interesting that the number of blood and platelet units are so evenly matched so far in this Blood Drive. We were at 29 units each, then you broke the tie, giving platelet units the lead with 30.

Whole blood is definitely a lot easier and faster to do.

With that said, most folks I know who donate platelets(myself included) do so regularly(every two weeks in my case). Notice that at least two folks(I haven't checked today) have donated platelets multiple times through the course of the drive, and as I said I have one more in my regular schedule before the end of the month.

There's also the fact that most platelet donations are double or triple units whereas a whole blood donation is only a single unit and a double red can only be done every 72 days. Crunch the numbers and I think that there are fewer people donating platelets-just by nature of the process we can turn out a lot more.

That's not to discourage any kind of donation, as all types are in constant need. Still, if you've donated before I'd encourage you to "make the leap" to platelet donation. A patient being treated for leukemia, for example, might need 50 units of platelets over the course of their treatments and the "shelf life" is only 5 days(one of which is lost to testing). Some time around Memorial Day(or any other holiday) is a great time to go as a lot of regular donors will cancel or reschedule.

BTW, I got this email today. I usually get these, and I always enjoy seeing them. It's nice to see where your donations are going.

 

[Doctor Q]

Time for me to do my part, with a blood donation.

 

[hallux]

@bunnspecial I agree, it's nice to see it went local (mine did this time, for sure).

I'm glad I'm not the only one that asks for the pressure wrap in lieu of tape. When they try to tape on my arm it just pulls away as it's not sticking to skin..

 

[bunnspecial]

@bunnspecial I agree, it's nice to see it went local (mine did this time, for sure).

I'm glad I'm not the only one that asks for the pressure wrap in lieu of tape. When they try to tape on my arm it just pulls away as it's not sticking to skin..

I agree that it's nice to see it go local.

With that said, one of the reasons why the Red Cross loves frequent platelet donations is that they can match regular recipients to the fewest number possible of donors. When you're getting huge amounts of blood product(remember, up to 50 units of platelets for Leukemia) this can be a big deal and is beneficial for an already compromised immune system.

I agree on the wrap also, as I find it cuts down on bruising and does help to keep the bandage in place. It's unfortunate that some here on MR saw fit to criticize its use...

In any case, @doctorQ perhaps it would be fitting to also acknowledge folks like T Coma who took the time to go to the center but had some sort of problem(like an infiltration) that prevented them from donating that day. It is still making a fairly painful sacrifice on their part even if the attempt wasn't successful on that occasion.