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MacRumors 2019 Blood Drive

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MacRumors is pleased to announce our Tenth Annual MacRumors Blood Drive, throughout the month of May 2019. Our goal is to save lives by increasing the number of life-saving blood and platelet donations. While most blood drives are specific to a geographic location, our blood drive is online and worldwide.

Over the past nine years, MacRumors Blood Drives have recorded donations of 544 units of blood, platelets, and plasma, and celebrated new signups for organ donor and bone marrow registries. We've heard from people whose lives were saved by blood, platelet, or bone marrow donations, including lives saved by complete strangers.

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How to participate in the month of May

  1. If you are eligible, schedule a blood or platelet donation (see FAQ), at any donation center near you. Then post in the MacRumors 2019 Blood Drive! thread to tell us about it and to accept our thanks. Or tell us if you register as an organ donor and/or register for the bone marrow registry (see FAQ).
  2. If you aren't eligible to donate blood for reasons of age, health, height/weight, a recent donation, or because you are deferred as a donor, please encourage someone else to make a donation, and let us know. If they donate, you both belong on our Honor Roll. See our Blood donor eligibility thread for news about the deferral policies for gay men in different countries.
  3. Share our message and help this cause by convincing friends and relatives to participate as well. The Honor Roll lists this year's donors. Please congratulate them for their generous acts on behalf of strangers.
From June 2019 to April 2020

In between MacRumors Blood Drives, join Team MacRumors and get credit for your interim donations in next year's drive. Anytime you donate, let us know, as follows:

  1. Go to our team page and click PLEDGE TO GIVE BLOOD. (Bookmark the page for the future.)
  2. Fill in your MacRumors username as your first name. Fill in @ macrumors as your last name.
  3. In the comments field, tell us what type of donation and how many units, e.g., 1 unit of whole blood, 2 units of platelets, etc.
  4. The email address and zip code fields don't matter. MacRumors won't use that information.
We look forward to another successful MacRumors Blood Drive. Thank you to our many donors over the last 9 years!

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Article Link: MacRumors 2019 Blood Drive
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/05/01/macrumors-2019-blood-drive/
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sundog925 said:
A lot of MR readers, posters, community happen to be LGBT, and as of this year still, gay men are still banned from donating blood for up to one year after having same-sex relations.

Seems like a post like this misses the mark completely, unless you lie.
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That is true. I cannot donate blood and neither can the CEO Apple. I am also married and monogamous.
 
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This sucks. I used to donate blood as much as possible in HS when I turned 18. I loved it. I felt like I could help in some small way to help those in need. But now that I am with my boyfriend, I can’t. It sucks and I hope we can in the future because we are two very willing donors. Please donate if you can guys, you never know who you’re helping. ❤️
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ndalum said:
That is true. I cannot donate blood and neither can the CEO Apple. I am also married and monogamous.
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I feel you there. My boyfriend and I have been together for years. Monogamous and (TMI) we both had our V cards when we first did the thing. We have been tested just out of an abundance of caution. I’d love to donate. Maybe some day.
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jesuscandle said:
Thank you to those who donate. Thank you so very, very much.

I can't donate - I'm a cancer survivior who's had the wrong kind of chemo - but blood donors saved my life. Twice.

I wouldn't be here without donors like you. Think about that - HOW WOULD I KNOW HOW MUCH SNAPPIER SAFARI HAS GOTTEN?

Seriously, thank you, thank you, thank you.
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Love it. ❤️
 
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sundog925 said:
A lot of MR readers, posters, community happen to be LGBT, and as of this year still, gay men are still banned from donating blood for up to one year after having same-sex relations.

Seems like a post like this misses the mark completely, unless you lie.
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How does it miss the mark? It states that some donors may not be eligible, and provides a link to an article listing donor eligibility requirements by country.

Whether you agree or disagree with the rule, the article encourages blood donations and it doesn't fail in that objective unless your argument is that everyone is disqualified.
 
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I refuse to donate blood because of what's done with it. It's not given to people who need it, it's sold to them at prices way above reasonable cost for the cleaning and testing to verify its good and safe. Your giving it away for free then those companies sell it to patients or throw it away. So next time you feel all warm and fuzzy after donating, just know it's a dark and hidden industry shrouded in secrecy and marketing campaigns making money off your good intentions.

Until blood that's donated with good intentions isn't sold at abhorrent profitable prices to the people who need it, COUNT ME OUT!

References for the doubters:
https://newsok.com/article/4985779/what-many-donors-dont-know-their-blood-is-sold

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opi...-blood-itxm-scott-maxwell-20140802-story.html

http://www.allgov.com/news/where-is...lood-is-big-business-in-us-140709?news=853635

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erinca...ney-the-guys-who-trade-your-blood-for-profit/

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2006/09/does-the-red-cross-sell-blood.html
 
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az431 said:
How does it miss the mark? It states that some donors may not be eligible, and provides a link to an article listing donor eligibility requirements by country.

Whether you agree or disagree with the rule, the article encourages blood donations and it doesn't fail in that objective unless your argument is that everyone is disqualified.
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I miss the downvote button.
redneckitengineer said:
I refuse to donate blood because of what's done with it. It's not given to people who need it, it's sold to them at prices way above reasonable cost for the cleaning and testing to verify its good and safe. Your giving it away for free then those companies sell it to patients or throw it away. So next time you feel all warm and fuzzy after donating, just know it's a dark and hidden industry shrouded in secrecy and marketing campaigns making money off your good intentions.

Until blood that's donated with good intentions isn't sold at abhorrent profitable prices to the people who need it, COUNT ME OUT!/
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Interesting, I had never heard this before. Do you have any sources to read further up on this?
 
redneckitengineer said:
Until blood that's donated with good intentions isn't sold at abhorrent profitable prices to the people who need it, COUNT ME OUT!
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Regardless of the validity of that point of view, you can't deny that blood is needed by people. If someone is getting rich from my blood, that sucks. If someone dies from a lack of blood I could have easily parted with, that's worse.

I'll be donating platelets here at work on June 11, 12pm. When I'm done with that, I'll setup a new appointment for the next go around. In my world, life trumps greed.
 
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MEJHarrison said:
I'll be donating platelets here at work on June 11, 12pm. When I'm done with that, I'll setup a new appointment for the next go around. In my world, life trumps greed.
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Thank you. My husband went in and had a procedure, but had a bad reaction to medications and lost several pints of blood. He had to get be transfused. I felt so helpless, because I'm not allowed to donate. People like you saved his life. And for that, I am truly grateful.
 
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MEJHarrison said:
Regardless of the validity of that point of view, you can't deny that blood is needed by people. If someone is getting rich from my blood, that sucks. If someone dies from a lack of blood I could have easily parted with, that's worse.

I'll be donating platelets here at work on June 11, 12pm. When I'm done with that, I'll setup a new appointment for the next go around. In my world, life trumps greed.
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Yep, that's a good way to put it.

The fact that some (definitely not all) companies/organizations are heavily exploiting this business doesn't change that blood, platelet and plasma donations are inherently a good thing. Your donation will help someone who is in need of it, regardless of the fact that some people get rich with it and that the system as to which people in need will get it is a little skewed. @redneckitengineer's post made it sound like we as donors should feel some sense of responsibility for supporting questionable business practices that are sometimes attached to these donations, but as a donor, you are not guilty of any morally questionable business decisions that some companies make with it, these decisions are entirely on them. You are doing it to save people's lives and you are saving people's lives as a donor; having to pay a high fee for a live-saving/improving donation trumps not getting a donation at all. If anything, one could make the opposite argument: the more people donate, the less rare of a resource blood and plasma become, which decreases the prices that skewy companies can sell it for.

We also shouldn't throw every country and company under the same hat here, as there are definitely a lot of differences. You as a donor have the choice which company you donate to and to inform yourself on their business practices and on how transparent they are about it. Plus, in countries with good health care, I think a lot of live-saving medication that relies on plasma donations is also being paid for by health insurance companies.

Personally, have a donation center relatively closeby to where I live and make blood and plasma donations there on an almost weekly basis since about two years now (took some breaks in-between but always continued until now), and I don't intend to stop anytime soon. I'm gonna spend a couple hours each week watching TV shows or YouTube videos anyway, so I might aswell spend an hour of that on my phone in a donation center while doing a good deed and getting a few bucks out of it.
 
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walterhpdx said:
Thank you. My husband went in and had a procedure, but had a bad reaction to medications and lost several pints of blood. He had to get be transfused. I felt so helpless, because I'm not allowed to donate. People like you saved his life. And for that, I am truly grateful.
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I just noticed your location. I'm also in Portland (Beaverton to be exact). Hope he's better now. If he's the right blood type, it's possible he could have literally gotten my blood. That's a little trippy!
 
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redneckitengineer said:
I refuse to donate blood because of what's done with it. It's not given to people who need it, it's sold to them at prices way above reasonable cost for the cleaning and testing to verify its good and safe.
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First of all, I'm already aware of this and it simply doesn't stop me from providing blood which is necessary to help people and in many cases save their lives. I'm not fond of executives being paid enormous amount of money, but that doesn't change the fact that people need blood. I read every single one of your articles and it changes nothing.

Second, guess what, the entire health industry in the US is filled with BS exactly like this. This is why our costs are so high. There's no way to avoid it other than never getting healthcare.

Third, and perhaps most important of all, if you don't think the middle man's "cost" is worth the convenience that they provide to you and to the hospital, then go to the hospital and donate directly.
 
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I still have to wait a bit until I'm 3 years past my 4t. cancer surgery. If no issues by then I might be cleared. Fortunately all were addressed with surgery so I have a chance.

My wife had a far different road with her 3 cancers. The first was handled with surgery, radiation and 5 years of oral chemo and the last (also breast cancer) was surgery & oral chemo for 5 years. It was cancer #2 that was the real 2 year battle - acute leukemia (ALL like the kids get) and that battle required 10 transfusions to keep her alive,

Anytime you see someone with a face mask on, or wearing a head scarf, or just walking around bald (with no eye brows?) you might be looking at someone who may be needing blood from you, or someone else. If you see a kid going through chemo the odds are they they will be needing from donors that walk in and donate blood.

I believe that it is more important to keep people alive than to worry that some blood donated may not be used.
 
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From donor to recipient

We heard from a MacRumors forum member who has participated in multiple MacRumors Blood Drives over the years, and was approaching a blood donation total of 7 gallons, but developed a serious disease, landed in the hospital, and needed a life-saving blood transfusion.

It's unfortunate when anyone develops a dangerous health problem, but it was poetic justice that a forum member who was unselfishly charitable toward others, and saved strangers' lives for many years, was saved in the same way by the generosity of other people.
 
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7thson said:
Just about done donating a triple of platelets.
View attachment 834815
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A triple of platelets is AMAZING!! Each of my double platelet donations would take ~90 mins, so you really are going the extra mile. Congratulations.
[doublepost=1556772090][/doublepost]I'm booked into Sydney Town Hall on May 17th for donation #125. 99% platelets and plasma, and unlike the experience of redneckitengineer in the US, patients do not have to pay to get transfusions in Australian hospitals. We have a great health system down here ;-)

#130 due tomorrow morning, December 6th.
 
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chaleyer said:
A triple of platelets is AMAZING!! Each of my double platelet donations would take ~90 mins, so you really are going the extra mile. Congratulations.
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Whenever they ask if I can do a triple I agree but, man!, that last half hour of a two hour stint really takes the longest.
 
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