MacRumors 2022 Blood Drive

[ackmondual]

So MacRumors wants my blood now?

Dunno if they done these blood drives before, but we can definitely say MR is out for blood

 

[chengengaun]

My local donation center used to prick at the center of the fingerprint. Ouch! About 6 months ago, they shifted to the side of the finger.

Ouch! Thankfully the blood bank (donation center) here in Singapore always pricks the finger on the side. The worst that could happen is when the staff says "take a deep breath..." then keeps quiet - I need some distraction!

Shall try out Vitamin D3 supplementation, thanks for the tip! Thankfully I have never had issues with Hb level so far.

 

[DeepWebinar]

Wish I could help, but I’m gay. Which is so ridiculous and awful but the good news is I’m gonna start using this as an excuse in general.

 

[FloatingBones]

Shall try out Vitamin D3 supplementation, thanks for the tip! Thankfully I have never had issues with Hb level so far.

I've never had an issue with the hemoglobin levels. I sent a note to the Red Cross suggesting they publicize this for people who are excluded for low levels (and for the health of those people in general). Getting higher hemoglobin levels is tough for many people, but D3 supplementation is never mentioned as something to try. I thought (hoped) @arn might chime in here...

 

[rcappo]

You can take iron supplement pills both before and after donation. It is a slow process, so a random pill every now and then works.

The place I donate at switched to light sensor based hemoglobin level checks. No more pricks in the finger. They still use the tape, which hurts more than the needle. Except this time they stuck the needle in and nothing came out. I said that I am pretty sure there is still some blood in there.

I'm just glad I was able to make it today, because my schedule is pretty full the rest of the month, and a lot of the blood drives are full near me too.

 

[headlessmike]

My blood bank tests the Hb levels by first drawing a small amount of blood with the main needle without pricking my finger. Everyone is also given a pack or iron supplement pills equivalent to the amount of blood donated. With a minimum of 12 weeks between donating whole blood this results in about 1 such pill every 4 days or so, keeping the intake low enough to not cause any stomach issues in my experience. My next appointment is in a week from now.

 

[phroggie]

Yesterday was my second apheresis 3-bagger for the month.

If only the Blood Drive was next month it would be a blue-moon-ish situation where I could have three donations in the month.

 

[headlessmike]

Donated my second unit of whole blood this week. All is well and I’m glad to be able to help those in need.

 

[Doctor Q]

Macrumors 2022 Blood Drive results

This year:

31 participants​

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53 blood donations by 23 people, totaling 55 units​

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31 platelet donations by 7 people, totaling 70 units​

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12 plasma donations by 3 people, totaling 12 units​

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1 organ donor registration​

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1 bone marrow registry registration​

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Altogether, 85 donations by 31 people, totaling 137 units​

Totals to date:

307 participants, 128 of whom have participated in more than one MacRumors Blood Drive​

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652 blood donations by 270 people, totaling 669 units​

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218 platelet donations by 40 people, totaling 445 units​

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75 plasma donations by 19 people, totaling 79 units​

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10 organ donor registrations​

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7 bone marrow registry registrations​

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Altogether, 908 donations by 307 people, totaling 1193 units​

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Potential number of lives saved: 2531​

Thank you to all of our past and present participants!

 

[Doctor Q]

How to participate in the MacRumors Blood Drive from now through April 2023

Record your donations on our Team MacRumors page. We'll tally your donations and count them for the MacRumors Blood Drive next May.

1. Go to the Team MacRumors page and click PLEDGE TO GIVE BLOOD. (Bookmark the page for the future.)
2. Fill in your MacRumors username as your first name and @ 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.

 

[Doctor Q]

Statistics!

This year's participants:

@barbu, @Bazooka-joe, @Brentley3, @BugeyeSTI, @chaleyer, @chengengaun, @Complex757, @daryl1965, @Doctor Q, Dominic Colella, @dWolfers, @FloatingBones, @fwmireault, @G4-power, @hallux, @headlessmike, @jbachandouris, @KurtMann, Linda, @mtdkellie, @phroggie, @PJM83, @Premium1, @rcappo, @scubachap, @ShawnyRHarvey, @TheYayAreaLiving 🎗, @thejoshuabradshaw, @Timelordprime, @walterhpdx, @Weaselboy​

Number of first-time MacRumors Blood Drive participants: 12

Number of first-time blood donors: 1


This year's top donors

Units of blood:

@FloatingBones and @jbachandouris, 6 units each
@Doctor Q and @hallux, 5 units each
@Bazooka-joe and @Complex757, 4 units each​

Units of platelets:

@Timelordprime, 34 units
Linda, 21 units
@phroggie, 6 units​

Units of plasma:

@Timelordprime, 9 units
@Weaselboy, 2 units
@KurtMann, 1 unit​

Altogether:

@Timelordprime, 43 units
Linda, 21 units
@FloatingBones, @jbachandouris, @phroggie, and @Weaselboy, 6 units each​

All-time top donors

Units of blood:

@Doctor Q, 26 units
@FloatingBones and @hallux, 21 units each
@jbachandouris, 16 units​

Units of platelets:

@Timelordprime, 170 units
@7thson, 39 units
@bunnspecial, 33 units​

Units of plasma:

@dWolfers, 19 units
@chaleyer and @Timelordprime, 14 units each
chaleyer's wife, 10 units​

Altogether:

@Timelordprime, 184 units
@dWolfers, 43 units
@7thson, 40 units​

 

[Doctor Q]

Happy World Blood Donor Day to everyone! As the World Health Organization says:

Every year countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day (WBDD). The event serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood.​

This year's WHO theme is Blood donation: an act of solidarity.

If you're a donor in the MacRumors community, please record your donations on the Team MacRumors page.