It's been a quite while and I am considering doing it more often now that I'm a little older and wiser. So off to the local blood bank today to find a line-up. Yes, a line up. So much so, that I was not going to be able to donate for about an hour and a half. Not kidding. Didn't have time but as I drove off I got a right wonderful feeling knowing that so many cared.
As they say "Blood, it's in you to give."
BTW, this was the permanent location not just a mobile unit. The lady suggested I make an appointment. I smiled. Lotsa good folks out there.
As they say "Blood, it's in you to give."
BTW, this was the permanent location not just a mobile unit. The lady suggested I make an appointment. I smiled. Lotsa good folks out there.
Yeah, I'm pretty bad with needles (see needle, get woozy), but should go about overcoming that reaction in a proactive manner.
Thanks for doing that, Cal. The business behind blood is pretty crazy, but one of the biggest things I learned is that it's best to donate 3 months after a disaster, because all the "one timers" went right after said disaster, and now the blood banks are super low (can't keep the stuff forever).
Thanks for doing that, Cal. The business behind blood is pretty crazy, but one of the biggest things I learned is that it's best to donate 3 months after a disaster, because all the "one timers" went right after said disaster, and now the blood banks are super low (can't keep the stuff forever).
Me too, I figure my father gave my share he had so many 25 pint badges that I lost count.
I've never given blood. I know blood donation is prohibited after cancer, but not sure for how long. I seem to recall my blood type (very common), but don't recall the Rh factor.
I gave plasma for money once in college. It took 3.5 hours and I walked out with a $20 check. I seem to recall the movie Poltergeist II or III was playing loudly on all the monitors. Kind of chilling when they put a needle around the size of a pencil lead into your arm....
One guy got kicked out of the place for still being drunk, and another for being dehydrated, not the best clientele those plasma centers. There was a crowd of unsavory types smoking in the front of the place. I hope the people who need the products of plasma don't have to pay too much for them.
I gave plasma for money once in college. It took 3.5 hours and I walked out with a $20 check. I seem to recall the movie Poltergeist II or III was playing loudly on all the monitors. Kind of chilling when they put a needle around the size of a pencil lead into your arm....
One guy got kicked out of the place for still being drunk, and another for being dehydrated, not the best clientele those plasma centers. There was a crowd of unsavory types smoking in the front of the place. I hope the people who need the products of plasma don't have to pay too much for them.
I have been donating blood regularly for a few years now. I go to a Red Cross donation center about 4 miles from my house and always schedule an appointment.
Every time I went in for a donation they kept asking me to do what they call a Double Red donation. They take two units of red blood cells and return the plasma and platelets to you. You have to wait about four months until your next donation, but they value it a lot. That's what I have done for the past year.
Every time I went in for a donation they kept asking me to do what they call a Double Red donation. They take two units of red blood cells and return the plasma and platelets to you. You have to wait about four months until your next donation, but they value it a lot. That's what I have done for the past year.
The US doesn't pay for whole blood either. It is forbidden.
Blood plasma however can be taken up to twice a week here. Desperate (or sometimes feckless) people use the funds to supplement their income. You can make more money in an hour than in a whole day at minimum wage. Big pharma uses the plasma to make expensive medicine for hemophiliacs, etc....
Plasma centers seem to be a good predictor for the average income of an area. Market economics at work....
The Twisted Business of Donating Plasma - The Atlantic
I was a regular blood donor for many years. About 18 months ago, a cardiologist diagnosed me with "atrial fibrillation" and prescribed medications that made me ineligable for blood donation. (Mostly due to concerns for my own health and safety, not the people who might receive my donated blood.)
So the Red Cross cut me off at 101 donations! It would be great if somebody on this Forum stepped in to take my place. By my estimate, I've missed about 6 or 7 donations so far - so it will take more than one new donor to make up for my absence to date. I'm type O-positive, but you can be any type. For a while the Red Cross twisted my arm quite regularly because my blood had some factor that made it especially useful for transplant surgeries and some cancer treatments, but they haven't mentioned that for several years.
Dale
p.s. - My favorite part of the whole process was when the tech handed me the tennis ball, foam sponge, or rolled-up cloth after inserting the needle. Kneading the object with your hand is supposed to keep the vein expanded and the flow uniform.
Invariably, the sweet young thing taking the donation would say, "Give gentle squeezes.". (Obviously a memorized script. They're thoroughly trained.)
To which I'd respond, "Honey, if you need gentle squeezes, you have come to the RIGHT guy!". (Their script obviously didn't prepare them for that.) It was even better if my wife had come in with me, so I could turn to her and add, "Isn't that right, dear? I'm good at squeezing gently!".
So the Red Cross cut me off at 101 donations! It would be great if somebody on this Forum stepped in to take my place. By my estimate, I've missed about 6 or 7 donations so far - so it will take more than one new donor to make up for my absence to date. I'm type O-positive, but you can be any type. For a while the Red Cross twisted my arm quite regularly because my blood had some factor that made it especially useful for transplant surgeries and some cancer treatments, but they haven't mentioned that for several years.
Dale
p.s. - My favorite part of the whole process was when the tech handed me the tennis ball, foam sponge, or rolled-up cloth after inserting the needle. Kneading the object with your hand is supposed to keep the vein expanded and the flow uniform.
Invariably, the sweet young thing taking the donation would say, "Give gentle squeezes.". (Obviously a memorized script. They're thoroughly trained.)
To which I'd respond, "Honey, if you need gentle squeezes, you have come to the RIGHT guy!". (Their script obviously didn't prepare them for that.) It was even better if my wife had come in with me, so I could turn to her and add, "Isn't that right, dear? I'm good at squeezing gently!".
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Given there is a 1 pint bag to put it in how can they take more than that? People pass out regularly, nothing to worry about.
UK only take 3 times a year so I doubt I'll ever catch up with you. But it's a target. Well done anyway!
I dunno. If you have atrial fibrillation I hope you are on meds for it, and I don't know that effect those meds can have on an otherwise healthy person. I know that simple blood pressure meds don't necessarily disqualify a person.
Great record!
I never contributed that many pints, but I credit the Red Cross Blood program with detecting the asymptomatic hypertension that preceded my atrial fibrillation. Probably saved my life.
Atrial fibrillation probably means a blood thinner to prevent clot formation that can cause a stroke. I had to go onto warfarin myself a couple of years back (different condition, but the same possible result). They want their blood without so much rat poison in it, so no more blood donations from me. I stand at 33 pints donated.
Bill
I am a plasma donor...it's interesting to find out how some of our "proto-history" and genetics has influenced the stuff floating around in our blood, my type of CMV negative plasma is very good for very low birth weight babies.
You can knit a sweater with the needle they use to take plasma.
You can knit a sweater with the needle they use to take plasma.
Yep, just what I didn't need to hear. Thanks.
(It's fine, just as long as it doesn't have to be stuck in me!)
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