Donate Blood? Do You?
 

Tomorrow I donate blood at a local church. I've been reading online and in the local newspaper that the shortage is at a dangerously low level. Somehow, I feel I need to do this, although I've only given blood once before for a relative in need. I hate needles and doing this but feel it's for a greater good.

Do you donate blood? Why not - if you don't?
Or if you do, are you glad you donate?
Would you worry if you needed a safe blood transfusion someday?

I have never donated blood before, but I am desperately trying to. I am not too good with the sight of blood (especially my own), but I am doing this for my dad. He donated blood on a regular basis until he was diagnosed with lung cancer. I know how important donating blood was to him, so I am determined to take his place. I tried 3 weeks ago, at the last blood drive on campus, but my hemoglobin was a bit low. I will try again at the next blood drive. I won't give up!

I don't and do feel guilty about it. I absolutely abhor having needles in me even though I have no problem jamming them in others.

That and between tattoos and all the magical anti-creature potions The Man has injected into me over the course of my life, I haven't been eligible.

Maybe after I get my EMT cert next year I'll cowboy up and decide to squeeze out some red sauce for the team.

...

I'm not worried about the safety of the blood supply because I'm confident in the testing procedures based on what I've read. I could be wrong.

I've been doing this regularly for the last few years. I don't like needles and the Red Cross staff tells me my veins are hard to hit. A couple times my arm was sore for the rest of the evening but I figure this is the right thing to do. Red Cross called me again tonight so I'm off to do this again in a couple weeks.

I donated this past Friday at the office. It was quick and relatively painless. I try to donate when I have the time. If I could I would donate as often as I could, but I don't seem to find the time.

I used to donate very regularly at student blood drives on my university campus. I've been sick the last few times they've held the regular student drive. I have my Golden Gallon pin from donating a gallon's worth of blood. I'd like to get started on a new one.

Now that I'm done with school, I'll have to find out where the other local blood drives are.

I sadly have a blood disorder, it is one thing I wish I could do that I can never do. My father donated every time he was able to I believe for 25 years straight until for health reasons he was not allowed to. He still donates. It is something that I think of with pride.

I used to donate, but I've received tattoos recently, and do play piercing frequently (almost weekly), so I don't think I qualify. Also, my iron tends to be a normal level for a woman, which is too low to donate... I'd need to eat a nice steak salad the night before.

I do it for the OJ.

Will, and the cookies?

I have donated in the past, but not recently. I am somewhat conflicted on the process now that a number of markets have for-profit corporations running the blood collection, testing, and banking process. I feel that freely giving my blood so that a corporation can make a profit off of it, is not something that I want to be involved in. I understand the arguments that hospitals made the shift from direct collection to buying from the blood bank in order to save on processing and liability issues associated with tainted blood. That kind of 'cover our asses' mentality is also not something I want to be involved in.

The way I see it right now, there are too many points where my blood is generating corporate profit and driving up health care costs. If a blood transfusion costs $250-550/unit, a growing percentage of that cost is due to insurance and blood bank profits, overhead, operating expenses, executive salaries, etc. What would it cost to the patient be, if the corporate blood bank were not involved?

If more hospitals in my area were collecting blood themselves for use in patients in need, either directly or sharing with other hospitals in the area, I would definitely donate. I hold myself to be fairly altruistic and would go out of my way to try to help people that way.

Yes I donate blood. I like collecting the t-shirts.

I need to donate more. Typically they're good on my blood type and don't make calls for it. It takes me two or so weeks to get my hemoglobin up, so I have to plan in advance. My body functions better at a lower level than most people's. I love to do it, though. I'm fascinated by the process and love to watch the stick. Which, I hear, makes me weird.
I did refuse to go to one of the blood banks and actually walked out when the woman refused to wear gloves to take my blood. She said, "Well, you don't have anything do you?" I don't but who knows about the person before me that she didn't wear gloves with, either. It's optional for that particular place. Or at least it was about 5 years ago. I haven't heard.

Giving blood was waaaaay more intense than I expected. I have low blood pressure and even though I ate a normal meal at lunch and hydrated before the donation - I got dizzy, and sick and then passed out for 2 minutes. When I came to, I was drenched from one of the EMTs putting water soaked towels on my neck and forehead. They kept me on the gurney for an hour and then I ate some cookies and had OJ.

WOW, donating blood is not for wusses!!! Gained a lot of respect for all the old timers in their 70s who were there and willing to give.

So now I know. I felt like I was on the edge, for a minute there I felt like I was on the other side of the here & now. It was pretty scarey.

Thanks to you all who are strong & brave and willing to donate. It's intense, to say the least.

You get cookies?! :eek:

At the university drives, they have free doughnuts.

I started donating when I was in college. I still donate occasionally, and a couple of times got an email request when they were low on my type (A-) which is unusual, though not rare.
Needles don't bother me, but I do hate to sit still for that long, and the rooms always seem cold.

Lindy

I've tried but I always, ALWAYS pass out when blood is being drawn from me. Its odd, the sight of blood doesn't bother me, I don't mind needles and yet you combine them and I go out like a light. Blood tests horrify me.

No seriously, its not even funny.

One place in our town has pancakes, eggs, and bacon. At least, in the morning.

Nope, I haven't. Tried a few times, but for various reasons it hasn't worked out (needed a parental release form, anemia, disqualifying international travel, recent piercing...). Maybe one of these years the stars will align. There's no way I'm going to attempt to drive home after donating blood, so that's another factor limiting opportunities. At least I'm a registered organ donor.

Man, donating doesn't bother me at ALL. They always tell me I can look away when they're going to stick the needle in, but I never do, and more than one phlebotomist has been rather taken aback at my willingness to look. I'm also a really fast donor. I don't know how or why, but I always get comments on how quickly I filled my bag.

Ugh, Snowy just reading your post made me light headed. :X

I always watch too. It doesn't bother me, so why look away? My veins are usually easy, so unless I get somebody inept, it's nothing but a little prick. Hmmm... there ought to be some smartass remark at this point.

Lindy

I have donated blood couple of times, still want to, but now i am diabetic... i miss those days.

Just received a call form the Red Cross, Thanking me for my blood donation from a few weeks ago.

The lady calling said that every blood donation helps save "...AT LEAST 3 LIVES."

That really blew me away. Hearing that made the pain & fear I had seem worthwhile.

No, but I would like to. I was always too young, then too unclean, and now I can't because it has not been a year since my last tattoo. Oh well.

I might giving blood. How much does it pay? By the way, does anyone know how much they pay for donated sperm? I'm looking to raise some extra cash.

I have no earthly idea what it pays... as I never did blood donation for money.

Unfortunately I can't donate blood because I lived in Europe during a certain time frame. It was never a problem before but one time I went and they said I couldn't anymore.

But I did get the cookie.

I used to donate whenever I could, but I've had to stop due to contracting an autoimmune disease, ITP, which caused me to have to have my spleen removed. I can't donate anymore, and I sorely miss the kool-aid and cookies... I can't donate organs either when I die, but I guess I'll still leave my body to science, so medical students can learn something about us short, fat, spleenless people.

I'd love to but my body just doesn't handle blood loss well. Needles don't bother me, blood doesn't bother me at all, it's just once I bleed enough I get dizzy, and then I pass out.

Interesting, I thought I posted in this thread when I initially read it. Ah well.
I was on Accutane for 8 or so months as a teen, and it messed up my liver a little. Got some enzyme issues, and possibly other problems, if I could just get my damn doctor to run the tests!
But I defer....
Not only are there freakish enzyme problems, I also seem to faint from shock, whether triggered by something attacking the body, or just the body shutting down to defer pain signals to the brain. I've had a seizure before from a basic hand cut, so, yeah. Not liking the thought of giving blood.
Stress seems to control whether or not my blood pressure is high or normal, so that'll affect the donating as well.
Unfortunately, I also seem to have veins and arteries that refuse to rise to the surface of my skin, so it normally takes several pricks of the needle by a nurse to get the blood samples.

I'd like to donate, really. But all these things worry me too much to actually do it. My dad used to, and my brother started recently. So I'm glad someone in the family is carrying it on, at least.

But I do have a signed organ donor card. I do not want to rot in a box when I'm dead. Chop me up, use my parts, and destroy the rest: cremation, whatever.

Same here. I'd rather help someone--what use are my organs going to be to me after I'm gone?

I donated for the first time today - the mobile van was at the local church (5 doors down) and it seemed to close to ignore. I'm not hugely happy about getting needles but it went pretty smoothly - no juice, but lots of bottled water, cookies, twisties and chocolate bars. I felt (and still feel fine) though they suggest having an easy day afterwards.

I'll have to see when they are next scheduled to be here.

I've been told to not even bother trying by nurses across the country for all sorts of reasons but I am a registered organ and tissue donor.

No...I fainted last time...

I do it every 6 months when they call me. They tell me I am the Universal Donner, they told me what my blood type was but i don't remember what they called it. All i know is everyone can use my blood and i can only use my kind of blood.

I try to do anything i can to help in my community. So this one was a no brainier.

I am one of those people that if I looked at the needle and/or the bag, I get light-headed. When I go in, I tell them that I just don't want to see what they are doing - as long as I don't look, I'm fine. Most of the time, they "get it" and leave me be. I'm very quiet, I lay down, I turn my head and close my eyes, and lay my arm out for them. When they are done, they do what they have to and when I'm ready, I get up and walk out with my cookie and juice. Of course, there are the occasional lab techs who want to talk, keep asking if you're ok, and get overly fussy. They can't seem to understand I just need to be left alone. Just tell the tech you're nervous - don't look at the needle if it bothers you, and do your good deed. It's worth it. I even do the apheresis when I can because I can skip a donation and it helps more people. (I'm O neg too, so they love me)

no never

I'm not quite that bad but had quite a lot of needles and stitches as a kid, so I have a little needle phobia. A few weeks before my 40th birthday and only just managed to make myself go and do it - being only 5 doors down helped :)

If you haven't done it, and are fit and healthy, it is definitely worthwhile!