"May" We Tell You You ROCK?! (Remember! Both donors AND NON-donors are stars!)

[Waltraud]

Aaand I'm back!  Got a fetching pink band this time.  

Although I warned the little tech, I'm afraid I scared her poo-less when I passed out.  It was a slow day today (I'm mad about that, normally the drives here are packed!) so when I came to every blood center person in the room was clustered around.  Finished my bag in record time, though!  

Might there be a connection between the bolded parts above?   After my first donation, I felt perfectly fine. Until I walked up three flights of stairs to the library.   ;) I had to sit down and considered in earnest going to the theology department and have a short lie-down. I recovered quickly, though!

Brave of you!

Waltraud

ETA: nurvingiel beat me to it? Perhaps you really were drained to quickly... 

[kymom3]

I had a really really bad experience giving blood about 30 years ago.  It turned me away from donating until this past year.  I have a co-worker who donates regularly and talked me into trying it again.

So I started back up 11/08 and have been donating on a regular basis since then.  I have an appointment tomorrow.  This is tied in with a challenge between local university and big rival in neighboring state.  Plus, if I can donate tomorrow, in November for next sports challenge and then after Christmas, I get an extra gift.  Sweet!  And, everytime I donate I get 4 hours leave time from work. 

Like other posters have said, it is an hour out of my life where I can help others.

[Starchasm]

Star, are you ok?!  You weren't supposed to pass out, girl!   Take care of yourself this afternoon, you hear?!

Eh, It happens a lot.  I don't know why!  I always try to start out with my feet up, but sometimes they "want to wait and see".  And then I go "konk!"

I never thought about the correlation between filling up the bag quickly and the passing out, but come to think of it I did take much longer last time and felt great afterward.  Weird!

[Nurvingiel]

Maybe you're right and there is no connection. I fill a bag in five minutes, which is fast apparently, and I don't feel dizzy after (even though I have low blood pressure, so one would think I would).

Why would they want to "wait and see" if you're going to pass out? That seems stupid. "Oh look, she did faint after all." That was useful. Great job Homer Simpson.

In your shoes if you know elevating your feet helps you not faint, I'd simply insist that it happens. None of this wait and see nonsense.

[Elisabunny]

Before I had breast cancer, radiation and chemo I donated blood regularly. Now although it's been 11 years since I had chemo, I am still on the not able to donate list with the Red Cross because of the chemo. I hate not being able to help people by donating my blood. I have plenty!

What's wierd is that i found out that I can, however, be an organ donor. I wonder what the difference is between the two?

Perhaps the fewer number of matches for organ donation make it worth the risk?  Related to this, among the many "how your treatment may kill you" forms I signed before YS's bone marrow transplant, there was one that stated (roughly), "Your donor has spent time in UK/Europe, so you may die of Mad Cow Disease."  

[Sharnita]

Does the returning blood go back through the same needle?

Give me more info on this procedure, as I'm thinking about doing it next time.

You can do it more often than donating whole blood, which is a perk.

When I first started, they had to use two arms--one to take out and one to put back in.  Now they are phasing out the two arm machines where I live and it is all done through one needle, so my other arm is free to turn pages of a book if I bring one.  It does take a bit longer though.

The blood is taken out spun through the machine and the platelets & plasma are separated out. Then they give back the red blood cells to you plus an anti-coagulent.  You will feel it coming back into your vein, as it is cooler than body temp.  I always get a blanket, and they will put a warm pack on your arm if you want too.  Sometimes I bring thick socks and take off my shoes and put them on before I get on the couch/bed thing.

The anti-coagulent makes my mouth feel funny, I can't remember why it is, but the nurses give me tums to add back calcium to my body maybe?  

Hints that work for me:  I try to eat steak or hamburger the night before so I won't be rejected for low iron.  Drink lots of fluid starting the day before  The more hydrated you are, the quicker it will go, but it is a fine line because you don't want to have to go to the bathroom when you're stuck on the machine for an hour+.  After they do all the paperwork and screening, I always ask to be excused to the restroom before they start prepping me, even if I don't really have to go (sorry if TMI).  

I hope it goes well for you!  It does make you feel good afterwards and the nurses and techs are so helpful.  Don't hesitate to ask them what they are doing and why--most times they are happy to tell you (in detail!) what is going on.

This is exactly my experience.  i was regularly donating platelets in college and because you get back the rest you can do it a lot more frequently then whole blood - like every two weeks.  Back then they did the 2 arm machines and the biggest problem I had was that I couldn't move either arm so I'd try to bring a friend to scratch my eyebrow or something.  I would be given tums too.  Once I asked a friend who had come along to give me a tums and she was scared they'd yell at her if she did.  Having a friend also helps stave off boredom while you sit there.  I gave pretty regularly and since they had a needle in each arm I have two perfect bull's eye scars , one on each arm.

Where I live now they do a one arm machine but they only do it at certain times and on certain days so I haven't done platelets very often.

(I did learn to keep my bandages on a bit longer when I had donated platelets)

A lot of the friends who kept me company when I donated had never given and at least 3 eventually became donors themselves.  I remember one friend saw me squeezing the little foam doohicky and asked if I was squeezing it to manage the pain.  I resisted the temptation to claim it was.

[snowfire]

I gave on 9/2, does that count?    I'm O- and the Red Cross is after me like a hungry vampire.  I just passed 6 gallons a donation or two ago. 

I did learn a couple of things.  I couldn't donate within a week or so after my period.  Kinda logical, I guess...You are already a little low on blood after that and draining another pint made me go klonk.

Also, one of the phlebotomists said that frequently when they had a couple of big guys who decided to "race" to see who could donate the fastest, they would end up hitting the floor too. 

[DottyG]

Snow, you absolutely can count. I'll add you in the total.

Good to know about the timing. I'm going to keep that in mind.

[afbluebelle]

Also, one of the phlebotomists said that frequently when they had a couple of big guys who decided to "race" to see who could donate the fastest, they would end up hitting the floor too. 

If a trainee is the one doing your needle, you also may dislodge the needle and spurt blood.  But they don't tend to let tech schoolers run amok at blood drives.

Yes, I love blood races.  Yes, that actually happened in basic training.  My TI almost wet himself trying  not to laugh at the hilarity that ensued.  It didn't hurt, but the trainee was freaking out hardcore trying to do 5 things at once to fix it, and I was just bleeding out.  Luckily, it was towards the end, so my bag wasn't a waste.

[snowfire]

Yes, I love blood races.  Yes, that actually happened in basic training.  My TI almost wet himself trying  not to laugh at the hilarity that ensued.  It didn't hurt, but the trainee was freaking out hardcore trying to do 5 things at once to fix it, and I was just bleeding out.  Luckily, it was towards the end, so my bag wasn't a waste.

The folks at the Red Cross here said that they have the most guys hitting the floor when either the local football team donates or the guys from Mt. Home AFB.  Nothing like having a half dozen football players hitting the floor. 

IMO, men aren't as used to seeing blood coming from their own bodies and can get a little freaked about it.  Women are more used to seeing bodily fluids...

[DottyG]

I watched the blood going into the bag myself (intrigued me!), so you might be right.

[faithlessone]

I hate watching my own blood coming out. It makes me kinda dizzy.

On a happier note - I didn't bruise this time!!! Maybe having a more experienced nurse do the actual insertion and removal of the needle helped.

I tried convincing my housemates to donate, but two are underweight, one has kidney problems and the other has a serious needle phobia. No go, sadly.

I have put an announcement of this challenge on my LJ page - http://faith-less-one.livejournal.com/97233.html - feel free to friend me if you're also on LJ!

[Frozen_Flowers]

My DH and I are going to give blood today. I have given once before, a couple of years ago. For some reason I didn't get around to going back. DH used to give fairly regularly, but hasn't for a while. Somehow whenever I planned to go I always seemed to end up getting a cold! I'm O+.

[suzieQ]

DH and I used to have blood races - neither of us passed out and I usually won  He has pretty thick blood  and it must take longer to get it out. That's his story, anyway.

[reddevil]

Yeah!  Dotty, this is awesome!

Can I count, too?  I just donated last week.  I'm trying to get to a gallon, but frequent bouts of anemia cause my donations to be hit and miss.

I also donated platelets in law school, which was really interesting (two armed machine). 

Anyone want to help but can't donate?  Our Red Cross took blanket donations.  When you give platelets, you sometimes get really, REALLY cold and they had a huge collection of fleecy blankies to cover you up with.

My dad hit the 4 gallon mark a few months ago, he's been donating for something like 34 years.  (He's the universal, so he feels like he was "marked" to do volunteer work in this way.)

Yeah, Ehellions!  (Hey, did you know there are between 10 and 10.6 pints of blood in the average human body?)