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

[DottyG]

This might have been explained earlier in the thread and I'm just blanking.  But tell me what doubles are again. I'm totally having a brain blank here!

Congratulations, though, whatever they are!

[MorgnsGrl]

I have a question and need advice. The last two times I tried to donate I was deferred because I "had a fever." Apparently anything up to 99.5 is normal, my temp was 99.6. The first time it happened I thought maybe I was coming down with something and didn't know it, but I never got sick, and this time I'm still okay 5 days later. Could 99.6-ish be my "new normal" somehow? Would it be unwise for the people getting the blood if I were to drink some cool water while waiting for my turn on the theory that it would bring my oral temp down enough to "pass"? I am in reasonably good health and have no reason to believe there's anything wonky about my blood.

[DottyG]

Hi MorgnsGrl, I'm not sure of the answer to your question (which is why I haven't responded to you).  I'm hoping someone else might know!

I can see both sides of it - the pros and the cons.  It's a really good question, so I hope we do find out.  Be sure to post the answer here if you find out somewhere else, ok?

[Outdoor Girl]

Is there a number you can call and ask about this?  I know there is for Canadian Blood Services.

For example, could you monitor your temperature morning, noon and night for a week prior to your donation so that you can show that your temperature runs a little higher?

[DottyG]

I think Outdoor Girl has the right idea.  This is something that you might want to actually run by the donation site.

This gets into a pet peeve of mine - people who think that there's some kind of magical number that's considered "normal" for everyone.  For instance, there is no truth to the "98.6 is a normal temp" idea.  And I can't tell you how many nurses I've had to explain that to!  It's a statistical bell curve.

However, there is a reason why they've set the limit where it is.  Trust me, as someone whose iron hovers juuuuuust below their minimum, I know how frustrating it is to want to donate and be turned away because of being almost there but not close enough!

Be honest with them and tell them that you are not sick.  But ask if it would be possible to monitor your temps for a while to see if it shows anything.  Won't know unless you ask!

[MorgnsGrl]

Thanks for the input! I did ask the woman (tech? I don't know what the term is) who was doing my initial pre-donation stuff and she sort of shrugged and told me I should just try to donate another time. (I did ask if I could remove my winter jacket and scarf -- it was very cold outside that day, and I'd been bundled up and then walked alllll over the site where the blood drive was taking place before I found it -- and try again in a minute, but she said "Not unless it was really really hot outside.") I then called the number on the deferral sheet when I got home to ask if there was anything I could do differently, and the person said that I could try again in 24 hours -- but I can't, there aren't that many drives near me and I can only go during school hours when my son is at school -- but she was sort of laughing as she talked to me, and I thought she was having another conversation with someone in the same office as her or something so I didn't feel confident that I was getting good information.

Maybe I'll see if there's a way to email someone via the Red Cross website.

However, there is a reason why they've set the limit where it is.  Trust me, as someone whose iron hovers juuuuuust below their minimum, I know how frustrating it is to want to donate and be turned away because of being almost there but not close enough!

Believe me, I've been there, too! I've been deferred at least 8 times over the years because of low iron and it's very frustrating. This time my iron was fine, of course. 

[DottyG]

Wait a second.  It was cold out and you had a coat and stuff on?  There's the reason your temp was wonkier (hey, I can make up words if I want to!) than usual.

Next time, don't listen to them about the coat.  Take a few moments to take off anything that you're bundling up in, sit for a few minutes to let your heartrate and body temp go back to normal (especially if you've been walking around a lot beforehand) and then do the temperature.  I bet you'll find that you're back to your normal.

If they didn't give you a moment to just cool off after walking across campus, you were a little warm!

[MorgnsGrl]

Yeah, this was at a historical site on many acres, with many old buildings, and no specific signage. I parked, walked and walked, went back to the car, drove, parked again, and walked and walked some more. Found the correct building, walked all through it, finally found the blood drive. (To be fair, though, the previous time my temp was too high, it was at a completely different location and didn't involve much walking.)

I'm also very, very anxious about the whole donating process. I have wondered if the anxiety might also raise my temp.

[DottyG]

Yep.  Anxiety could affect it.   Plus all that walking and searching.

Have you donated before?  Don't be anxious.  As the guy who did my first one told me, he'd been there over 15 years, and he's never seen anyone carried out dead from donating!

I'm always amazed (when my iron allows me to give, that is ) at how easy it is for me to donate.  I keep thinking it's going to hurt, and it never has.  I do have to say that the place I go has excellent techs who really have a lot of experience in getting a vein.  I'm not saying my experience is the same as everyone else's.  But I do have to say that I, for one, am amazed by it - and irritated at myself for waiting so long to do it!  I can't bear to think how many gallons I could have donated by now had I just started earlier!

[MorgnsGrl]

I've donated many times, but not for about two years because I had some tattoo work done and then had to wait a year. I have terrible issues with anxiety in general, especially around medical stuff. It's worth it with donating blood to go through it, but I hate that the anxiety might be affecting my ABILITY to donate.

[Just Lori]

After wonky blood test results this summer and two trips to a hematologist/oncologist, I'm happy to say that everything looks fine and the wonky blood test were just a strange blip.  To celebrate, I donated blood on Monday.

[Sharnita]

Plateletts on Friday.

[DottyG]

And "congratulations!" on Monday.

[snowfire]

My DH gave a pint today.  We usually donate together but I got out of sync with him and donated in October.

[Snooks]

I hit the big 30 today (pints that is)