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Hi,not sure if I have posted in the right place,feel free to move it .
Do most of you take the time to Donate Blood or Blood products, plasma .platelets...etc to help people in need of these. My family all donate blood every three months and it makes us feel really good. So many people won`t donate because they are scared of needles,in my opinion thats not an excuse.
I am super scared of needles BUT have tried to donate blood. I am unable to do it as I have terrible veins and it after 1/2 an hour of trying to get the needle in the nurse just said that my veins would collapse even if we did get it right.
makes me sad to think I cant help in that way but I donate other things instead
Yes I do normally but not at the moment because I'm breastfeeding. I will again after DS stops feeding.
I did from when I was 16-18 1/2 then I had a weird bleeding problem (vomiting blood and clotting issues) so was told to give it a year after that but each time I went back I failed the intial ***** test for iron or whatever :( I have been told I can't donate due to the fact my iron sits way below baseline normal all the time no matter how much iron tablets supplements I take
It disappoints me that I can't donate
I used to before falling pregnant and BF! I will be sad when DS weans but will be happy i can give blood again!
I would hate to think one day someone in my family needed blood and there was none!
Hi MoM :)
I was actually thinking today, I can't wait till I can give blood again, soon as I'm done breastfeeding. I started when I was 16 and did it religiously every three months until I got pregnant (actually, I had to take a hiatus after i got my tattoo too).
My grandfather was so proud of the fact that a year before he passed away, he got his certificate from the Red Cross for donating 100 pints. He died when I was two and I don't really remember him... but I know he'd be proud of me donating blood when I can.
I used to, but I've just been told to stop before TTC :cry: I have 40-something donations under my belt, so I feel good that I've been able to help so many.
Last time I went to do it, I was waiting at the bus stop, and this old dude tottered up to me and said "Are you going to the city? Can I offer you a lift in my taxi?" So his taxi pulls up, and he asks where I'm going. I told him it was to give blood, and he said "Well, how funny that we should meet. I'm on my way to receive a blood transfusion."
That made every needle worth it. Even the mega two-headed ones they use for plasma, over 40 donations worth of scar tissue.
I want to, I know it's important...I did once and felt and bit faint, but it wasn't too bad. The second time I went in, the room starting spinning and I felt like fainting again as they did the finger ***** test and they wouldn't allow me to donate blood (nor did they want me back!). I have to admit to feeling a little silly because I'm absolutely fine with the idea of giving blood, but for some reason even reading through the brochures detailing the procedure (that they ask you to read each time) makes me feel sick and faint. It's quite bizzare :)
I intent to try again in the future.
I do when not pregnant or breastfeeding. I got in 1 donation between DD and this one. DP donates on a regular basis. Both of us have been asked if we would be plasma donors so we are looking into that as well.
Wow. That's amazing...:
I've tried to but i'm from the UK so they won't let me :(
I'm not allowed to - Mad Cows ;) used to live in the UK so I'm not allowed
Yeah I have the same problem CB as I lived in the UK in the 90s and ate meat off the bone while there, hence they try to reduce any risk of passing on Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (mad cow) which we are highly unlikely to be carrying!:
I find it really frustrating to be so rejected!
Thanks to those of you that are able to and do donate. All Australians benefit from your generosity :clap:.
Yep! When i was at uni, there was a donation place on campus and so i was a plasma donor (every 3 weeks) for a couple of years. Would like to say it was completely altruistic, but i was on a really limited budget, and the carrot cake was really good and that with a glass of orange juice was a top lunch.
I don't live so close to a donation centre anymore so have just gone back to 3 monthly donations.
My iron levels are usually borderline but there are only a couple of times, i haven't been able to donate. Plasma donation was actually pretty good because they return your red blood cells to you.
It's something I want to do. I donated once, and was really ill afterwards. I have low bp, I don't know if that was the problem, but I was fine for about half an hour, then felt really ill suddenly and fainted at work. I couldn't get up off the floor for ages. Someone brought me some tea and an orange which I had some of while lying on the floor and then after a while I could get up. So I'm scared to do it again. Most of the time since then I've been pg or bfing anyway so couldn't, but now I can again. I just don't know if I've brave enough!
Ironically too, I have high iron, and if my levels get too high the only thing I can do to lower it is donate blood. So I might have to start doing it again!!
I'll be very honest ... I have never donated blood :redface: I'm really scared of needles, but I do agree that it's not a good enough excuse :lol:
Maybe I should put that on my new year's resolutions list :think: .... along with donating my organs. (Will have to chat to DH about this first, though) I am a big girl now and really should be able to control my fear of needles for a cause as good as this.
Thank you for bringing up the subject.
Yup...I'm a 'bloody' donor....
Give blood, Plasma or Platelets - whatever they need at the time. I figure...that you never know when you or a family member will be in need and hope others feel the same way..
i used to donate when i was in high school, a few years ago i went back to donate again. I cant as i lived in the uk in the 80's and even though we didnt eat meat, i am not allowed as i may have Mad cows.
I asked them if i could find out , they said only when your dead ........i think ill skip finding out thanks
I used to when I could, but stopped due to pregnancy and breastfeeding. Would like to start again as they absolutely love my veins!
Until I started TTCing I was a regular platelet donor. I started out as a blood donor then they asked if I was interested in plasma donation. I said yes, and the next time after that they asked to bump me up to platelet donor.
I always found the extra strong milkshakes were a great enticement to keep going back :ROFL:
Plus they looked after me sooo well in the apheresis area! I tend to get cold very easily, so they would rug me up in blankets, put heat packs under both my arms, and one time they even filled up a rubber glove with warm water for me to hold onto, lol. Oh, and because I used to get the coppery taste in my mouth lots, they would always bring me milkshakes while I was hooked up to the machine :)
Oh, but it's all about helping people... not the milkshakes ;)
I did regularly from 17-20, then i got my tongue pierced and couldn't for a year, then i had a miscarriage and couldn't for a year, then i went once but hadn't had enough breakfast and fainted mid-donation, then another miscarriage, then a pregnancy, breastfeeding etc. I would do it now but i never have childcare.
I'm IN the UK, and we are apparently all fine to give CJD to one another as they're crying out for more blood over here.
I am a registered organ donor and on the bone-marrow donation list too, though when i signed up they said it was incredibly unlikely i'd ever be called unless a family member needed it.
Bx
prior to a near fatal medical event, my veins were great and i don't think i ever got round to doing it.
after i nearly died and was in a coma for months, after years of rehab, i wanted to give blood, cos i realised how much blood had been pumped into me to save my life. But after having so much "blood work" myself, my own veins have shut down. I was hoping years after, my veins would recover and i could then donate. Even now, if i need a blood test, my GP sends me to a specialist blood place because my veins are so hard to find.
so i read this thread and feel very guilty.
i donate blood every three months , give me pleasure doing it because i know it can help little kids and other people . but the other side of things the ladys there say i only come for a hot dog , cheeky buggers they are lol
They are crying out for blood here too Bec. The Australian policy is so bizarre when the risks are so so negligble. Perhaps the number of potential donors in Australia who 'may' carry CJD is so small they can exclude us, hence remove any risk and save money on not having to run tests on our blood. I am such a frustrated non blood donor. I hope they review that policy one day :think:.:
Gigi please don't feel bad. I think your post will help others that plan to donate but may have been putting it off over time, to realise that the time to donate is now not later. I am glad that others' donations saved your life. We are in this as a community :hug:.
xx
Dusty, I think there's an incubation period for CJD so they may start reviewing the policy after that time. There was a lot of trouble inthe 80's with the Blood Bank and HIV being transmitted through blood transfusions so they are proabably being on the cautious side as well.
I've just started again, i used to but then became anemic and couldn't for a while. Dontated on thusrday, booked a group of girls in at work so we all went together
I forgot how tired i get afterwards though! I was wiped out!