| Goo 16.02.2005 20:11 |
I gave blood for the first time today, and MAN, what an experience! At first I was really nervous, because you have to wait for quite a while before they actually take your blood. They make you fill out this huge questionaire, and they prick your finger beforehand to make sure you had enough hemoglobin, which hurt a little more than I expected, and made me dread the actual blood removal a lot more. Eventually, they lie you down in a chair, and stick the needle in your arm, and you have to stay there for about 15 minutes, opening and closing your arm as they take your blood. It was really scarey at the time, especially while I was waiting for the needle, but I must say, I am SO glad I did it! I got such a high afterwards - from the light-headedness a bit, yes - but more from the fact that I actually went through with it. It feels SO good! Not only am I helping people, and hopefully keeping someone alive, but I managed to put aside my fears for something I believed in. Anyways, I am just feeling so proud of myself right now, I needed to share it with you guys. Who else here has given blood/had a similar experience? |
| deleted user 16.02.2005 20:43 |
I don't weigh enough to give blood (no kidding). |
| iGSM 16.02.2005 21:01 |
I haven't, but probably should. You get a Beanie Baby apparently. A friend of mine did go to donate blood but didn't have a high enough blood pressure. So he has to wait. Also I can't donate blood until April due to getting a tattoo...apparently too. |
| bellydancer 16.02.2005 21:45 |
Congratulations goo, you have done a fantastic thing and should be proud of yourself! I used to donate blood on a regular basis when I worked in an office in our major city. Unfortunately its now difficult since I work from home and the blood bank or mobile blood banks hours don't match with mine. If I had the opportunity I would still do it on a regular basis as my blood is good old common O+ and most needed. Besides the obvious community service you are doing, donating blood on a regular basis is good for your health (as long as you don't have any other health issues). |
| SergeantPepperDG 16.02.2005 22:10 |
I'd donate blood if I weren't so fucking scared of needles. I remember actually getting out of a blood test when I was younger, because I was screaming so much, they couldn't handle me. Another time, I hid under a chair. |
| Goo 16.02.2005 22:28 |
iGSM wrote: I haven't, but probably should. You get a Beanie Baby apparently.They didn't give me a beanie baby, but they gave me cookies and juice afterwards, to keep my blood sugar levels up or something. It was really good juice too. Peach flavoured. :) |
| iGSM 16.02.2005 22:47 |
I see why people get so enthused about Beanie Babies...they so damn..good. Anywho, I shall donate blood. And marrow. And DNA! |
| deleted user 16.02.2005 23:12 |
I've donated some blood before. It made me feel nauseated and kinda wobbly. The milk that they gave me made it all feel better. |
| jasen101 17.02.2005 02:41 |
giving blood is one of the best things you can do |
| The Mir@cle 17.02.2005 02:43 |
Good job Goo... My father gave blood for years... Maybe it's time for me to do it also. |
| agneepath! 11994 17.02.2005 03:37 |
i'm not allowed to give blood - based on my asthma medications. |
| DeaconJohn 17.02.2005 06:17 |
Everybody who can give blood, should give blood. I don't think theres many other ways an average joe like you or me can save a life. |
| Bob The Shrek 17.02.2005 12:50 |
I have given a rather pathetic 10 pints of 0+ in 25 years. |
| dragonzflame 17.02.2005 16:32 |
I'm actually not allowed by law to give blood because I lived in England for a year in 1992-93. Anyone who's spent more than 6 months there between sometime in the 80s and the late 90s (not sure on the exact dates) can't because of that remote possibility of spreading mad cow disease. This cuts out more people than you'd imagine - and now they have to advertise on TV saying that they can't get enough people to donate blood! Mwahahaha! |
| Mrs.Taylor 17.02.2005 17:45 |
I haven't been for a while *blush* but I've got my 10-pint award ... not a great record in 13 years though. Anyway, now I work at University, I can attend donor sessions in work's time so I'll be giving that a go the next time they have one. |
| Farlander 17.02.2005 21:38 |
I donate blood as often as possible. Unfortunately, my blood type is AB+, which can only be accepted by other people with AB+ blood, who can take A+ or B+ blood anyway, as I understand it. But I guess they're using it, because they haven't turned me away yet :) Some of those questions are a little creepy, though. "Have you had sex with a man who has had sex with a man who has taken money in exchange for sex or drugs since 1977?" For the last time, Red Cross - no. |
| Mr.Jingles 18.02.2005 00:36 |
If only donating blood was as easy and fun as donating sperm. |
| iGSM 18.02.2005 03:12 |
I suppose you could burst a vessel in your crank while you're making love to the purple helmeted warrior and they could steal the blood that way. God, what I don't understand is that they don't take blood from dead people. Especially those to be cremated, although Bob might be able to reveal more about that...unless they do steal blood after death. |
| debmercury 18.02.2005 08:14 |
hi all, cant donate blood in oz if youve ever visited uk in the last 7 years due to mad cow disease..... that means I cant!!mooooooooooooo |
| Bob The Shrek 18.02.2005 10:28 |
After death, blood is flushed away and replaced with formaldehide to stop the body smelling like Satan's arsehole. |
| Daburcor? 18.02.2005 10:47 |
Bob... You have a way with words. |
| Bob The Shrek 18.02.2005 11:01 |
Yep - it has been mentioned before, Dan. |
| Mr Mercury 18.02.2005 17:18 |
Cant give blood thanks to a blood disorder that I'm a carrier of (called haemochromatosis) :( So well done to all of you that have given blood!! |
| the oppositionist 18.02.2005 17:46 |
Goo wrote: I gave blood for the first time today, and MAN, what an experience! At first I was really nervous, because you have to wait for quite a while before they actually take your blood. They make you fill out this huge questionaire, and they prick your finger beforehand to make sure you had enough hemoglobin, which hurt a little more than I expected, and made me dread the actual blood removal a lot more. Eventually, they lie you down in a chair, and stick the needle in your arm, and you have to stay there for about 15 minutes, opening and closing your arm as they take your blood. It was really scarey at the time, especially while I was waiting for the needle, but I must say, I am SO glad I did it! I got such a high afterwards - from the light-headedness a bit, yes - but more from the fact that I actually went through with it. It feels SO good! Not only am I helping people, and hopefully keeping someone alive, but I managed to put aside my fears for something I believed in. Anyways, I am just feeling so proud of myself right now, I needed to share it with you guys. Who else here has given blood/had a similar experience?youre such an inspiration to me. i cant bring myself to go and do it, even thou i have blood taken ever few months for my bloody thyroid!!! i wonder if one day i can be as brave. well done |
| the oppositionist 18.02.2005 17:51 |
i think its because blood dies too. its only like cells, and they need oxygen from you to live, so when you stop breathing for a while, thats it. i wish more people would donate organs when they die. ive told them they can take everything, and the rest if science needs it. Just leave something for my parents to scatter at my funeral!!! |
| Goo 20.02.2005 00:11 |
Farlander wrote: Some of those questions are a little creepy, though. "Have you had sex with a man who has had sex with a man who has taken money in exchange for sex or drugs since 1977?" For the last time, Red Cross - no.Hehe, yeah, some of the questions were a little weird. There were a LOT of them too. And with those questions, you had to go into a little booth with one of the nurses, where they would ask you the questions, and you had to tell them the answer. I thought that was strange, cause you answer all of the normal questions by yourself, and some people would probably feel uncomfortable telling a complete stranger details about their sex lives. |
| Zander05 20.02.2005 21:29 |
I try to donate regularly at my school blood drives. I remember my first time doing it wasn't so pleasant. I was sitting there waiting for them to hook the needle to me. I'm sitting there scared because I'm only 16 at the time, and finally it goes in. It felt really odd. Suddenly, my guy goes, sounding nervous "Ummm, could you hold on???" and then he calls a woman over and they're speaking fast and I start to panic. Turns out, no blood was going through. So while they have the blood pressure thing round my arm, and I'm squeazing the little red handle thing, they're smacking my arm with the needle still in it! Can't begin to tell you how painful that is! I soon found out later that the guy only got the needle under my skin. Bastard. I think last.... er.... September I signed up to give. Sort of a similiar situation. Only this time it wasn't just under my skin. And I normally don't watch what they're doing because I'm a wuss. Well, no blood rushing through, so I'm staring at the ceiling, and the lady tells me "if you feel a pain, let me know..." sure enough "OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!" No idea what she did, but it hurt like a motherf*cker. Last time I gave went very smoothly. My only complaint is the light headedness and fatigue. I'd like to take this time to thank Famous Amos Cookies for helping me out in my times of giving blood ('specially their ginger snaps and oatmeal raisin) :-D |
| Goo 20.02.2005 22:27 |
Wow, that sounds scarey! Yeah, the woman couldn't find my vein in my left arm, so she did it on my right instead, which, thank goodness, didn't end up being a problem. That's weird that you gave blood when you were 16 though, over here we're only allowed to give blood when we're 17. Otherwise I would have done it last year. |
| SergeantPepperDG 20.02.2005 23:16 |
Damn. I feel guilty now because I have O+ blood, which (I think) means anyone could have it. Well, I actually don't have to feel guilty yet. I'm probably too young to donate blood. |
| Zander05 21.02.2005 18:17 |
When you're 16 here, you have to have a permission form signed by a parent or guardian. |
| Farlander 21.02.2005 18:22 |
SergeantPepperDG wrote: Damn. I feel guilty now because I have O+ blood, which (I think) means anyone could have it.I think everyone but us AB people. Also, I think the + and - has to match or...something bad happens. |
| Goo 22.02.2005 15:12 |
I'm not sure about the + and the -, but yeah, O blood is the universal donor (that's what I am too), so A, B, and AB types can all take our blood, assuming the positive/negative matches, as far as I understand it. |
| Farlander 22.02.2005 15:21 |
I thought people with AB blood couldn't receive O blood. Not sure, though. I remember very little of this from High School biology. |
| Goo 23.02.2005 20:51 |
Nah, AB people can receive everyone's blood, just as O blood can give it to everyone. The reason that some people's blood isn't compatible with others is because people who don't already have As or Bs in their blood can't accept them into their bodies. I just learned that last year in bio, so it's fairly fresh in my memory :) |
| brENsKi 24.02.2005 17:25 |
SergeantPepperDG wrote: I'd donate blood if I weren't so fucking scared of needles. I remember actually getting out of a blood test when I was younger, because I was screaming so much, they couldn't handle me. Another time, I hid under a chair.i know exactly how you felt but with help i managed to go about twenty times. then the person who i went to the centre with every time, moved away - and i just couldn't face it again...it terrifies me....just hope my worthless 20-pints came in some use - because it will take heaven and earth to get me to start again |
| Lady Cool Cat 24.02.2005 20:20 |
Congratilations, Goo! |