Donating blood

[magid]

I had had an appointment to give blood yesterday, but the drive was canceled due to an outbreak of measles. There don't seem to be any convenient drives for a while, but if I go to the donor center, conveniently located near work, I can give there. The catch is that apparently they don't do regular donations there, focusing instead on platelet donations and double red cell donations. They're new, I think; only a few places offer them. Because it's more (360 mL rather than the usual 220 mL of red blood cells), there are different rules: men must be at least 61 inches tall and weigh at least 150 pounds, while women have to be at least 65 inches tall and weigh at least 175 pounds. I hadn't known that given the same height and weight, a woman will (on average, yadda yadda) have less blood than a man, so the minimum requirements are higher to make sure there's enough blood. There's also a 16-week minimum wait before giving again.


Bonus track: Huh. Apparently I'm a quirkyalone.

Comments

[fetteredwolf.livejournal.com]

I tried to give blood at Children's a few months ago. They got all excited that I was interested in the RBC donations, and started hooking me up, and then asked how tall I was... I'm only 64 inches. So they switched me to regular donation. However, I ended up not giving anything, because they had the needle in but nothing came out. (And I could feel them digging away, but still nothing came out. I'm all dried up.)

[magid.livejournal.com]

They didn't try another needle instead?

I remember going with a friend years ago when the needle didn't seem to find a good vein in the first arm, so they switched to the other arm... and ended up going back to the first. Oy. Three needles later, though, she gave her pint.

All dried up... I should be worried that you're the walking dead, then?
(And it does explain that strange disinclination to some citrus fruit... trying to avoid rehydration and a return to the workaday world...)

Who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him?

[sethcohen.livejournal.com]

I don't know that women have less blood - they do, however, have a lower percentage of red cells. Red cells take 7 weeks or so to fully come back to normal levels after a blood donation...where most women lose blood every 28 days or so. It's a losing proposition.

[fetteredwolf.livejournal.com]

They did try both arms- I have very small veins and I'm a bit overweight, so not the ideal plebotomy specimen. Finally they found one that seemed relatively nice and fat, and got in. But nothing was in it. Either I'm the walking dead, or they might have also hit a valve. (Especially because I could feel the needle scraping the vein, which isn't a standard sensation.)

[magid.livejournal.com]

I've been overweight my entire adult life; I've given blood a bunch, and never knew it made things trickier. OTOH, I don't think my veins are particularly small, either.

I've had bad sticks that got valves or the side of the vein; not fun at all. My sympathies.

Re: Who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him?

[magid.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. I had just assumed that all the blood cells re-(recover? restore? re-something) at the same rate, keeping the ratio of red to white to platelets to whatever else makes up blood fairly constant, even with monthly bleeding.

Thanks for the clarification.

[fairdice.livejournal.com]

I've never done the platelet or plasma donation things, mostly because the donation centers are geographically inconvenient. I've always thought I ought to try it sometime, especially as Type A is the universal donor for platelets, and there's never any shortage of A+ whole blood.

(There is a drive on Friday at Gov't Center, says the master list (http://www.newenglandblood.org/mass/giveeast2.htm).)

[magid.livejournal.com]

I've never done a platelet or plasma donation either; I hadn't realized until yesterday that there was a donation center so close to work. Maybe later this summer.

(I've got an appointment for Tuesday the 20th, near South Station, which is more convenient. And I much prefer early morning drives, getting it done before work.)

[fairdice.livejournal.com]

Since I was thinking about it, I looked at the details (http://www.newenglandblood.org/medical/apheresis.htm), and now I remember why I don't donate platelets: it takes about two hours.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Catch up on your reading?

[(Anonymous)]

I've been quite remiss about donating.

However I have had very positive experiences with the double red cell donations.

Because the process involves exchanging the red cells for an equivalent volume of saline, at the end of the process you still have your normal blood volume.

After the double red donation, I found that I was able to ride my bicycle without any difficulties other than reduced aerobic capacity.

Much more comfortable than normal loss of blood volume.

-Electric Truffle Roommate

[magid.livejournal.com]

I suspect I'll have to cancel my appointment if I'm still feeling the muscle pull, which makes it more likely I'll try a double red cell one instead. If I do schedule one, wanna give at the same time? It's always nicer to have someone to chat with :-)

And good to know about the volume differential.