Do you donate blood?

[Margies3]

I noticed that CommonSense has a link in his/her signature line to donate blood.

First of all, I want to thank you for that, CommonSense. One of the reasons my husband is alive today is because alot of people donated blood before he needed it. When his aneurism ruptured, he used 67 units of blood between Sat. afternoon when the surgery started and Monday morning when they finally stopped pumping blood into him continuously. If that blood had not been available immediately, Walt would not be alive today.

So my second question is: How many of you donate blood regularly? I cannot donate (because of some health issues), but our 18 year old son has donated at every opportunity since he has been old enough to give. I am so proud of him for that.

[Blaylock]

We have the blood mobile here at our church every 45 days. We enjoy helping the community that we all live in and it is also a great fundraiser for the church.

The local hospital gives us about $750.00 every time the come out (depending on how many we have show up - no less than $500.00)

[berkeley]

No...

[RandyWayne]

While I am thankful for all the people who DO donate regularly, I have yet to do it myself. Part of the reason (ok, the ONLY reason) is my fear of extra-large needles stuck in my arm and left there for extended periods.
Still.... maybe I can get over this fear someday.

[Margies3]

Randy, NO ONE is a bigger wimp when it comes to needles than my son is. This is something that he can do now to give back just a little and to say thank you to all who gave so that he can still have a dad living. That means alot to him.

Plus, he told me that once he did it, he found out it wasn't nearly as bad as he had thought it would be. Funny tho - he still has a terrible time with getting shots at the doctor's office. He has immunizations coming up for college and he's dreading them something fierce. Go figure!

~~~~~~~~~

Blaylock,
thank you for what your church does for this cause. I really do see it as a huge gift to many! I know how much work it is to host a blood drive. We did one on Walt's first birthday after he was recovered from the aneurism. It takes alot of people and alot of work. But every time I kiss Walt good-bye as he leaves for work, I know just how WORTH IT it really is

[RandyWayne]

I have blood work coming up a week from today. I don't have the classic feinting reaction to the site of blood that some claim, but I DO get extremely woozy if more then two normal sized vials are taken from me at once. It shouldn't make a difference but the room literally starts spinning and I am instantly "that" far from throwing up. I can look at other peoples blood all day! LOL

[Sam]

I used to donate blood quite often.
I think I received a 2 gallon pin.
Then in 1995 I had quadruple bypass surgery.
I don't think I'm elgible to donate blood any more because of the medications I have been on for all these years.

In 2004 I had surgery for prostate cancer.
Prior to the surgery I donated 3 units for myself.
All three were used during the surgery and with problems I had in the months following I guess I should have had more blood available.

[Margies3]

Originally Posted by Sam

I used to donate blood quite often.
I think I received a 2 gallon pin.
Then in 1995 I had quadruple bypass surgery.
I don't think I'm elgible to donate blood any more because of the medications I have been on for all these years.

In 2004 I had surgery for prostate cancer.
Prior to the surgery I donated 3 units for myself.
All three were used during the surgery and with problems I had in the months following I guess I should have had more blood available.

Sam, that's great!

I'm glad that you are doing good after both your bypass surgery and your prostate cancer surgery. Isn't God good!

[joyful]

I give blood whenever I have the opportunity. I really dislike needles, but since I think giving blood is important, I force myself to get over it. I have only had one really bad experience. We had a blood drive at work and it was near the end so they were rushing. They ended up hitting a nerve in my arm which was really painful (and a very strange feeling) and I also ended up bruising horribly. It took me about a year to donate blood again after that, but I did and the rest of my experiences have been just fine.

[commonsense]

I hate needles and being pricked is not my favorite activity but I feel it's my duty.
I'm O Neg...we're approx 7% of the population and the only universal blood type. So my blood can be used when there isn't time to check for blood type.
Anyone can be given O Neg blood but an O Neg person can only receive O Neg blood themselves.

Several years ago at the church we attended I spoke w/another saint and we discussed RH issues since she had a miscarriage and was not given the Rhogram shot. A future pregnancy resulted in many problems for the baby and if my memory is correct the baby had to have entire blood replacement due to the RH issues. Since the AF doctors had not believed her re the miscarriage and she had not received the rhogram shot she had the antibodies in her blood used to make the shot. She donated plasma at least once a month due to their desire to obtain the antibodies and she was given a stipend for her trouble. When she found out I had not received the shot after the birth of my third child( tubal next day) I went to United Blood Services to be checked. Turns out I didn't have the antibodies present but it got me donating. I've given 3 gal and am working on the 4th.

There is quite a list of restrictions and I just feel like I need to give since so many people cannot.


I still dread the initial prick but I do it anyway.
It's my small contribution to others.



And they give you snacks afterwords.
I really do it for the free cranberry juice!