Just gave blood again, do you?

Donate every three months (max allowed here). Last time was last Thursday. There is only a small team of donor nurses here, most of whom are very good but one is a complete butcher. It was her turn last week and my arm ached all weekend!
 
Just gotta get vascular brah

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Glaucus said:
Learnt something new to night, been several studies in several countries and all have seen a dramatic reduction in heart attacks and strokes for people who donate blood at least twice a year.
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I've always been wary of this. There's evidence of a link, but not any causal mechanism proved. It's equally likely that the sort of people who tend to donate are simply healthier than the sort who do not.
 
One of the studies in America actually tested that hypothesis.


Gave blood, sexy young nurse, oh my. And the vigour and speed she cleaned my arm, she must make some man very happy indeed. Very nice technique.
 
Meridian said:
I've always been wary of this. There's evidence of a link, but not any causal mechanism proved. It's equally likely that the sort of people who tend to donate are simply healthier than the sort who do not.
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I imagine that is what it is.

And blood letting. We just discount blood letting as a legitimate medical treatment so the rich and powerful can hoard leaches without trouble.
 
Platelets again today, another triple donation. Aleady booked in for my next session on the 15th February. Trying to shave some time off the orignal predicted finish time.... so competitive! Only managed to get it to drop by 2 minutes :p
 
Got my first session booked for a week tomorrow, my only other experience was going with my mum when I was little and all I remember is her passing out and my dad having to come and get us :D
 
I started again a couple of weeks ago after a break due to personal reasons. Did my whole blood tester before Christmas and this one was platelets again but down to a double. Not sure if it was a blip or I just don't have high enough count for triple donations these days :/, I will get a better idea when I go again this Sunday.
 
My brother currently is undergoing chemo for lymphoma though it was found when he was rushed in for HLH (hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis).
At his worst point when he had a bad internal bleed he went through 10 units of blood in 24 hours and even aside from that nightmare he was on a bag of platelets every couple of hours as it was being destroyed by his own immune system.
That stuff saved his life, without both and of course the specialists care he wouldn't be here now and thankfully it looks like he's on the mend, long road but plodding along it in the right direction.

I just wanted to drop a note that this stuff really does matter and really does save lives.
Thanks :)
 
I got turned away last week on my eighteenth visit due to a cruise round the US in December. It would have been nice to be told at the start rather than 55 minutes after I arrived! Not happy but won't deter me from next time.
 
Meridian said:
Why is the needle covered?
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I asked about that a while back. I said is it because of infection control or because some people go a bit funny if they see the needle? She said it was a bit of both. I have a feeling it's due to some people being funny about needles. They've forgotten about it a couple of times, it doesn't bother me at all.
 
That's odd, I couldn't have a heat pad on top of my arm to help keep it warm now as they said they have to keep everything visible now. The needle site was completely uncovered and the tape has never been near it in the all time I have been to the Bristol Donor Centre. I am curious why there is such a difference in guidelines between England and Scotland Blood.

@evsknight - I wish him and all your family all the best. My family get an awful lot of support from the NHS across the board, my son in particular, so for me it is a very small way of giving back to anyone else who might need help.
 
Curiously we never had heat pads before. Now that we have the new machines they have a heat pad on a pillow under your arm.

To be fair in all the years I have been doing platelets the one time it wasn't right I knew anyway. It didn't feel right on the return and the machine wasn't doing what it should be (clicking on and off draw/return quickly) so I called one of them over. She checked the needle site and couldn't see anything. She had a look at the machine and then a second or two later you could see it wasn't right. Still, it does seem to make sense leaving it uncovered just in case it doesn't go right.
 
I've never given blood which reading this thread is a waste. I have AB+ too which is apparently quite good to donate.

I'll get on it, seeing some of the replies in this thread has inspired me :)
 
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