Drained!

Again!  A couple of weeks ago, I started answering phone calls from the Red Cross again, and signed up to give blood today at the local hospital. I dutifully kept taking my iron to keep the blood bright red and passed all the tests and answered all the question right, and then the girl came to take the blood:

No, it wasn't really like that at all. I don't have those kind of muscles. She was young, and funny and professional, and really good with the needle (I barely felt it all). It took about an hour all told, including sitting around snacking for 15 minutes afterwards. Not a bad use of an hour.

If you can give blood, you should. It's always needed, and you never know who it could save. It could even be someone you like.

I know the Red Cross has it's detractors. Like most charities, the Red Cross started out as a cause, became a business, and finally a scam, but this is one service they provide that it constantly in need.

Wombat-socho celebrates his week of absence with a double dose "Rule 5 Monday: Easter Weekend Double-Dip Edition."

Drained! (Again)

I answered the call from the Red Cross a couple of weeks ago and scheduled a blood donation as close to 8 weeks as possible after my previous one, at the same church in Prince Frederick.

It has been raining hard here all morning, and I left a few minutes early, "just in case". I arrived the same number of few minutes early, but the donation center set up in the church basement was not too busy, and I proceeded through the sign in process about as fast as possible.

I also passed the simple tests (temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and iron level) with flying colors, my iron level having risen to 15.8 mg/dl over two months of daily iron supplement.

However, when I finally got into the donation chair (or courch or whatever it's called), the phlebotomist poked and prodded my extended arm, and said: "Have you had any water today?"

"Two cups of coffee."

"Coffee isn't water. It's anti-water. You need to drink extra water before you come in. I can't hit this vein".

After a little cajoling, she called over the oldest lady, who also took a look, and said "This one's OK, Just slide it up from below."  And then she agreed to try it. She told me later that some days she would have let that go, but today she felt like a challenge.

After washing the site with iodine, she looked again, cleaned it off, marked her proposed stick site with a magic marker, and then rewashed the area with iodine.

When she made the stick, she went in low, and well up into the arm. I kind of think she might have overshot a little, and had to pull it back, and wiggle it around a little until she finally got the blood flowing adequately.

But after that everything went fine. My arm hurts a little more than usual, so I'll have to be more careful than usual about using it for a day or so.  Next time I'm going to drink more water first.

If you can give blood, do it. It doesn't take long or hurt (much), and you never know when you, your friends or family may need a fill up.

Wombat-socho has the master "Rule 5 Sunday: Shake It Off" post up at The Other McCain.

FDA Prepares to Lift Gay Blood Donation Ban

FDA to propose altering ban on gay and bisexual men who want to donate blood

Since the onset of the epidemic of AIDS among gay/bisexual men, and intravenous drug abusers in the 1980s, one of the more obnoxious aspects of donating blood has been the extensive questioning regarding sexual practices and drug use. It used to be that you had to sit while a nurse asked you if you had ever had sex with another man, even once, ever used a non-prescribed injectable drug. Now, the nurse leaves the booth, but you still get the same questions, merely from a laptop connected to the internet. And we know how private that is. 

In the United States, the FDA mandates that people who answer yes to these questions are permanently banned from donating blood, for fear of infecting people who receive transfusions and others who receive other "blood products" as they are known

Gay activists have struggled with this ban for years, saying that it is somehow illegal discrimination to ban 1-3% of the population from donating blood based on their sexual orientation. This, of course, is patently false, as would be blood donors are not required to answer analogous questions about lesbian sex because, well rug-munching is not a risk factor for AIDS.

However, the FDAs new proposal is less than satisfying to gay men because it requires a year of celibacy before donating blood. Yeah, that'll happen, because donating blood is much more rewarding than sex.

The Food and Drug Administration plans to lift its lifetime ban on blood donation for men who have had sex with other men, and will propose replacing it with a one-year ban after homosexual activity, the agency announced Tuesday.

Gay rights groups, which have long advocated a change to the ban, largely decried the announcement, saying that expecting gay blood donors to remain celibate for a year is not reasonable or medically necessary.

Others were heartened by the relaxation of a long-criticized ban. “This is a very good next step in a process that began in the early 1980s,” said Jay Menitove, who chaired a federal advisory committee that recommended the change.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, “There’s no doubt about it, that any way that you can safely add to the pool of donors to counter this chronic shortage of blood is a good thing.”

The recommended change could increase the U.S. blood supply by 2 percent, researchers said.

I'm looking forward to yet another change in the questions the next time I try to donate blood. I had been getting rather bored with the old set.

 I'm also predicting very few new blood donors as a result.

Drained!

I gave blood again today. Last time I tried, I was "deferred" due to insufficient iron in the blood. After a month or so of steak and iron pills, I got my hemoglobin back up to 14.4 g/dl (why medical measurements use deciliters as a unit is a topic for another post; I would use 144 mg/ml or 144 g/l if it were me), compared to the low 12s I was at last time I tried. 12.5 is the minimum to donate.

I went into Prince Frederick, where one of the churches, that was hosting a blood drive in the basement. The  process went about as fast as possible, no notable waiting times, and a relatively painless stick and draw. My phlebotomist was even moderately tolerant of my attempts at humor.

The best part is I have orders not to do anything strenuous for the rest of the day. Perfect for watching football!

I know the American Red Cross is controversial, but regardless, the blood goes to good use. If you want to avoid the Red Cross, there are other ways of donating; but you'll probably have to look harder to find them. If you can give blood, you should.

Wombat-socho has the grand "Rule 5 Sunday: Wax Ecstatic" up and running at The Other McCain.

Drained! (Again)

On the way home from Annapolis this afternoon, we stopped in Prince Frederick.  Georgia had some errands, and I dropped in on the Red Cross blood drive in the converted RV in the Wawa parking lot. I had tried to give blood a couple weeks ago, but flunked the iron test (after two tries).  This time I squeaked by (time to eat more steaks).  Unlike most blood drives I've been at, one phlebotomist took care of one person from start to finish. I drew a humorous, pleasantly plump, elderly black woman, who turned out to be an old pro.  A painless stick, and a quick draw, a couple snacks and a juice, and I was out in less than 45 minutes. She didn't even need to draw an "X" on my vein.

You may or may not like the Red Cross (like all massive organizations they have their idiosyncrasies), but if you qualify to give blood, do so. The life you may save maybe be someone you love.

Wombat-socho has the grand round up of Rule 5s "Rule 5 Sunday: Mind The Gap" up at The Other McCain.

Feeling Drained Again

This afternoon, I went down to Lusby to give blood at the local "Murican Legion" post.  I had an appointment, arrived a half hour early, and got through the preliminary BS in about an hour.  The screener was a newby, being overseen by a trainer, and had to take my blood twice to check for hemoglobin, after the first test showed a whiter shade of pale than seemed at all likely. I passed the second with flying colors, and now sport Bandaids on two fingers.  The phlebotomist was a skinny little black lady with some interesting tats on her neck and arms, but she stabbed me like she'd done it a few thousand times before, and before you know it, I was a pint lighter.

When the aid removed the needle, tidied up and and told me not to do anything strenuous for the rest of the day, I high fived him. . .

Wombat-socho has the "Rule 5 Sunday: Armed Forces Day Edition" megapost up at The Other McCain. Thanks, Kevin!