Let’s talk blood, plasma donation.

[y_p_w]

Years ago the fiancé of someone at my college job was in for an operation and asked for blood donors to help reduce his medical bills. I actually went out and donated blood at a college blood drive and they had some sort of card that I could take and they would actually credit a pint of blood in some sort of exchange mechanism. I forgot to hand over the form though.

I've been told that I couldn't donate blood for a year because I'd been on vacation overseas somewhere outside of a major city. They were concerned about the possibility of malaria.

It's kind of interesting. Saw someone pass out once after giving blood. That's a primary reason they make people wait while they eat cookies and apple juice.

 

[y_p_w]

There are some really rare blood type where people often self-donate because there might not be a suitable supply.

Rhnull, the Rarest Blood Type on Earth, Has Been Called the "Golden Blood"

The extremely rare blood type is shared by only a handful of people on Earth.

www.discovery.com

 

[spasm3]

and you are a "universal" donor.

I can donate to all blood types but I can only accept o-neg if I need it.

Iirc 7% of the population is o neg.

 

[Al]

I gave 3 pints during the pandemic. Guess I over did it. Taking me a while to get my hemo up. I am 75.
I will need to cut back

 

[DBMaster]

I am O+, CMV negative. I donate double red cells about every four months. I took a couple years' break, but I'm back in the routine again. I am at the 11+ gallon level.

 

[eljefino]

I donate at work when the workload's light. They pay me to hang out in the AC with the cute attendants vs my regular knuckle dragging tasks. And they gave me a $150 bonus after my first gallon.

Red Cross gives $5 gift cards now-- I always choose amazon. They also test to see if you had the covids and can tell the difference between nothing, the shot, or the bug.

 

[Kruse]

When I lived in Dallas, I donated platelets because I was CMV negative. They told me my platelets went to premature babies and burn victims. It wasn't regular, but they would call me whenever they needed some, probably 3 times a years. It took about a half hour to get there, spent two hours watching a movie while I was there and another half hour to get home. I never got paid for it. I guess I missed out on a lot of money, because my two boys helped get themselves through college by selling their platelets.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I'm an organ donor on my driver's license. If anything were to happen to me, I've permitted everything to be donated.

 

[Lubener]

I can donate to all blood types but I can only accept o-neg if I need it.

Iirc 7% of the population is o neg.

You are correct. Hopefully, you will not need it.

 

[Dave Hess]

I only donated blood once and they asked me for my social security number.

I said take all the blood you want..... I will NOT give you my SS #.

 

[Lubener]

Years ago the fiancé of someone at my college job was in for an operation and asked for blood donors to help reduce his medical bills. I actually went out and donated blood at a college blood drive and they had some sort of card that I could take and they would actually credit a pint of blood in some sort of exchange mechanism. I forgot to hand over the form though.

I've been told that I couldn't donate blood for a year because I'd been on vacation overseas somewhere outside of a major city. They were concerned about the possibility of malaria.

It's kind of interesting. Saw someone pass out once after giving blood. That's a primary reason they make people wait while they eat cookies and apple juice.

Seen a few donars come close to passing out. If you load up on fluids prior to donating, that usually prevents that.

I once saw someone who was done filling the bag, had the IV removed and was told to hold a gauze pad over the wound. The Red Cross attendent got side tracked, then went to play with the radio which was playing while the donor fell asleep, he stopped applying the pressure and his blood leaked out of his arm and was everywhere. . He probably donated the equivalent of a pint and a half all together. I was really mad that the attendent could be so incompetent.

 

[Lubener]

I only donated blood once and they asked me for my social security number.

I said take all the blood you want..... I will NOT give you my SS #.

If you get a Red Cross donars card, you will bypass all the security questions.

 

[nomas]

They just built a nice new Plasma donation place here in town . Huge building . I think they pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $75 - $100 per donation in the form of a pre-paid Mastercard .

 

[jhs914]

I donated whole blood for years. After I reached the 10 gallon donor level I stopped donating because of my age and health problems.

 

[mjk1967]

I've been donating plasma for over a decade. A gross generalization to say they 'attract sketchy people'. All depends on the location. There are plenty of hard working people who do this for a variety of reasons.

 

[Rmay635703]

Hemochromatosis runs in my family and per my bloodwork I had too much oxygen and too many red blood cells, iron at the top of normal.

I try to donate every 2 months but rarely do it that often, always feel and sleep better after donating blood.

Blood type is AB+ which the banks desperately need despite being rare.

For men donating blood often is about the healthiest thing you can do

 

[blupupher]

I just checked my account, I have 90 donations noted through the Gulf Coast Blood Center, and probably another 5 or so before current records list (my first donation is recorded in 1993, but I know I donated before that).

I was doing donations every few months after they opened a donation center near me in 2005, usually the apheresis donations of whatever they needed (usually platelets and plasma, sometimes combo RBC) for many years.
In 2013, I just quit going. I had 3 bad visits in a row doing the apheresis process and just did not go for quite a while. I went twice in 2020 (both whole blood donations), once this year (did an apheresis combo RBC, felt a little yucky at the end of the process).

I need to start doing it again more often, but think I will do just the whole blood from now on. Takes less time and I don't feel as bad afterwards.

 

[spasm3]

I just do whole blood. Once fluid leaves my body, i don't want it back.

 

[gregk24]

Doing a double red cell donation now

 

[Mekks]

I "donated" aka sold my plasma for awhile. They do some tests with a finger prick prior to each donation. I got sick of getting turned away every other time due to my levels, and the huge needle started to leave scars so I quit.

between me and the wife going twice a week, was an extra $700 a month.