Blood: It's in you to give

[Minibit]

That's the slogan of the Canadian Blood Bank; they're always polling for donations

It's not just here, either, there's a huge need for blood all over the world, especially O-negative blood (it can be given to anyone of any blood type). It takes FIFTY PEOPLE DONATING BLOOD to save the life of ONE car crash victim. That's a whole professional football team for ONE person! Not to mention all the people who have transplant surgeries, blood diseases, lacerations and other injuries!

I went to donate blood for the first time today, but got turned away because my blood-iron levels are too low (five years ago I was anemic enough to faint on the floor at work, I guess I still haven't gotten my iron levels high enough).

Have any of you ever donated? If not why not?

 

[Spammy]

If you're iron low, they should have a list of foods you can eat to increase your iron count for you next donation that they can give you. And make sure you eat good meals before you donate. Big ones if you at all can. The day you want to donate is not the day you want to skip breakfast and/or have a protein shake for lunch.

I donate as near to once a quarter as I can. It helps that the local blood center network is not at all shy about calling you when you're eligible to donate again. But it also really helps that where I am now I'm maybe ten minutes from one of the neighborhood centers. And since I've been going to the center and not one of the RVs, they're doing a lot of the specialty donations. Platelets and such. I don't know whether it's a change in me or just that the different types of donations take longer, but I go through the donation process just fine... until five minutes before I'm done and then I get all light-headed and they break out the icepacks. I don't know why but I've stayed conscious so far and so I don't have a reason not to donate.

But yes, if you can donate, go donate. If you haven't donated before, go see if you can.

 

[Minibit]

My doctor gave me iron advice after I passed out at work

If your iron is too low to donate

You should~
Eat more of the following (maybe replace some of the rice, pasta, and bread in your diet with these, they're more nutritious anyway!)

Spinach
Chicpeas
Tomatoes
Artichokes
Green peas
Potatoes (with skin)
Fruit or fruit juice with your meals (vitamin C helps you absorb iron)
red meats (beef, veal, lamb, etc)
Lentils
Seafood
Kale
Asparagus
Pumpkin seeds
Raisins
Collared Greens
Tofu
Sunflower seeds
And my personal favourite~
Dark Chocolate

One doctor's opinion, but it can be better to make diet changes than to take Iron supplement tablets; your body only absorbs about 30%, and because they're hard for your system to break down, they can cause digestive problems like constipation :(

Also ladies should make sure they eat a lot more iron-rich foods during their periods to make up for the loss from bleeding

You can also just google 'iron-rich foods'. Also you can get your daily value of vitamin A by just eating a helping of carrots, but Iron almost never comes in that high a concentration, so you'll need to add more than one or two iron-rich foods to your diet if you're low

Ooh! You can also use a diet-tracking app like MyFitnessPal (you can also use that one on PC) to see how much of certain nutrients you're getting each day :3)

 

[Fluffy]

I've never been able to donate blood for one reason or another. Low iron, being sick, THC, not weighing enough...

I am as supportive as I can be, though. I've actually worked for a blood center for a few months. I worked at the front desk where I registered donors, scheduled appointments, stuff like that. It was especially awesome because I had all time access to the cookies and juice and I got to watch people get their blood drawn from across the room. >:] (I'm a weirdo, I actually have wanted to go to school to become a phlebotomist... Still considering it. >>;) Aside from all that, I do spread the word on blood center visits, recommend places for people to go, etc. because it's always for a good cause.

 

[Lady Sabine]

I've always wanted to donate blood. My school would have these trucks pull up and you got to skip the class of your choice to donate. Unfortunately, you had to be sixteen and 120 lbs to qualify, and I turned sixteen at just over 110. :c By the time I was 120, I'd given one vial of blood for testing at the dr's office and I blacked out. After one vial. Fully hydrated, not anemic. I do have a family history of very low blood pressure (my granny gets down to 60/45 on a regular basis and it scares the piss out of me) and I've fainted several times.
It's quite embarrassing, really. I want to donate but I'm one of those people who gets lightheaded just by standing up. Even donating the smallest bag, I'd probably pass out and need to go home for three days to recover. I don't get it. I drink more than almost any person I know (my granny drinks the most, ironically) and I love iron-rich foods. There's nothing physically wrong with me (or my granny) that any doctor can tell, but we both just don't do blood. Our veins are hard to find, our blood comes out slowly, we have low pressure... I don't understand it, but I hate it. I've always wanted to donate. I'm not at all scared of needles. I like the idea of saving lives.
I guess it's like being a severe asthmatic who wants to be a track star. Even the smallest step towards my dream is just physically difficult or impossible.

 

[Mittens83]

I've donated once in my life, mostly due to a friend forcing me to xD I'm wayy afraid of needles AND I don't like the sight/smell of blood, so I was pretty scared :/ But I went through it anyways on a biology class trip and I survived! ^^

I was almost not able to donate though, if it had been one year sooner I wouldn't have been able to. I had epilepsy when I was younger and the medications they had me on would have effects others obviously, but the amount of time needed was two years and thankfully I was passed the two year mark! I was also just at the minimum weight ._.

I've also been struggling with my iron, and I don't like eating meat, which people say is full of iron, so thank you for that list [MENTION=1185]Minibit[/MENTION] I will definitely start eating more of those vegetables you've listed! ^^ I've recently started eating salads with spinach instead of lettuce <3.

I haven't donated since that last time, mostly due to those fears, but also due to the low iron, and a fear that my epilepsy may be coming back due to some serious memory issues, but I'm hoping to get that checked out soon (or as soon as my health card comes in..... >.>)

Edit: OH! Also, I'm an O positive! :D

 

[LogicfromLogic]

I can't donate due to the fact that I've had cancer three times in my life and as of recently I beat it for my third time. But I try to help in other was however, like visiting the Children's Hospital with Shiloh, my cat who happens to be a therapy animal (I always ask if the kid is allergic to the animal or if she would cause the child's sickness to grow worse). So no, I can't give blood.

 

[Diana]

I have never donated my blood to people, but I have donated it to SCIENCE! Cause of the hemophilia in my family amongst others things. D: So I have never donated for blood drives. But whenever I'd go with my brother on his doc trips in Georgia I'd donate my blood to the Hemophilia center there for research and testing. The Arkansas hospital hasn't asked me yet. O_O

Me and bloodloss don't get along too well. >:[ I do get very fainty. If I don't load myself up with iron and protein, even during my period I am guaranteed to hit the floor.

 

[Stacisaur]

Tried to once.

Then they laid me down, did the iron test on me.
Lady was like you're good to go, gurl.

Then I blacked out.

So, no blood giving for me for a while. I've fainted about 7 times in my life upto now, or have gotten quite close.
I dunno when I can give blood safely.. But, I want to someday. <3
AB positive here, btw.

 

[Kylulu]

I've donated once, and it was for a school blood drive. Didn't get out of any classes, but French class was cut in half~ Felt it was worth it. I haven't donated recently. Not for any particular reason, just haven't really thought to do it.

 

[Spammy]

I'm going to donate today. Fingers crossed that my iron levels are high enough to donate. It's not that I have low iron levels, it's that they've raised their iron level requirements. But, making sure to eat good meals before I donate has let me just squeak by in the iron department.

 

[Super Cat]

I've donated quite a bit, probably about a dozen times. I haven't donated for a while, about two years I think. One reason is that I was in Iraq and Kuwait for a while and I believe I have to wait a year or two to be able to give blood again. As well I have grown to dislike needles, from being stabbed by them many times over my job as a medic. So I can still give blood, and probably would but I always hate it because I would rather just stick myself with the needle or have a friend do it that I know can stick me in one shot without any problems. I am blood type A Positive.

Also the statement that it takes 50 people to save one car crash victim doesn't seem right to me. That's a lot of blood and they should be able to stop the bleeding before they go through that much, and if they are just pumping in more blood without stopping the bleeding then they aren't very smart.

 

[Minibit]

[MENTION=1829]Super Cat[/MENTION]
I thought it sounded crazy too, but I think that's for extreme blood loss and includes surgery, recovery time etc. it probably takes less for the average gunshot or laceration victim.

I can't view the site on my mobile, but google confirmed I didn't hear the number wrong


www.bloodservices.ca/.../Are_you_blood...
A car accident victim can require blood donations from up to 50 donors. Cancer patients can require up ...

The main thing is that there is still a huge need for blood donations. Especially when you consider that blood has a shelf life :/

 

[Cammeh]

Another thing that has even more iron in it than spinach and kale: thyme! It's a good seasoning, especially in soups and stews, and is an excellent source of iron.

I tend to be on the low side of the iron levels as well. Not anaemic, but I do need to eat red meat at least 2x a week to keep from getting there, even with iron-rich vegetables. I used to have no problem giving in college until I was a senior, then my iron levels started to get too low. Now, unfortunately, teaching preschool I have inflexible hours and a long commute, so it's very difficult for me to carve out time to donate, plus I had surgery last December. I didn't require a transfusion, but I need to check and see if I'm still eligible to give blood.

When I donated in college, being black I would always put my donation down for sickle cell treatment. I had a friend in HS who has sickle cell anaemia, and I remember her missing weeks of school and not being able to participate in gym class due to her illness. On the whole her health was fairly fragile, the flare-ups were very painful, and she was chronically anaemic and jaundiced, to the point that her eyes and skin were quite yellow and her growth was delayed. She is much better these days, but can still have flare-ups, and she may never be able to have children. On the bright side, though, she'll never have malaria either!

 

[Electric Love]

I have mixed feelings on donating blood, plasma, body parts, etc. This might sound a little cruel, but I honestly question why we try so hard to keep people alive. I think it's all very complex, but basically... I don't think we address health or life or death well enough in our society. And because of this I don't feel particularly compelled to donate. And I'm not against donating. I just don't feel right donating when I have mixed feelings about it.

 

[Minibit]

So if you got a life threatening injury you'd rather just die rather than let your loved ones and the medical staff do what they can? I'm confused 0.o

 

[Electric Love]

Actually, I have thought about this a lot. Like every day. And yes, I really would rather die. I have requested many times, quite seriously, to be left alone. It's extremely important to me. In fact, when I start reaching an age where I can't take care of myself as well, I'm going to just walk into the woods or something. There's a certain point where I begin questioning whether or not the quality of life is worth it. And I have formed this view based on personal experience and serious consideration. The process of dying and death itself are very spiritual to me.

 

[Minibit]

Still though; you have the right to refuse treatment, but, while I can see where it's not 100% black and white it's like: I don't go to church, but if a Christian friend needed a ride I'd give em one :/

Not trying to preach, just trying to understand your perspective; it's a new one to me

 

[Electric Love]

No worries! My views aren't really typical, and I realize that. I just... tend to stay away from anything related to the current health field because I have too many moral questions mixed up with the current system.

 

[Zen]

I haven't given blood before because I'm squeamish but I've had several vials drawn for blood testing. To be honest, I can't remember what blood type I am, if my iron levels are even high enough, or if I'll have complications. Would the blood centers need my blood information and iron levels when I get there or can they figure it out for me? I do find it ironic that I saw this thread here when my grandma told me yesterday that she went to the Doctor for blood.