Embarrassing Question about blood donation

[Hog]

I am in a humorous but embarrassing situation.

I like to donate blood products every week. The nurse said that my red blood cell count is too high because I donated too many platelets. Thus, I am prohibited from donating until May 7. I personally feel that the the health professionals are paranoid. I donate to a place called Vitalant. But, I could probably go to the Red Cross and do a double donation of red blood cells and fix everything. My wife refuses to allow me to do this.

I have cheated in the past by giving whole blood to the Red Cross on one month and donating to Vitalant on another month. They do not cross check records. So what they don't know is not going to hurt them. I injured myself at Vitalant several years ago when I passed out because I donated too much blood. Thus, nurses said I had to go to urgent care and get stitches. In addition, my wife had to take a cab to pick me up and drive me to urgent care. My wife made me promise to never cheat again.

My veins are difficult to get to. Sometimes the nurses need to re-stick me move around the needle. The nurses get worked up about the discomfort that it causes me. Still, I am a little autistic. So, I probably process pain differently than most people. But, they recently found a nice and juicy side vein that seems to work great. I was pretty excited by that.

For some reason, going vegan made donating blood products easier. Thus, I like to donate blood as much as possible. I think I have more than enough protein. Does anybody know what I could eat to make cause my platelets to increase?

Please help me because I like to get free cookies and popcorn every weekend at the blood donation center.

 

[Lou]

For years and years i gave blood every 6 weeks. Around here that is the most often you can give blood. and it is not like I'm that good a person. Every 6 weeks I would get a message on my answering machine reminding me of the appt i had made the last time i was in. I would have to call back to postpone or cancel. It was just easier to go in. and there were cookies. and other gifts as you gave more and more. (i've already gotten the t-shirt, the coffee cup, and the silver letter opener (1, 2, and 5 gallons).

One day I asked about giving platelets. but they said they would rather have my whole blood. and i think the time period between platelets is even longer. I don't understand why you can give blood every week. I thought the red cross's six-week rule was nationwide - and to protect the blood donor.

 

[Emma JC]

Thank you for donating!!

My suggestion would be that you go and volunteer at the blood donor clinic if you like it there so much.... no?

In my uninformed opinion, if you give blood every week then you are not giving the best quality of blood that you could and may therefore be depriving, the very people you say you are trying to help, of life giving blood. It comes down to this... are you donating blood to feel good about yourself or to be helpful to others?

Hope that doesn't come across as to harsh, I don't mean it to be, just trying to be real.

Emma JC

 

[Hog]

I think the rule at Vitalant is:

Platelets every 7 days.
Plasma every 24 days.
Red blood Cells every 56 days.

The nurse said that the blood collection machine is hooked up to the internet. Thus, everything is based on what some computer says.

"are you donating blood to feel good about yourself or to be helpful to others?" - Emma JC

The answer is probably a little bit of both. On the narcissistic side, I really want to achieve my goal of 300 life time donations because they will engrave my name on a special sign. On the altruistic side, I go crazy when I read about rationing blood products in the United States due to shortages. Blood should be free and readily available to everyone.

I really like the free junk food at the blood donation center. I also heard that they will also give you a shot of hard liquor in some states. (California I think?)

 

[Lou]

I think the rule at Vitalant is:

Platelets every 7 days.
Plasma every 24 days.
Red blood Cells every 56 days.

The nurse said that the blood collection machine is hooked up to the internet. Thus, everything is based on what some computer says.

"are you donating blood to feel good about yourself or to be helpful to others?" - Emma JC

The answer is probably a little bit of both. On the narcissistic side, I really want to achieve my goal of 300 life time donations because they will engrave my name on a special sign. On the altruistic side, I go crazy when I read about rationing blood products in the United States due to shortages. Blood should be free and readily available to everyone.

I really like the free junk food at the blood donation center. I also heard that they will also give you a shot of hard liquor in some states. (California I think?)

We don't have hard liquor. I doubt that is really a thing. We do have the wall with the names. My next thing is getting to the 10-gallon mark where you get a pewter ten-gallon milk can. but I'm not sure where I would even put the thing. I do have a crappy collection of t-shirts which they give out sort of randomly. I already got the one-gallon and five-gallon presents. the coffee cup got broken years ago and I don't get to show off the silver letter opener - although if The Hog came over - I would show it to him.

I asked about the platelets once. I was jealous because the apheresis people had easy boy chairs and got a warm blanket and a TV with a DVD player and got to watch a movie. But the nurse said that they would rather have my whole blood and that you can't do both.

Right now and I don't know for how long (maybe for life) I can't give blood anymore. Maybe when this is all over I can go in on Saturday mornings and give out cookies.

Also, there has never been that much of altruistic or even narcissistic component to my giving blood. At one job I had, we had a blood drive and you got the afternoon off to go give blood. It only takes an hour - so why not leave after lunch on a Friday (woo hoo). But then they put you on "list" where they call you and ask you to give blood whenever they need some ( which is like all the time). At some point, they stopped asking me and just left a message on my answering machine telling me they had made me an appointment for Saturday at 11 AM. And it seemed rude or selfish or something to cancel it. it was just easier to just go. Plus the cookies.