First Time Blood Donor (page 3)

VoidEater

I tried, but was denied due to having been intimate with another man.

As if they don't have tests.

AudeSapere

Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions everyone!

The hydration thing is big as I recall having prior trouble with blood tests while dehydrated. It was so tough to find the vein. So lots of water yesterday and today.

Anemia - that may be an issue, though. Broccoli is a good idea. I will have some for dinner tonight but don't know if it will have time to improve my iron content.

I'm ready to show up happy tomorrow. Not nervous at all. Still rather looking forward to this and truly hoping they will accept me.

Thanks again for the postings. Only other ex-jws truly know how momentous this is. A good friend of mine has donated every few months for several decades. His comments: Good. What's taken you so long??

-Aude.

AudeSapere

*Double SIGH* My first post did not succeed. I should just go home and start my day over...

*SIGH*

Well, I went downstairs to the mobile blood clinic this morning. I was all psyched, fully prepared (hydrated, etc) and ready. Read all the material, completed the forms, and selected a t-shirt as a reminder/souvenier from my very first blood donation. It's a white shirt with beach-themed writing. Palm Trees and Beach inside the cool big orange letters.

The nurse brought me into a private consultation room to review my forms and discuss my medical history and answer any questions I had. All was going exceptionally well until we got to the part about my cancer history. (Another poster earlier in this thread mentioned that this may be a problem so I wasn't too surprised when our discussion was diverted.)

As it turns out, it's not the actual cancer history that resulted in a deferral for me. It's the chemotherapy. And, for this clinic, I was given permanent deferral. I feel like I've got a big red stamp on my forehead: REJECT.

The nurse explained to me that all blood collection agencies in the US have the same basic criteria for donors but some are even more stringent. The UCI (Univ of California at Irvine) clinic has a director that added any chemotherapy history as a reason for permanent deferral. Cancer itself, with surgical intervention, is only a temporary deferral. (I think 5 years.) She suggested that if I still want to donate, I could call the American Red Cross as they may accept me.

Well, I called The American Red Cross (1-800-GIVE-LIFE) when I returned to my desk. The nurse on the phone will consult with the doctor in charge regarding my case history and call me back. I'm not very hopeful at this point.

Somehow this is not too encouraging to me. I still feel like I would be making an inferior donation. And the fact that Red Cross would accept this inferior product does not necessarily boost my confidence in their program. I kind of feel sorry for the poor recipient who would end up with my inferior blood.

Now I'm sitting here thinking I should go back down and see if they will swap my crummy t-shirt for that coupon for a pint of Baskin-Robbins ice cream. I think the ice cream will help me get over the feeling of rejection.

*SIGH*

At least they still let me have some cookies. Afterall, I *did* show up.

-Aude.

megs

Aww, I'm sorry to hear that They won't take my blood either. I used to donate very regularly, but when I lived in Scotland and came back they permanently denied me... I hope the cookies were good at least!!

AudeSapere

megs wrote: but when I lived in Scotland and came back they permanently denied me.

Yeah. That was weird. That was one of the questions on the form. Something to the effect of: Had I lived in the UK for a total of 3 months from 1980 until now?

I wonder why would being in the UK exclude someone? There was a similar exclusion for living for a period of time in a total of about 30 european countries since 1980 or 1990.

-Aude.

AudeSapere

The Red Cross just called me back.

At this time, chemotherapy is reason for permanent deferral with their agency, too.

The nurse was eager to thank me for my diligence and encouraged me to find other ways to assist and contribute.

I'll probably still stop for ice cream after work.

-Aude.

Indo_Dude

I refuse to go to the Red Cross or other religious hysteric establishment that doesn't want gay blood / plasma. A few friends of mine always just lie about their sexuality so they can give blood and or plasma so they can get paid $$$ for doing so. It's a stupid rule, much like the rule against anyone who has spent time in Europe or other countries too.

nameless_one

I'm sorry it didn't work out that you were able to donate blood. There do seem to be a lot of exclusions that don't make any sense, though I'm no expert on the matter. It sounds like this was important to you; have you considered other ways of contributing? I imagine there are other volunteer opportunities involved with blood drives beyond the actual donating of blood, and if it's an important issue to you, that could be something to look into. Just a thought, and kudos for wanting to donate and feeling excited about it :-)

Edited to add: I'm not able to donate either, for different reasons, and understand what you mean about the feelings of "rejected." If this is an important issue to you though, I do hope you'll investigate other ways to become a part of it.

First Time Blood Donor

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