My good deed for the day

building_with_lego

SmallL wrote: »

I'd love to give blood but the unit is in the centre of town and i have to walk 10 mins before getting a tram to town, so im worried about if i feel unwell after il have to cough up for a taxi!
I'm probably going to call in on monday to check my height/weight and medications are fine! Im short, light and take a concoction of medicines so they could refuse me on most counts!

I don't know where you live but I'm about 10 miles from one of the main sites yet NHSBT come to at least four places within reasonable distance of me each month or so. Have you checked blood.co.uk for your local sessions? There may be one which is more convenient. Failing that could you persuade a friend to come with you the first time? You could even book alternate sessions and 'take' each other!

With regard to your weight and meds, there's a lot of info on the site, and the phone number to chat about meds is 0300 123 23 23. They're wonderfully helpful and are lovely to listen to, being based in Northern Ireland.

Hermia

building_with_lego wrote: »

With regard to your weight and meds, there's a lot of info on the site, and the phone number to chat about meds is 0300 123 23 23. They're wonderfully helpful and are lovely to listen to, being based in Northern Ireland.

I have phoned them twice and they could not tell me whether I could give blood with the meds I am on. I even spoke to a doctor who said he wasn't sure!

I would love to give blood, but am giving up on trying to do it until I move next year. I live in the country and they only do sessions during the week and in the daytime. I don't have a job where you can just nip out. They recently had a stall in town saying they were short on donors. I asked them why they couldn't do evening/weekend/supermarket car park sessions like they do in other areas of the country, but they had no answer! It's very frustrating.

Wine_of_the_World

Are they very strict on the weight thing? I looked on their website and it said you need to be over 50kg - in clothing / shoes I would be a few kg under this, but I am a healthy BMI and defo not skinny. Would they just take a bit less? Sorry if that sounds really silly, but I cant see a reason why if you weren't underweight at that weight.

building_with_lego

That does sound frustrating. Good on you for not giving up entirely! I hope that you get some success when you move; it's such a rewarding thing to be able to do.

If you do want a more detailed response maybe you could email asking about your meds? Last time I rang to ask about a short course of meds and whether it would affect my donation they looked up the meds while I was on the phone. If your meds are complex maybe an email could give them more time to research the situation. (Here's a medical query form.)

angelil

Massive respect to all you blood donors. I always wanted to give blood and as soon as I was 17 I went along to have a go. Come the pinprick and I fainted :eek: Funnily enough they weren't too keen to take blood from me after that and I've never been back for another go since. I am terrible with needles and regularly cry, faint or throw up when in a situation where they're required Husband has given blood in the past, but his excuse for not doing so again is that he always feels absolutely awful afterwards and feels that giving blood takes it out of him for the entire day - not exactly how anyone wants to spend a Saturday I suspect. I guess some people react to it/recover from it better than others - my younger sister (who has just qualified as a doctor) is a regular donor and my mum used to be (prior to her blood transfusion in 1989, which means she isn't allowed to give anymore).

shortdog

I gave blood regularly from 17 until I fell pregnant with my daughter. During her birth, both of us needed blood transfusions to save our lives, and so they don't want me anymore
It's a shame, as I know just how vital blood donors are - without them, neither me nor my daughter would have lived.
Well done and thank you to all who give blood, it doesn't seem like much really when you're doing it, but we are living proof of the necessity of you all.

Buick

I went to join a few years ago, I think I've still got the plastic card somewhere. I was asked all sorts of medical questions in front of a room full of people, and then when I'd given blood they also kept phoning me at suppertime and pestering me to donate blood again. I got fed up with the phone calls and the intrusion, tbh.

But I will look again at the website.

Molly41

I want to thank all you generous and kind people who donate blood and all those involved with the blood transfusion service.

I regularly have a blood transfusion. Blood is the elixir of life and a drop of blood makes a huge difference to me. As well as being life saving it is also life changing as severe anaemia is such a draining condition and limits your life in so many ways.

I have two bags generally and with each 15 minutes that pass my blood pressure goes up and my heart rate goes down. I instantly regain my colour and my breathlessness improves.

Im a new woman and very much appreciate the altruistic act of blood donation. I will never be able to repay the kindness but want you to know that it means more than words can say x

Sportsbi

Are they very strict on the weight thing? I looked on their website and it said you need to be over 50kg - in clothing / shoes I would be a few kg under this, but I am a healthy BMI and defo not skinny. Would they just take a bit less? Sorry if that sounds really silly, but I cant see a reason why if you weren't underweight at that weight.

Fruitcake

whitewing wrote: »

I thought I'd share this email I got through blood.co.uk. I have given over 25 donations (which isn't actually that many compared to my age). I hope someone else can be inspired to become a regular blood donor. (I know some people are unable to give blood, but I hope you can cheer us on from the sidelines).

Did you know that we supply hospitals with around 7,000 units of blood every day? Or that, in order to continue to meet that demand, we must recruit nearly 200,000 new donors every year?

As a valued blood donor yourself, there’s a good chance that you did know – but we’re willing to bet that many of your friends or colleagues don’t!

That’s why this year, as part of our National Blood Week celebrations, we’re asking donors to share these facts with anyone they know who might be interested in blood donation, to help us continue to recruit the new donors we need. Facts like:

each unit of blood donated is split into its constituent parts, and can save up to three lives
the number of regular blood donors has fallen by 23% over the past decade
the minimum age for blood donation is 17 years (650,000 people will turn 17 in the next 12 months!)
So if you do know someone who you think might be interested in giving blood, please... tell them to visit us at www.blood.co.uk.

Thanks again for your continued commitment,

Jonathan Latham,
Assistant Director, Blood Donation

I used to donate platelets in memory of my cousin who died of cancer. I had to stop donating just over a year ago due to medical reasons, but I recently received some good news...

I can donate again. :T There is a post-it on the breakfast bar to remind me to ring the local Donar Centre to make an appointment. Oh, and my eldest son recently became eligible to donate blood as well. :T

Thankyou for starting this thread, and thankyou to anyone who donates as a result of reading it.