So thats what it feels like to get stuck in the arm and loose a pint of blood

[Viking 0]

Thats right i gave blood for the FIRST time today. a case of apple juice box's is in order i believe

This is a big thing for me b/c i HATE..........HATE needles!! especially those big 16 gauge fuckers they use!!! But i got some oreo cookies, apple juice, water, and Lemon Lime Gatorade out of it.

I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver
My God has a bigger dick than your god -George Carlin

[Casie 0]

That's AWESOME of you Viking! Yepper, I don't like them stink'n needles either.

~Porn Kitty
WARNING: Goldschlager causes extreme emotional outbursts!

[kelel01 1]

No nutter butters? Giving blood at your place sucks.

Congrats on taking that step
Kelly

[Darius11 12]

Good job bro.

I do it every year i have to wait till my Tattoo is a year old too.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

[billvon 2,998]

And if you give blood components they take two pints! (Of course they give you the unused components and saline back.) I did that a few times but it took too much out of me (both literally and figuratively.) Now I'm back to a pint at a time. I think I'm up to around 5 gallons.

[JustaBill 0]

Good job dude. Do they have cute nurses at your place like they do at mine??? I have roller veins and they usually miss about every 3rd time, but its not such a big deal if the cute nurse misses.

------------------------------------------------
I've done so much, with so little, for so long
I'm now expected to do everything with nothing forever

[DrunkMonkey 0]

Wish I could still donate. A trip to Playa Del Carmen rendered me ineligible (malaria risk area).

[adamjenner 0]

nice to see your doing the right thing.
last time i gave blood i passed out haha. it was pretty comical. Apparently i'm the faster person to pass out from giving blood in the Kentville hospital. A record i'm proud to have!

[Viking 0]

Quote

No nutter butters? Giving blood at your place sucks.

lol it was the Blood Mobile at my college, no nutter butters

I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver
My God has a bigger dick than your god -George Carlin

[Viking 0]

Quote

And if you give blood components they take two pints! (Of course they give you the unused components and saline back.) I did that a few times but it took too much out of me (both literally and figuratively.) Now I'm back to a pint at a time. I think I'm up to around 5 gallons.

how does that all work?

I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver
My God has a bigger dick than your god -George Carlin

[kelel01 1]

They put a needle in each arm, with a centrifuge in the middle. Say you're donating platelets-- they pull whole blood out of one arm, spin out the platelets, then the red blood cells are deposited back into you through the needle in your other arm. Yikes!!! But a good thing to do, definitely.
Kelly

[Viking 0]

oh that sounds lovely and wonderful

I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver
My God has a bigger dick than your god -George Carlin

[damion75 0]

Quote

They put a needle in each arm, with a centrifuge in the middle. Say you're donating platelets-- they pull whole blood out of one arm, spin out the platelets, then the red blood cells are deposited back into you through the needle in your other arm. Yikes!!! But a good thing to do, definitely.
Kelly

I REALLY really really really hope that you are joking!! I may be being pretty gullible here but some wierd stuff does happen...

They won't take my blood - comes from having been to too many of the wrong places!

***************

Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

[Amazon 7]

Quote

They put a needle in each arm, with a centrifuge in the middle. Say you're donating platelets-- they pull whole blood out of one arm, spin out the platelets, then the red blood cells are deposited back into you through the needle in your other arm. Yikes!!! But a good thing to do, definitely.

Wow that sounds like a new fun ride.... Did the military come up with that one blood donation in a spin chamber.. woo hoo

[akarunway 1]

I've been stuck a few times. In the back. W/ a BIG knife. I've given all the blood i'm going to give.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[Guest]

Quote

Thats right i gave blood for the FIRST time today. a case of apple juice box's is in order i believe

This is a big thing for me b/c i HATE..........HATE needles!! especially those big 16 gauge fuckers they use!!! But i got some oreo cookies, apple juice, water, and Lemon Lime Gatorade out of it.

Ah, such memories...

I donated a lot when I was in the AF. In fact, I donated on my 19th birthday.

What was funny was that a lot of others also donated that morning, and because the training center was in Denver and formation was in the afternoon, the altitude played a role in the game. Net result: airmen (and women) were passing out while standing there waiting to march to school.

I remember donating a few times years later.

Once, I donated at a Star Trek convention. As soon as the needle was out, I JUMPED UP AND RAN AWAY, just to piss them off......and boy, were they ever!

Other times I donated when I was working for the Navy, and weird things would happen. Example: brutally hot July day in Norfolk, but after donating, I felt chilled like it was Winter.

Found out much later that not only was I anemic (and shouldn't have been donating in the first place!), I had been exposed to an exotic bug in the Far East and therefore had a lifetime deferral.

So no more "Vampire Leave" as we used to call it (time off for donating)...

Oh well, it was groovy while it lasted...me and my 180-proof Genuine Old Anglo-Saxon Hemoglobin (and AB Neg to boot)...heh-heh-heh

Edit to add: Had a little too much fun one time with the Navy whilst donating. I waited until the needle was in and the cuff was set, etc., and waited until the tech's back was turned.

I said to the couch-mates nearby - "Hey, anybody remember the girl in 'Airplane'?!", as I rolled my eyes up in my head and pretended to paw the needle assembly.

Unfortunately, the tech had just turned back around....

....and got ALARMED, to say the least, at what I was doing, ...and then more than a little PISSED!!!

mh

.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

Quote

And if you give blood components they take two pints! (Of course they give you the unused components and saline back.) I did that a few times but it took too much out of me (both literally and figuratively.) Now I'm back to a pint at a time. I think I'm up to around 5 gallons.

Are you kidding? When I was 16 in high school, I tried to fake my age (had to be 17) to give blood at our school's blood drive! When I turned 17 I gave right away (following my dad's example -- I used to acccompany him to my elementary school for him to give when I was a kid). All through college I gave, and on after college. It got so I don't mind needles much at all. Sure, they feel weird, but the pain is sort of distant now, and easy to accept. And oooh, I've had some nasty donor experiences (infiltrated veins, NASTY hematomas).

During college I found out about plateletpheresis, where they take your blood from one arm, centrifuge it and remove the clotting agents (well, not all of your clotting agents: that'd be dangerous) and give you back the balance + saline for volume, into the other arm. You don't get weak afterward because you get most of your red cells back. The process took about an hour and a half, and both arms had to stay immobile with a needle in them for that long. It got to be quite achy, but it was for a good cause. I gave like that dozens of times, in addition to occasionally giving whole blood. For a while, I actually worked for Long Island Blood Centers telemarketing for donations! I learned a lot about it.

Then last year they decided to screen for people who had spent 3+ months in the U.K. between certain Mad Cow years, and since I spent a semester there in '92, I am permanently deferred.

They need to find a way to screen for exposure to mad cow disease, so I can give again.

Also, I was told I was "CMV negative," so having never been exposed to Cytomegalovirus (a flu-like illness) my blood was somewhat safer for weak immune systems, so it was reserved for cancer patients and premature babies. I always liked that.

Viking, glad you decided to donate. The world needs more giving.

-

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[happythoughts 0]

Make sure that they take the same amount out of each arm. You don't want to be uneven.