Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

I really should read my own blog.

Republicans in disarray!

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

This fight is for everything.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Let’s finish the job.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Blood Drive Update

Blood Drive Update

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I gave this morning. It was easy and pretty much painless. As I sit here, basking in the self-satisfied feeling of moral superiority that can only be felt by new converts, remember that there’s still a shortage, and in the Rochester, NY area, the Red Cross will give you a coupon for a free pound of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee if you give in January. Here’s the website. Consider this an open thread, as well as an opportunity to sound off if you’ve given recently.

Reader Interactions

63Comments

  3. 3.

    Mnemosyne

    I know you guys are going to manage to guilt me into donating regularly again, but I’m still resisting. Apparently my O+ blood is totally awesome in some way, because the Red Cross starts harassing me to donate again the very day that I’m eligible to do it.

  6. 6.

    JCT

    @Mnemosyne: Yup, you’re a so-called “universal” — blood from O’s (RH+ and RH-) is crucial for emergency stockpiles in particular because it can be given to a wide range of people. O negative is *really* rare (and these folks really get chased) — but given that >80 % of people are RH+, O+ blood is a good bet.

    So go donate!

  10. 10.

    JGabriel

    Ð @ Top:

    As I sit here, basking in the self-satisfied feeling of moral superiority that can only be felt by new converts …

    Not true! You get that feeling of moral superiority every time you give blood, even after years of doing it.

    .

  11. 11.

    JGabriel

    R-Jud:

    The Tories are going to sell all of our public forests.

    I’m sorry, what is it that conservatives are supposed to be conserving again?

    .

  12. 12.

    Poopyman

    Congrats! And the best part is that it gives you a great excuse to sit around for the rest of Saturday.

    – Oh Plus Poopy

  14. 14.

    Keith

    I gave this morning. It was easy and pretty much painless.

    I took last year (also pretty much painless), so I can’t give, but thanks to those who do.

  16. 16.

    Mnemosyne

    @BGinCHI:

    According to JCT’s Wikipedia link, you should be donating plasma: O is the universal blood donor, but AB is the universal plasma donor.

    Though, oddly, plasma donation seems to be for-profit much of the time. I have no idea why.

  20. 20.

    schnooten

    Gave Thursday for the first time. I’m O-, I think, and now they have my cell phone number.

  24. 24.

    Maude

    @TaMara (BHF):
    Your doc can tell you what helps. Some people just take iron and that isn’t a good idea. That’s enough medical stuff from me.
    I can’t donate blood. I don’t weigh enough.

  25. 25.

    Libby's Person

    I give blood because of Little Debbie Nutty Bars, my favorite junk food. It’s the only time I let myself eat them. I hate needles, but once or twice a year when I get a call (I have that very desirable O+ blood, too), I remember the taste and the crunch, and then make my donation appointment.

    Whatever works!

  27. 27.

    nitpicker

    Hey, folks. I used to give to the Northwest Florida Blood Center when I was down there, but when I tried to give to the Armed Forces Blood Drive, they rejected me since I had lived in Iceland in the 1990s and had eaten British meat during the BSE scare. Does anyone know if the Red Cross would reject me for the same reason?

  28. 28.

    Ken Pidcock

    I’m AB+, so my blood doesn’t help anyone.

    I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? Platelets.

    Right now, a large proportion of platelet donors are O-, because these are the folks who get drawn into donor culture and need something more to get their moral superiority fix.

  30. 30.

    Amir_Khalid

    One thread down, they’re playing Pin The Tail on Matoko Chan if anyone wants to join in.

  31. 31.

    Joel

    I used to donate twice a year, but the constant harassment to give became too much to bear. That, and the last time I donated, they had some careless buffoon draw my blood. She fucked up badly and it hurt.

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    OT but would somebody please drag Sully back to the Dish? Young Connor’s really stinking up the joint at present. A sample:

    It isn’t as if you can embarass him of all people into having higher standards, though to be fair, the Wall Street Journal is an exceptional paper that has staffers who are embarassed by some of their new corporate cousins.

  34. 34.

    Gin & Tonic

    @schnooten: As a frequent donor, and O-, i can also recommend you either change the number or get used to having them call you ALL THE TIME. They’re very nice about it, but they do not ever stop.

  36. 36.

    Roger Moore

    @BGinCHI:

    I’m AB+, so my blood doesn’t help anyone

    Not true! Your blood will still help other AB+ people. Also, IIRC, plasma compatibility is the opposite of whole blood compatibility*, so you’re an ideal plasma donor.

    *With whole blood, they’re worried about donor antigens on the red cells reacting with recipient antibodies. O- means you don’t have any antigens, so the recipient’s antibodies don’t have anything to react with. With plasma, they’re worried about donor antibodies reacting with recipient antigens. Since you have all the antigens, your body doesn’t produce antibodies and there’s nothing to react with the recipient’s red blood cells.

  40. 40.

    cathyx

    I used to give regularly but with my job change, I’m unable to now.
    But be aware there are many restrictions on giving blood if you travel a lot. I couldn’t give blood for an entire year because I vacationed in a particular part of Mexico and there was a malaria outbreak there while I was visiting. The list of countries that exclude you from ever giving blood is very long.

  42. 42.

    Roger Moore

    @BGinCHI:

    But they already have their own AB+ blood.

    Unless they’re short a few pints because they’re suffering from massive blood loss. Or they suffer from severe anemia. Or their marrow isn’t working right because they’re undergoing chemo or radiation therapy. Etc.

    And no, we’re not vampires, not even sparkly ones. We’re just basking in the self-righteous glee you get from helping to save another person’s life. Join us. You’ll love it.

    P.S. And everyone should register as a bone marrow donor if they’re eligible. If you think giving blood gives you that warm glow of self righteousness, just imagine how much righteousness you get from donating bone marrow.

  43. 43.

    lahke

    I second the vote for platelet donation upthread. Sure, it takes longer, but they set you up with a DVD to watch, so you get to see a lot of movies. Since they give most of your blood back you don’t have the dizzy, weak thing as aftereffect. AND, they still let you eat all the cookies even though you don’t have to do the wait when the donation is done. Definitely more fun option.

  44. 44.

    Bob In Pacifica

    I donated eighty pints over the course of my blood-donating career. Started when Joe Crane of the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils came down with leukemia and needed transfusions. After a lifetime of donating they turned down my blood over the last few years. I do miss the feeling of moral superiority.

  48. 48.

    Betsy

    I have an appt. for Monday. I’m O+ too, and I apparently have big veins. They love me at the Red Cross.

  50. 50.

    Lysana

    I’m on the permanent rejection list because I’ve had sex with a bisexual man. They don’t care how safely. They don’t care that we’re both HIV-negative. They don’t care how many years it’s been. I have rage about that.

  51. 51.

    abo gato

    Husband and I donated this morning. I’m O+ and he’s A+ (he likes to say he’s all Aplussy) Not bad today, but the people at the blood bank we went to kind of got all cranky that we hadn’t made an appointment. There was one guy in front of us and no one behind us, so it wasn’t like they were all jammed up. They call us the very minute we are eligible again and we always come in so you’d think someone, somewhere would think we are going to show up. We value our Saturdays and while I don’t mind donating, I’d rather do it at my time and not based on an appointment.

  52. 52.

    Catzmaw

    As an O negative universal donor I’ve been chased by blood banks since my teens. However, every time I donated blood my normally low blood pressure would dip to shock inducing levels and I’d end up feeling horribly nauseous and sick and weak. Thankfully, I spent a year and a half living in a malaria infested region of Africa, then topped things off several years later with radiation treatment for tumors. Apparently these little detours have rendered me ineligible as a blood donor, or so I’m told. But everyone else? You can carry on.

  53. 53.

    de stijl

    Way, way back in the day, when I was a very poor college student, I did the plasma donation thing. You do the normal blood drive extraction thing – they stick you in the inner elbow and draw a pint of blood. Then they take the pint away and centrifuge it to separate and draw off the plasma – takes about 20 minutes. Next they put the the left-over red blood cells (plus saline? I never asked about that) back into your body via the needle in your inner elbow.

    When you get the red cells back it is a distinctly odd feeling. The fluid has been out of your body long enough to go down to room temperature so your lower arm feels … Hell, I don’t really know how to describe it. Not cold like you’d feel like if it were outside in winter weather. A sort of inner cool. It’s not unpleasant, just odd. Distinctively so.

    And I got paid. Something like $13. And, mind you, those were in 1982 dollars.

  54. 54.

    BGinCHI

    @de stijl: Buddy of mine in college would always do this on Friday, show up at the bar with the money, then proceed to get hammered after 3 drinks. We were young and dumb and thought this an excellent combination.

  55. 55.

    de stijl

    @BGinCHI:

    $13 could buy you a nice buzz in 1982.

    Did you happen to go to a college in St. Paul? If so, I may need to apologize.

  56. 56.

    Gregory

    I donated platelets this morning. I’d have gone because of the Balloon Juice blood drive, but I’d already gotten an email saying there was a need and asking me to come in.

    I managed to donate a triple, which gave me enough time to watch all of Beat Takeshi’s Zatoichi, so that was all right.

  57. 57.

    Ken Pidcock

    @BGinCHI: While I’m now a bad ass platelet donor, when I was in college, I could never bring myself to join all my friends when they sold their plasma. (Bad childhood memory; when I was 10, I watched somebody draw my blood, and afterward threw up.) They all swore to the easier-to-get-high bit.

    By the way, in case anybody is unaware, it isn’t the Red Cross, or any other blood bank, that excludes homosexual men. That’s the FDA.

  58. 58.

    Sarah in Brooklyn

    I’m O-, so I try to give as often as I can. In fact, I donated last weekend. I can’t do platelets because I have deep veins. But I still get cookies.

  59. 59.

    Roger Moore

    @de stijl:
    The donations other than whole blood are weird. I gave by apheresis once, but it was a 5 hour procedure. They keep adding citrate to your blood to bind calcium and keep it from clotting, which gradually depletes the calcium from your blood. When it gets low enough, you start to get tingles in your extremities, and they have to add a calcium solution to the return line. They also refrigerate the blood while they’re processing it, so it comes back distinctly cold. It’s not a bad feeling, but they have to give you warm packs to keep your body temperature up.

    The big drawback is that I had lines in both arms, so I couldn’t do much with my hands. I also had to keep still for 5 hours without a restroom break. When they finished, they put about an extra bag of saline in me, which gave me about the strongest urge to pee I’ve ever had. Still a very worthwhile experience.

  60. 60.

    Boudica

    B- here. And I get hounded by the blood center(I thought I was special, but from the other comments, it appears they hound everybody!). I’m deferred until April because my cruise last April included a few hours in Roatan, Honduras.
    My husband is A+ so that means I got to get shots of Rhogam with my two pregnancies.

  61. 61.

    moe99

    I was a 3+ gallon donor by the time I was diagnosed with cancer, so no can do anymore. But am so appreciative of all who do donate.

  62. 62.

    Jay in Oregon

    I try donate platelets at least once a month; the trip to the Red Cross center is pretty long.

    I’m AB+, which apparently works the opposite for platelets as it does whole blood; I’m a universal recipient for whole blood, but my platelets can be used in anyone.

    My record has been spotty of late; every time I feel like it’s time to donate, I end up getting sick. But I will honor the BJ call to action and schedule an appointment ASAP. (On the plus side, my platelet count is high enough that they usually take a double dose out of me.)

  63. 63.

    mjm1138

    The moral superiority is a definite plus, but really I donate to help deal with my fear of needles. It’s easier to face a needle stick when people are being nice and appreciative like at the blood center, plus if I wimp out I’m not depriving myself, I’m depriving other people. And it helps! Vaccinations and blood draws at the doctor’s office are now no big deal.

    Extra moral-superiority/guilt-trip bonus: the Bonfils Blood Center here in Colorado identifies what they call “baby donors”, whose blood is “CMV Negative”. I reckon this is done elsewhere too. CMV is apparently a mild form of herpes, and 80% of people have it. I’m in the lucky 20% so I donate “baby units”, which are used for infants and the strongly immunocompromised (cancer patients, HIV/AIDS patients, etc). So if I skip a donation I’m depriving BABIES, people. Won’t someone think of the babies??

    I haven’t been doing it long, so I’m only at 2 gallons and change, but I find the best way to keep the phone calls to a minimum is to make an appointment for my next donation when I’m there donating.

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