Blood and rhetoric

[zdashamber]

So, I gave blood yesterday... It's something I try to do a couple times a year, but I have to do it when I know I can do nothing for a couple days and nothing strenuous for a fortnight after, because I don't have a whole lot of blood or pressure. The time I tried giving blood and then going back to work, I ended up sitting and then lying on the floor of the lab, with the hot feeling of "sit down or fall down, 3... 2... 1..." So I've been lax last year.

Anyway, finally had a 3-day weekend with nothing really planned... Also, denyse is hopefully going to be giving birth in the next week, and that reminded me. When I first got my blood type card I was kindof annoyed... "B negative?! I thought I was O!" Mom had always said I was O, but turns out that spot on the birth certificate referred to her, not me. After doing a bit of research turns out that unlike in Europeans, B is pretty common in Asians, so I kinda figured that I was in a good location for having B and my blood would go to people with Asian backgrounds giving birth. I asked yesterday how far blood from Oakland travelled, and apparently it stays in Oakland, but anyway.

The "negative" part was more annoying, really. Means that I'm going to have to have more injections than most, if I ever end up carrying a positive baby; and I'll really do much better to be pregnant in a place with modern medical care. Poking around today, looks like Asia has basically no people who are negative, so if I end up in Asia needing blood I'm going to be SOL. Sheesh.

On the other hand, I guess I get to be all cool by being the second rarest blood type (after AB neg), and I get to be a better donor. Feh...

Anyway, giving blood is not so bad, if you haven't done it. Lots of annoying questions which rule out masses of people in the Bay Area who have ever slept with a man who has slept with a man, or who have had a tattoo or piercing in the last year. The way they spend a solid minute or two scrubbing your elbow with iodine is kind of annoying, too. The actual poking a needle in you is less bad than injections of novocaine when you're getting dental work; the stinging really does go away in less than 30 seconds. Then you can feel that there's something in you, and you don't want to move much because you know that it's sharp and could poke you if you move, but it doesn't actually hurt, particularly as the minutes go by and your veins do their tiny little moving around thing to adjust themselves better. It's a little odd to have the tube of outgoing blood taped to you, because things that are human body temperature are odd. The end part where they stop the flow into the bag and stop/start it a couple times to fill little test tubes, that part kind of sucks because the blood backs up into you and gives you strange little tweaking feelings inside your vein. But after that, no bruise, nothing but a little red spot on your elbow, clots fine, no worries.

Comments

[kashma.livejournal.com]

Love the title of the post, incidentally.

I applaud you for giving blood.

I would love to, but despite having been in a strictly monogamous relationship for 13 years now, and having been tested many times, I am disqualified based on both my choice of sexual partners long, long ago. I'm not sure, but I may even be disqualified based on being in Britain during the Mad Cow thing.

*sigh*

Ahh, well. I suppose they really need to be careful. But it still makes me a bit sad.

[zdashamber.livejournal.com]

Me, in a similar situation, I might lie. Though I guess you never can tell about Mad Cow.

[kashma.livejournal.com]

It's occurred to me, for sure. I don't like lying, particularly, but in this case, I thought I might make an exception. But, as you say, the Mad Cow thing is not something I can be sure of, without a brain tissue biopsy, apparently.

[kittentikka.livejournal.com]

Yes you can. You get it by reading newspapers that have MAD COW headlines. The Daily Mail over here, for example.

[denyse.livejournal.com]

Good on you for giving blood. You're right that rhesus negative is very very rare in Asia, but B type blood is more common in asians. You do have a very desirable blood type, but if you ever did get pregnant you'd need to be near a place where you could get Rhogam.
There's lot's of exclusions for giving blood to the Red cross - for my part, it's living in the UK during the mad cow thing.

[zdashamber.livejournal.com]

Bummer. BTW, I hope you (and your teapot!) are doing well.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

You're planning to go to asia and have a baby?
Layers upon layers, you are.

[zdashamber.livejournal.com]

Like a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a burrito wrapped in tin foil--...wait a minute.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Are you a supreme, though? Do you come with cheese and sour cream?

you need a burrito?

[ameer-tavakoli.livejournal.com]

http://www.idlewords.com/2007/04/the_alameda-weehawken_burrito_tunnel.htm

[shadowflyer.livejournal.com]

I was right with you up to the tin foil. Isn't that just like you, not to be microwaveable? :-P

[evilmagnus]

I faint every time people with needles take out my precious bodily fluids.

I'm fine with stuff going in, but once you bring out the leaches I get all hot and syncope-y.

Fortunately the crazy cows remove me of any guilt from not giving blood. Also, I'm A+. So my blood is better than my GPA. Go me! It's all in the genetics, baby!

[zdashamber.livejournal.com]

Yay! My mom also took to fainting when giving blood... One of my oldest memories is of being the basement of Holy Trinity while she was. Eventually they told her they'd had enough from her... :)

[hunnythistle.livejournal.com]

Years ago, during college, I worked at a plasma donation place we fondly referred to as "The Vampires". Altho the place had great benefits (we were owned by a French pharmaceutical co. that believed in good medical care, retirement plans, and school reimbursements -- which was why I was there), the hourly wage wasn't all that. But they gave us a nice employee bonus if we donated; the more often, the better.

So twice a week, I sat in the chair as the machine pumped out the blood, spun it, then pumped back in saline and the red blood cells. Usually took me close to 40 mins; average donor time was closer to an hour.

I still flinch when I get stuck with a needle; it's the anticipation that gets me. Usually the actual sting isn't all that much, altho occasionally back in the day, some of the less experienced phlebs would have difficulties finding my vein and would dig around for a couple of mins. Not fun. But it was never all that bad, really. The imagined "trauma" is much worse. So I'm always a bit tense right before, then I'm all "Is that all?" right after.

Some phlebs tell you not to look as the needle goes in; they're convinced that that will make it worse. I prefer to watch -- that way the tension lasts for a fraction of a second just before the stick. If I can't see it, I'm really tense during the entire prep time, which can sometimes last for several mins.

Also, since I've seen it countless times I can tell if they're doing it right. I've never had a problem in the doc's office or at a clinic -- the Red Cross does it right 90% of the time. I haven't donated plasma in years, but I still have the dimpled scar to show for it. Actually, these days plebs prefer to use a different vein, because that one has so much scar tissue.

[zdashamber.livejournal.com]

Ye gods. That's pretty impressive, what with the machine sucking your blood twice a week and all.

[hunnythistle.livejournal.com]

Right. And I quickly learned never to donate, then go to work. I was usually on the line for the min required iron levels, and I often required 20-30 mins recovery time. If the ambient temp was cool, mid 60's or less, I was fine, but if it was warmer than that, I'd feel light headed for up to an hour later.

BTW, good for you for donating blood. I believe that there's often a shortage, especially of the rarer types like you have.

[shadowflyer.livejournal.com]

I did apheresis at the Red Cross a few times; I really ought to again. Couple odd things about plasma donation, though. The saline is cold going in and I get shivers, I hate that part. But also, when I donate whole blood I'm fine the rest of the day, but plasma donation kicks my ass. Soooo tired after. I suspect it's because unlike whole blood donation, which reduces volume but doesn't change composition, plasma donation effectively lowers your blood sugar by dilution.

Things that make you go hmmm.

[hunnythistle.livejournal.com]

Donating plasma is donating basically everything except the red blood cells (which takes several weeks for your body to replace, hence the 8 weeks wait between whole blood donations.) So this means salts, nutrients, platelets, and all of those white blood cells, hormones and a whole slew of other chemicals that your body uses in daily maintence. And, usually the quanties taken in plasma donation are greater than the whole blood pint, especially when factoring in that red blood cells are not included.

So yeah, your blood composition is altered alot, and the loss of the nutrients (sugars & salts) hits some people really hard. Also, you're more susceptible to colds an viruses for the next several hours.

Cold saline sucks. I always wanted to devise a warmer for the stuff. Since I donated after work, I sometimes pre-warmed a bag for myself (carrying it around).