Give Blood and Platelets

[stancheung75]

As the holiday season is coming near. The United States has one this Thursday called Thanksgiving. I want to remind fellow Jedi's that this a great time to help your community and go out to donate blood at your local hospital or Red Cross (or Red Crescent) during a a blood drive. I have been donating since I was able to at seventeen years old. It's one of the activities I'm very passionate about. Blood can is so important for function of the human body. It only takes an hour of your time and it can mean the difference between life and death for some people. As if that wasn't incentive enough. They will give you a limited edition t-shirt for giving.
:)But WAIT!!!! There's more!!!
:sCo_chinscratch:More you say???
:)Yes MORE!!!!
If you act now...or when you can. We will also throw in post donations refreshments.
:sCo_chinscratch:What's that??
Well first they will have a nice volunteer hand you a cold refreshing drink of your choice.......with a straw.
:sCo_chinscratch: A Straw?? Cool I'm in. You should give blood too
:)For taking your time to donate we will throw in a bag of chips or some Famous Amos cookies to help you recover from the donation process.
Act NOW!!! Operators are standing by.

If you think you have a little more to give. Please help out HIV and Leukemia patients by donating platelets. These help blood to clot, a very important function for the body. But some people aren't able to do it.

The process takes a little longer to do. You get hooked up into a machine for about 2 hours. Blood gets drawn from one arm and goes into a machine that harvest the platelets. Then the machine will transfer the blood into the other arm. You will have your own tv to watch movies from their extensive library. Or you can bring your own. Hey have headphones to make sure you're movie wont disturb the other people. I made the mistake of bringing in a pro wrestling dvd in. I grunted and cheered for every move. It freaked the staff at the clinic out because they thought I was in pain. Never again.

The nice thing about giving platelets is that your body doesn't miss it after the donation. As a matter of fact. The body makes so much of it in a healthy person. That you are able to donate again in two weeks.

So please fellow Jedi take time to show love to your community by helping save a life. One donation can save up to four people. Think about it.

American Red Cross (https://www.givelife.org/index_flash.cfm?thisHB=11/22/2009%2010:38:44)Blood Donation phone number 1-800-GIVELIFE

"Starve a Vampire. Donate Blood." :sHa_cool:

[RyuJin]

a good cause that i used to do every 6 months, unfortunately the last time i donated i was told i wouldn't be able to anymore because i had somehow developed "rolling veins". i tried to donate once after but they were unable to hit the veins in either arm and i got to see what they were talking about...my veins roll under the skin when the needle penetrates and makes it difficult to hit

[stancheung75]

I have heard of several stories while donating about people with rolling veins. But I never understood what they were talking about. I think it's great that you donated when you can.

[RyuJin]

basically the vein will swell up when they put the band on, but when they try to hit it with the needle it rolls away under the skin, which makes it difficult to hit.

[Moonshadow]

The platelet donation sounds interesting, especially since you can make more frequent donations. Any idea how big the needle is for donating platelets or how it affects your iron levels compared to a standard blood donation, though? I donate blood 4 times a year and am already developing scar tissue in my veins, so unless it's a smaller needle, it probably wouldn't be a good idea for me on top of my regular donations. I also really have to watch my iron levels since I'm usually borderline anemic, so I'm not sure if donating platelets will drop my hematocrit too low to qualify for my regular donation.

A note of advice to anyone donating blood... drink plenty of water at least 24 hours before. Being well hydrated definitely helps the process go much more smoothly. Here (http://www.givelife2.org/donor/tips.asp) are some other tips posted by the American Red Cross.

--Moonshadow

[stancheung75]

:)