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I never donated blood until I was 30 years old. I was too squeamish in high school, and then after my LDS mission I was told I couldn't donate for quite a while because I had had gamma globulin shots.
I finally got around to it about 6 months ago, and I have gone back once since then. I enjoyed it, even though they almost blew up my arm the first time.
They are calling me back now, to tell me I'm eligible to donate again. I didn't commit with the first call, so they called again last night with the hard sell.
They guy on the phone told me that I am CMV negative. This means I don't have the cytomegalovirus in my blood. This meant nothing to me, but then he told me that most (maybe 90 to 95%) adults do have it. It's not that big a deal if you have it, but if you don't (like me) then you are special because your blood can be given to tiny babies and children with immune system deficiencies. He spent ten minutes or so telling me how every time I give blood I'll save a baby's life. He said people like me are referred to as "baby blood donors."
Has anybody else heard of this? I like the sound of it. I used to get a real rush from placing in the 95th percentile on any test, but that hasn't happened in years. I've been trying to do a search on the internet to see if being CMV negative is really that special.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Yep. It's a very good thing to be a CMV-neg donor -- the bloodsuckers just LOVE you. It makes no difference to a healthy adult, but a BIG difference to potential donees.
But much less of one of you don't donate some of your wonderful blood . . .
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I can't donate blood, because you must wait one year after each piercing.... and presumably that will never happen. But my dad donates, and he has regular-boaring-normal-people blood, and Canadian blood services won't stop calling him..... so that makes me think they are really hard up for blood no matter how special it is.
Posts: 197 | Registered: Feb 2004
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I finally told them that I tried to donate blood every time I could, but my schedule with four young kids was such I couldn't make commitments. Then I told them to remove me from their call list, because when they called me and bugged me it made me less likely to want to donate.
They haven't called since, and yes, I still donate. I just don't like to be phoned at home and pressured for any reason, not just blood donations.
My husband can't donate anymore because of the limitation on people who've travelled to Central America, since he goes there every year for mission trips, he stays ineligible.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Book, that sounds a lot like my plan to sell my blood to desperate college slackers back when I had mono.
Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Belle, what IS the limitiation on Central America? I 've never been clear on how long you need to wait, I went in March/April 2000. Can I give now?
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It's a respiratory virus, IIRC, that healthy adults can easily fight off. However, infants or those with compromised immune systems cannot.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I am CMV neg and am comming up on 5 gallons whole blood donated and I have around 35 apherisis donations.
I hate needles. I passed out the first two times I tried to give blood. Don't have too much of a problem now, but I still get nervous when they put the needle in. The nurse always sees my feet twitch a bit and asks if I am ok, while she stops putting the needle in. I have to keep from screaming at her, I am fine, just put the dam* needle in.
posted
It's either 12 months or more on Central America, because he goes every March. I think it's 24 months, but I'm not positive on that one.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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As someone who used to have trouble with needles (infertility treatment helped me overcome that one) I respect you going through with donating despite that.
My husband used to be on their liquid gold list, when we first married. He's O neg and I guess it was CMV neg or something else that made him one of their favorites, but now with his out-of-country travel and his exposure to all sorts of things as a paramedic, he can't give at all now.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I went in again and donated some of my very special blood on Wednesday. I hadn't had time before, but my kids are out of town visiting their grandparents, and the vampires have been calling and harassing me, so I finally made time to do it. Of course, it didn't hurt that they are conducting a drawing to give away caribbean cruises for two. They gave me a free T-shirt, too.
This is only the third time I have given blood, and every time I do it the automated method, where I donate two pints and receive my plasma and some saline back. The first time it was a bad experience, because the needle slipped out of the vein toward the end of the procedure, and my arm swelled up like a football because of the fluid being pumped into my tissues instead of the vein. The second time was much better, but I was still a little sore and drained for a day or two.
This time I felt great. In fact, I actually felt better after I donated blood than I had before. It cheered me up immensely, and I never did feel that tired, drained aftereffect. The phlebotomist must have been a really good one, too, because I have had no soreness or bruising at all, and I can hardly even see the needle prick in my arm.
I am looking forward to going back as soon as I can, which isn't for three months. I also hope I win the cruise.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Well, also, giving blood does make people feel better. CT can probably tell us why. But that's why physicians in the middle ages would bleed people so often, and why they got the nickname "leeches".
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So the CMV has nothing to do with whether your blood type is negative or positive? Isn't that rhogam or did I just make that up?
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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CMV negative is completely different from blood type, or whether you are rh positive or negative. My blood type is O positive, because I was born that way, but I am CMV negative because I have never contracted that particular virus.
The rhogam thing has to do with pregnant women who are rh negative (like my wife) when the father is rh positive. They have to get a rhogam shot (my wife is getting hers today), but I have trouble remembering whether it's to protect the baby or the mother. I think it's to protect the baby who, if she is rh positive like the father, might have incompatibility problems with the mother's blood.
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Yeah, I think the baby doesn't survive when they don't take measures to protect it. But I bet your wife's blood's in high demand, too. Can't they only give rh negative blood to rh negative patients?
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Rhogam shots actually protect neither the mother nor the current pregnancy. (Usually -- the fact that your wife is having one at seven months pregnant implies that there might be a need to protect the current baby. Usually, I thought, rhogam shots are given shortly after the birth.) They are to protect FUTURE pregnancies. They stop the mother's immune system from making antibodies against the Rh protein (the protein that those with positive blood types have, and negatives lack).
Assuming no complications, there is no actual exchange of blood cells between mother and baby during pregnancy. So the mother is only exposed to the baby's blood during delivery. If the baby has Rh-positive blood, like the father, the mother's immune system will react. That's why Rhogam shots must be administered within a short time (a day or two, IIRC).
As far as transfusions go, O-neg is the rarest -- AND the only type that can safely be given to all patients. It is better to give type-specific blood, but it takes a short while to test for blood type. So in emergencies, O-neg is transfused in the meantime. A-neg, B-neg, and AB-neg, while they could theoretically be given to (respectively) A-pos, B-pos, and AB-pos (the universal acceptor, who can receive ANY blood type), rarely are, AFAIK.
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It makes no difference to a healthy adult, but a BIG difference to potential donees.![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
I just don't like to be phoned at home and pressured for any reason, not just blood donations. ![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
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