Do you know your blood type?

[trampledamage]

When I was 22 they drained off some fluid from my liver with a needle longer than my arm. This hypodermic monster was pleasantly inserted into the middle of my abdomen so they could get it under my ribs. I am assuming that poor RoJo would have died from fright... and that makes me... THE MAN.

Jesus, RoJo isn't the only one! I am so glad I never had to decide about getting an amniocentesis (or however the hell that's spelled) - huge needles being stuck in my stomach is beyond my ability to cope with

 

[JustKate]

Oh and just an FYI, when I was tested for mono they only stuck my finger and drained off a few samples into those little glass straws. If that is what RoJo is referring to as a vial...

When I was tested for mono, which was waaaaay back in the distant, misty past, a test tube full of blood was drawn, and it was drawn every week until I tested negative. Which isn't too much, but it is more than one of those little glass straws.

It was during that nine-week period that I developed a slight phobia about having blood drawn - I had some really hamfisted people try to draw blood, and I was just a little kid. I've gotten over it since, but it took a while.

 

[thestrangequark]

^ I can't donate either. Of course the Red Cross wouldn't take it even I could donate since I am a gay.

I remember a few years ago when I first learned about this -- what a pathetic, bigoted rule.

Oh and just an FYI, when I was tested for mono they only stuck my finger and drained off a few samples into those little glass straws. If that is what RoJo is referring to as a vial... When I was 22 they drained off some fluid from my liver with a needle longer than my arm. This hypodermic monster was pleasantly inserted into the middle of my abdomen so they could get it under my ribs. I am assuming that poor RoJo would have died from fright... and that makes me... THE MAN.

I have blood draws every three months, a few vials each time. They don't bother me, though I get a little dizzy sometimes and have to sit for a while. The last time I was hospitalized, though, I had to have an arterial blood draw, which they did several times from the same spot (I've no idea why). That was intensely painful and left me with a bruise that went from the palm of my hand to the crook of my elbow! It was so huge and purple that people gasped when they saw it!

 

[RyanKCR]

I've know for a long time that I'm A+. Helps to know that when you are a cardiac patient. I've also got a very high PRA level: 70%. It is from all the blood I've gotten over the years from my surgeries and the bleeding issues from that.

 

[Mysterion]

And if so, why do you know?

Yes, if for no other reason because the Army made me wear it e,bossed on metal tags around my neck.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ I can't donate either. Of course the Red Cross wouldn't take it even I could donate since I am a gay.

I remember a few years ago when I first learned about this -- what a pathetic, bigoted rule.

Seriously? They don't let *any* gay people donate? That is some kind of stupid. Has anyone complained about this to the government?

 

[thestrangequark]

^ I can't donate either. Of course the Red Cross wouldn't take it even I could donate since I am a gay.

I remember a few years ago when I first learned about this -- what a pathetic, bigoted rule.

Seriously? They don't let *any* gay people donate? That is some kind of stupid. Has anyone complained about this to the government?

It's, you know, cause, like, only the gays get the AIDS. I'm sure there have been some complaints by activists, but I'm not really up on the matter myself.

 

[cultcross]

There is actually a medical basis to the concept that those who have anal sex are more likely to have blood born STDs, anal sex is higher risk for them, to be nice and blunt about it, the anus doesn't have the natural protection the vagina does. Whether you're gay or not is irrelevant though, the UK blood donation questionnaire instead asks specifically if you've ever had anal sex.

 

[Daneel]

^ That makes more sense than the questionnaire I had to fill in every time I donated -- it specifically asks males if they've ever had sex with another man. As I understand it, if you answer "yes", then they won't let you give blood.

Anyway, I found out my blood type when I first started donating at 17. It was B positive. Before that, my mother had told me I was A positive. I guess she'd forgotten... or she's just a liar.

 

[Rii]

Seriously? They don't let *any* gay people donate? That is some kind of stupid. Has anyone complained about this to the government?

On what basis?

 

[trampledamage]

That was intensely painful and left me with a bruise that went from the palm of my hand to the crook of my elbow! It was so huge and purple that people gasped when they saw it!

That brings back memories! I ended up with one of those on both arms from botched attempts at blood tests while I was in the hospital attempting to give birth for the first time. When the aneasthetist saw me he was horrified at what a mess the nurses had made of my arms.


While we're on the subject of blood - do you get tea and cookies after donating blood in Canada? I used to donate back in the UK but haven't yet since I moved here.

 

[thestrangequark]

Whether you're gay or not is irrelevant though...

Precisely.

 

[NCC1701]

I've been donating blood regularly for about two years now, and found out the second time I went I was O+.

 

[Daneel]

While we're on the subject of blood - do you get tea and cookies after donating blood in Canada? I used to donate back in the UK but haven't yet since I moved here.

Well, in my part of Canada, there would be cookies available after you donate. There was also juice and cola to go with them -- I don't recall if there's tea, as I don't drink the stuff.

 

[Colonel Green]

I donate blood a couple times a year, but for the life of me I can't remember my blood type.

 

[Rii]

While we're on the subject of blood - do you get tea and cookies after donating blood in Canada? I used to donate back in the UK but haven't yet since I moved here.

I don't know if Canada has similar restrictions, but Red Cross Australia won't take blood from folks who've spent more than six months in the UK between 1980-1996.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Seriously? They don't let *any* gay people donate? That is some kind of stupid. Has anyone complained about this to the government?

On what basis?

Because it's bigoted and discriminatory and medically useless?

If they're worried about HIV, why not just screen the blood after it's donated but before it's transfused?

 

[Lindley]

Because it's bigoted and discriminatory and medically useless?

Bigoted and medically useless, perhaps, but there are no laws against that.

You'd have a hard time with a discrimination case, since the donee typically receives no benefit for their service anyway. Maybe a cookie.

 

[Captain Ice]

I've known since I was four.

 

[trampledamage]

While we're on the subject of blood - do you get tea and cookies after donating blood in Canada? I used to donate back in the UK but haven't yet since I moved here.

I don't know if Canada has similar restrictions, but Red Cross Australia won't take blood from folks who've spent more than six months in the UK between 1980-1996.

Do you know why? I don't remember any particular outbreaks of anything peculiar during those times.

I know there was a big stink about infected blood, which I think would have been around then - but that wouldn't effect everyone who'd been in the UK just anyone who had received a blood transfusion.