I used to donate all the time, but I'd do it when I was in the neighborhood, I'd just drop in on a whim. Then the private company took over and they stopped letting people do that, had to be by appointment only... I suck at appointments that are not important to me and I avoid them because I often forget or miss them, I don't even make them for my hair, walk in or nvm I'll try tomorrow. So as a result I have not done it in years... after the change to a private company they even turned me down when I walked in a few times... irritating. I understand them wanting appointments and pushing for them but completely shutting down walk in traffic is a mistake imo. I should donate too as I'm a universal donor and have some rare immunity that makes my blood good to give to infants, at least that's what a nurse told me... I have no idea what that would mean or be.
Anyway glad it worked out for your mom, if they took walk in traffic I'd stop by tonight after reading this...
I used to donate every 2 months or so for a decade or more and they loved me as I'm O- then the posh #######s decided they didn't want any english blood anymore so eff em!
I used to donate every 2 months or so for a decade or more and they loved me as I'm O- then the posh #######s decided they didn't want any english blood anymore so eff em!
Good luck to you and your mum.
I wonder if that is another result in the Blood donor program becoming part of a privately owned corporation. What would the reasoning be for that... Sometimes this country is so odd.
*edit* apparently Canadian Blood Services is a non-profit charitable organization... I was friends with people that worked at the blood donor clinic when they took over I think around 99-2000 and from the talk it sure didn't seem like a charity... so I always thought it was a government sponsored corporation...
Early Wednesday morning my mom had some complications after a routine surgery and needed a blood transfusion.
I would just like to thank anyone who has ever donated blood, you have no idea what it means to me that my mom is still here today and recovering wonderfully.
I thought about not posting this but CP and its members are a pretty big part of my life and it has been a tough week for me.
I've never donated blood before, but I certainly will now. Sometimes you don't appreciate something until it hits close to home.
Thank you.
I started donating after it hit close to home for me. I have donated about 40 times in the past 10 years. I have had a couple time outs from CBS for reasons that I won't share...... Ok, it was travel reasons.
Good on you for starting.
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I used to donate all the time, but I'd do it when I was in the neighborhood, I'd just drop in on a whim. Then the private company took over and they stopped letting people do that, had to be by appointment only... I suck at appointments that are not important to me and I avoid them because I often forget or miss them, I don't even make them for my hair, walk in or nvm I'll try tomorrow. So as a result I have not done it in years... after the change to a private company they even turned me down when I walked in a few times... irritating. I understand them wanting appointments and pushing for them but completely shutting down walk in traffic is a mistake imo. I should donate too as I'm a universal donor and have some rare immunity that makes my blood good to give to infants, at least that's what a nurse told me... I have no idea what that would mean or be.
Anyway glad it worked out for your mom, if they took walk in traffic I'd stop by tonight after reading this...
Not trying to sound like a jerk here....Do you know how bad it sounds that you can't be bothered to make an appointment to donate blood? If you don't want to donate then fine that's your choice, but to blame it on having to make an appointment seems pretty lame to me. "I suck at appointments that are not important to me"...Possibly saving someones life isn't important to you?
Also not sure if you are in Calgary but if you are I believe that the downtown clinic accepts walk-ins.
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Originally Posted by calgaryblood
Looks like you'll need one long before I will. May I suggest deflection king?
I can't donate because I don't weigh enough. But I used to volunteer at the downtown donor clinic. The best part of that was getting to give away cookies and serving people soup and juice. A lot of fun and I would recommend it to anyone who's interested.
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I used to donate every 2 months or so for a decade or more and they loved me as I'm O- then the posh #######s decided they didn't want any english blood anymore so eff em!
Good luck to you and your mum.
My Mum and I used to donate every two months like clockwork, but we too have been excluded because we have spent "too long" in the UK. I have inquired a few times since, and unfortunately they still don't want my blood.
I'm not personally offended by it, and I understand that CJD has a long incubation period, there's no way to test blood for it, etc. and they are just doing it in the best interest of the blood supply. I just wish that I could do my part like I used to be able to.
Not trying to sound like a jerk here....Do you know how bad it sounds that you can't be bothered to make an appointment to donate blood? If you don't want to donate then fine that's your choice, but to blame it on having to make an appointment seems pretty lame to me. "I suck at appointments that are not important to me"...Possibly saving someones life isn't important to you?
Also not sure if you are in Calgary but if you are I believe that the downtown clinic accepts walk-ins.
Not trying to be a jerk here either, but I don't really care how bad it sounds, I'm not "blaming" anything nor am I "making excuses" to you as I have no need for your approval rating... quite simply it was honest and its why I don't donate, sorry you don't like it. Making and then remembering appointments is a pain in my ass. If they changed their walk-in policy its news to me - I used to go to the one around (I think) 13th AVE, thats pretty close to downtown. Maybe they did change it after losing a lot of donors that are similar to me.
Over Dramatic much? If people were dropping like flies due to lack of blood in the system then OK, I'd be "saving a life" (and if it was that bad I'm know myself and many others would make the extra effort until stock was restored) but as there are no deaths specifically due to lack of blood in the system all I'm not doing is helping at the moment. So the answer is no, boosting their stock by one unit at this time is not that important to me.
Its a group effort, no one person is saving lives by donating same as no one person is murdering anyone by not donating.
Not trying to be a jerk here either, but I don't really care how bad it sounds, I'm not "blaming" anything nor am I "making excuses" to you as I have no need for your approval rating... quite simply it was honest and its why I don't donate, sorry you don't like it. Making and then remembering appointments is a pain in my ass. If they changed their walk-in policy its news to me - I used to go to the one around (I think) 13th AVE, thats pretty close to downtown. Maybe they did change it after losing a lot of donors that are similar to me.
Over Dramatic much? If people were dropping like flies due to lack of blood in the system then OK, I'd be "saving a life" (and if it was that bad I'm know myself and many others would make the extra effort until stock was restored) but as there are no deaths specifically due to lack of blood in the system all I'm not doing is helping at the moment. So the answer is no, boosting their stock by one unit at this time is not that important to me.
Its a group effort, no one person is saving lives by donating same as no one person is murdering anyone by not donating.
I don't think it's over dramatic. The blood you give is used for people who need transfusions, either due to injury or an illness like cancer. So yes, your blood is being used to save lives. It just seems like kind of a cop out to say it's so hard to make/remember an appointment. People dying and cancer patients have more of a burden than me making and keeping an appointment...
To each their own I guess.
You are right, it's a group effort...But the more people in the group who start thinking "there is plenty of people to cover what I'm not doing" is what leads to problems. It's an hour out of my life every 2 months, I probably waste more time playing brick breaker on the can in 2 months.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by calgaryblood
Looks like you'll need one long before I will. May I suggest deflection king?
Last edited by Hockeyguy15; 12-02-2011 at 02:10 PM.
When I first donated back in the late 70's the red cross would come into the office at lunchtime and get through about 50 or 60 of us in an hour, it took only as long as it took to lie down and drain the blood, 10 minutes tops.
By the time I was banned from donating in the early 2000's it was taking around and hour or more to donate at least 50 minutes of which was answering the same questions 4 or 5 different ways, no I'm not gay, no I'm not an arse bandit, no I haven't been shagged up there, no I don't like wearing bright shirts and dancing to hi energy disco.
In the end it was a relief to not have to spend so much time donating, although I believe it is my duty to do it and if they let us brits back in I would donate again immedeatly, it doesnt hurt, you take a book to read, it is actually good for your health and it puts a bit back into a country that has given me so much.
Yeah, maybe that's the thing - if they opened it up to everyone, it would be overrun with you Brits and us gays.
Actually sounds quite fun if they did that.
I don't understand why you can't donate. I was under the impression they tested for HIV/AIDS and what not before they gave the blood a green light, and isn't a higher risk for HIV/AIDS the reason they won't let gays donate?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by calgaryblood
Looks like you'll need one long before I will. May I suggest deflection king?
Location: Close enough to make a beer run during a TV timeout
Exp:
I'm in the same boat as Madman. I don't donate as much as I should because it is a bit of a pain to have to schedule an appointment. When I lived in Winnipeg you could just pop in when you have a bit of extra time.
Given the number of times that I find myself needing to kill an hour between work and a Flames game; I'd probably donate a few times during the season.
I used to donate every 56 days as the downtown clinic is just a few blocks from my office, and then a semester came when my Friday lunchtime donation time was interrupted by class every Friday so I had to skip a few months and never got back into it.
Thanks for reminding me, I am going to call and set up an appt for next week.
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