Giving Blood and exercising

[erugs]

I always watch that kind of stuff and have found it sometimes makes some of the tech's feel uneasy. I hadn't given thought to how donating would make me feel until I found myself hiking in a "dark tunnel" and unable to keep up. Now I'll donate only on a Monday. I'm glad to help others, but I need to hike on a regular basis, too. Thanks to all of you who donate!

 

[Bob Kittredge]

p.s. Anyone else make the tech nervous by routinely watching the needle go in? It's fun to see them contemplate the imminent need to catch me . . .

The first time I ever had blood drawn, it was just a 30cc sample, and I watched the needle with scientific curiosity. "Say", says I, "is this feeling in the pit of my stomach physiological or psychological". "Psychological" says the doc. "Nurse, smelling salts!" as I blacked out.

Since then I've donated over 10 gallons and never peeked.

 

[Jazzbo]

I have an actual experience to report!

Over 20 years ago when I was a hardcore cyclist I was riding some 150 miles per week. During August I'd done a century ride and hung near front of the packs all the time and was feeling great! There was another century ride in September in Connecticut River valley going from Amherst to Brattleboro and back that I was looking forward to riding with the leaders at the front of the pack again. The ride was on a Sunday. I started bonking on the ride north and was dragging my butt all the way back and turned in a very dissapointing time. No power in my legs at all on the smallest of hills. It was depressing. I couldn't imagine what happened to me. I completed the 100 mile ride, but I was somewhere in the middle and not the front. Then something like a week later I remembered I'd donated blood after work late in afternoon on the Thursday before. I'd probably recovered a lot by Sunday, but not enough to regain my competitive edge. I have no recall of what I did or didn't do to recover from donating. I just didn't think of stuff like that in those days. In hindsite I might taken steps to recover, as mentioned above.... drank more fluids or ate more steaks to regain my normal blood levels.

 

[Bob Kittredge]

Double Red Cell Donations

I recently got a message from the Red Cross that promoted "double red cell" donations. It's a different procedure than whole blood donation. They take two pints worth of red blood cells but replace much of the fluid volume intravenously. When you donate in this way, you must wait 16 weeks (rather than the usual 8) before you can donate again.

A little research on the web confirmed that this type of donation will knock down your aerobic capacity for even longer than the usual type. Be careful. I, for one, will avoid it.

 

[Tom Rankin]

For those who donate, please consider platelet phoresis, platelets are in critical shortage and those who need them need approx 6 units everyfew days to maintain blood clotting. I believe Westchester Medical Center is a phoresis site, Tom.

I took the plunge and started platelet donations! After the first 2, no problems with hiking the next day.

In NY, they reward platelet donors quite nicely, but I would still donate even if all they gave me was that glass of orange juice after I was done!

 

[charlos]

I just received a letter from the new york blood center asking me to donate platelets, they mention it takes up to two hours.
What is the process?

 

[Tom Rankin]

I just received a letter from the new york blood center asking me to donate platelets, they mention it takes up to two hours.
What is the process?

You have to make an appointment for starters, you can either call the number they gave you or do it online.

You go thru the same screening, and mini-blood test. Then they hook you up to a machine that has the same size needle as regular donations. The machine takes some of your blood, processes it to remove the platelets, and then pumps most of it back into your arm.

There is a small amount of anti-coagulant that comes back in your blood, and they mention this to you. You may feel cold, because your returned blood is at a lower temperature. Bring a sweater or fleece.

You can still read a book with your other hand, or even use a laptop if you can manage it with one hand. Some places show videos.

It actually took me over 2 hours, but they told me that my blood is especially high in platelets, so I guess they took more of it out!

 

[charlos]

Thanks....that doesn't sound so bad!