A Pint Low

Today I donated blood at the local American Red Cross donation site. This is not by any means the first time that I’ve done this, nor will it be the last, but it had been over two years since I have been able to donate due to some policies of the Red Cross which I don’t agree with. (I hear that they’re not the ones making up these rules, but the CDC is.)

It’s funny to me these days that I’m a regular blood and platelet donor, given the need for needles and poking involved. As a child, when we would all get taken for our vaccinations, I had to be carried kicking, screaming, and crying into the clinic. As the oldest of eight kids and supposedly the one who was supposed to be setting the example, this were not my most gracious moments. A stint in the hospital for an emergency appendectomy when I was thirteen, along with all of those IV’s and shots, left me no longer upset by needles.

I think that I first donated blood when I was a college student, but I know that I started donating regularly when I got involved in science fiction fandom. Robert Heinlein, another Grand Master in the field and one of my favorite authors, was a huge proponent of blood donations since he had a rare blood type. Beginning in the mid 1970’s, because of Heinlein’s efforts in fandom, blood drives at conventions became fairly common. While not at every con, most larger cons and annual recurring cons schedule blood drives.

A few years back, since I also have a slightly rare blood type, I was asked by the local Red Cross office if I would consider donating platelets. For those who have never done it, platelet donations are similar to whole blood donations, but generally involve two needles instead of one and can take up to two hours instead of fifteen to twenty minutes. Your blood is removed from your body, centrifuged to separate the platelets out, and then your blood (minus the platelets) is pumped back into you. Where whole blood can only be donated ever eight weeks, platelets can be donated every two weeks. They do a great job of keeping you comfy while donating platelets, keeping a big supply of DVDs to watch and putting you into a comfy chair with a screen and headphones. The downside is that if you’re properly hydrated it’s tough (at least for me) to not have to pee for two hours, and you can’t stop in the middle of the donation, so sometimes it gets uncomfortable and awkward. The other mild side effect comes from an anti-coagulant that the use due to the length of time that your blood is being pumped in and out; it can leave a funky taste in your mouth.

A couple of years back, I was donating platelets about every three weeks, and occasionally donating whole blood just to give myself an eight-week break. Then to my surprise, I was “deferred”, told that I couldn’t donate for a year. The reason was that the Long-Suffering Wife and I had taken a cruise to the Mexican west coast. Cabo San Lucas and Puerta Vallarta were no problem, but apparently there was a case of malaria reported within 100 miles of Mazatlan, so I couldn’t donate blood for a year for fear that I might have been exposed.

Uh-huh.

The year went by (while I still got calls a couple times a month from the ARC asking if I would like to schedule an appointment to donate) and finally I went back in. And again I was deferred for another year. It seems that in the intervening months I had gone to Asia, and while China and Japan were fine, there was a problem with being in Korea. I triggered their system by flying in and out of the country through the airport at Inchon, and Inchon is a no-no for exposure to malaria. The fact is that I never left the building or was exposed to the outside in Inchon – I flew in, stayed in the terminal long enough to get my luggage, got on a train in the terminal, and left for Seoul, then reversed the process five days later. I was told that being in Seoul was not a problem, but that Inchon was, regardless of the fact that I was there for less than an hour each time and I never went outside. No more donations for another year. No exceptions.

Uh-huh again.

I can go off on a rant about the logic behind those policies some other time (in fact, I know that I will!) but the second time I just figured it was their loss. I still got called on a regular basis and emails about once a week asking me to schedule a donation, but they just got ignored. I really think that they can use some better database management on their calling setup, but I haven’t gotten that job yet.

Now the second year is up and it was time to donate again. I was half expecting some other problem, and I offered to donate platelets instead of whole blood since platelets are more valuable and can be donated more often, but they wanted the whole blood. OK, “not my float!” (Remember that phrase as well…)

In the tradition of the great Robert Heinlein, let me encourage all of you to donate blood (or platelets!) if you can. Help to save a life! There are restrictions if you’re too young or too thin or if you’ve been exposed to certain diseases or taken certain medications or if you’ve ever participated in any “risky” behavior. You will be asked some rather blunt questions about your sex life and possible drug use, since keeping the blood supply clear of the AIDS virus is still critical.

But if you’re not in any of the groups that they consider risky, please take a look at donating either at a local blood drive or at a local Red Cross center. If you’ve never donated and have concerns or questions about the process, there’s a lot of good information here on the Red Cross site. If you’re concerned about needles, don’t be – even a world-class wussy-boy like me can do it.

Fortunately, today’s donation went without a hitch, easy peasy. (Well, at least my donation was easy.) I was in and out in less than an hour, and the actual donation itself only took about fifteen minutes.

It was a good day to be a fast bleeder.