Email subject: "You Just Saved Lives!"

[sorcyress]

Not quite often enough¹, I go down to MGH (a convenient ride on the red line, slightly less convenient but still doable on the green) and give blood at their donor center. Sometimes I get organized enough to bring other people with me, sometimes I just go myself, but at this point it's all pretty old hat: read the literature², explain to the nurse that I checked yes on heart problems because I had a PDA and it's been repaired³, hop in the chair, drink even more water than that, eat some snacks, head home. It takes a couple hours?

And over the 18 years I've been eligible to give blood, I've done so at lots of different places. Even now, I could keep my eyes open for closer blood drives than ~all the way at MGH~ --I mean, I know the armory does them sometimes, and that's just down the street! But I know the structure at MGH, I know where to go, I like the snack options, everything is no-nonsense and as enjoyable as it can be.

And MGH, unique to all other blood donor centers I've contributed at, will send me an email with the subject line "You Just Saved Lives!". Two or three weeks later, presumably when some amount of paperwork has been sorted out and tracked and etc.

Today I have eaten breakfast, and gone to a dull meeting, and worked with a bunch of students, and archived some emails. And saved someone's life. Helped another human who was at risk of peril, of death, of griveious bodily harm, and made it better for them.

It's a fucking fantastic email to get. It is something that I think will never _ever_ get old. What did you do today Kat? I saved someone's life. Bam.

Anyways, I'm eligable again in June so I'm probably gonna aim for that week of July where I'm not at Pinewoods. Anyone who wants to join me, drop me a line. I'm happy to hold your hand (metaphorically or literally) for any part of it you need. You too could save lives.

~Sor
MOOP!

1: Maximum is six times a year, optimal would probably be about four, I've never managed more than three times in the same calendar year, and in 2023 I think I only donated once.

2: WHICH HAS UPDATED TO BE GENDER NEUTRAL HOLY SHIT. I fuckin' _cried_ this most recent time because _they actually want my queer blood_.

3: This most recent time I learned that a patent ductus arteriosus repair is maybe the only heart problem that you *can* still donate blood after.

Comments

Because the internet is bad actually...

[sorcyress]

If you are coming in here to comment about how the blood donation process is homophobic and sexphobic, that's cool, you're not wrong, do it in your own journal.

If you are coming in here to comment about how not everyone is able to give blood, that's cool, you're not wrong, but this is dreamwidth and I think we are better than the twitter-rage-machine kneejerk reactions of "this post about an individual's personal experience does not account for all situations even tangentally related".

~Sor

[lauradi7dw]

I have searched DW and think that the last time I donated blood was 2018 at Arisia. The previous time was 2015 in Lexington Center. I think the time before that was 2011-ish at a Children's Hospital Bus near Arlington Street. What was notable about that time was that a bunch of PTA students went together but very few of us qualified - some were anemic, one or two under the weight limit. A couple of years before that at UMass Lowell, when I found out that that cranberry juice drink gave me indigestion. Somewhere in the house there must be a card for before that.
I'm at MGH once a week. Hmm. My most recent Covid shot was recently enough ago that I'm probably not eligible right now.

My father (over many decades) donated so much blood that he had to stop because eventually they could not poke a needle through the scar tissue in the relevant spots. There was a horrible morning at the VA a few years ago when the lab phlebotomist would not believe me, and tried both arms before she gave up and did the back of the hand thing I suggested to begin with.
My mother donated once and was asked not to do so again because she had some weird antigen that was too hard to match. I would have hoped that they'd keep her on file for when a corresponding weird blood person needed it, but that was before computerized records.
Arthur donated once while at MIT and passed out, so they said not to try again.

[squirrelitude]

My main impediment is that I need to somehow check if I'm allowed to donate again.

The last time I donated blood, some months later I got a very apologetic call explaining that I'd gotten a false positive on the ELISA for HIV, and that while the more accurate Western Blot showed a negative, the FDA had still ruled that *any positive ever* meant the person could no longer donate. So despite actually being negative, I was out of the donor pool.

They were trying to get that changed, and maybe they succeeded? But I'm not entirely sure how to find out!

[verdantry]

The last time I had motivation to donate was in the three month post-tattoo deferral period, but it is now much past that and maybe I can be enough of a person again to go do this thing.

I think the Red Cross has occasionally sent me emails about where they've sent my blood? But it's definitely not a consistent thing, so maybe I'll join you at MGH instead of the Armory next time.