I gave blood a bit over a month ago. Now that I'm unemployed, it's easy to make the local blood drives. Two jobs ago the Red Cross use to set up at one of my org's offices and we could take work time to donate. At my more recent job, so many employees were spending big chunks of time in malarial countries they didn't bother setting up corporate donations. Pity--I gave more when it was the next building over and on the clock.
Spike's Bitches 48: I Say, We Go Out There, and Kick a Little Demon Ass.
[NAFDA] Spike-centric discussion. Lusty, lewd (only occasionally crude), risqué (and frisqué), bawdy (Oh, lawdy!), flirty ('cuz we're purty), raunchy talk inside. Caveat lector.
Dang, you guys have reminded me that I haven't given blood in years. And I don't have a problem doing it, so I have no excuse -- it just slipped my mind. (I even live pretty close to the main blood bank location, so I really have no excuse.) I need to get on that.
I've given blood ... these days I'm taking so much stuff that they really don't want it (I think the blood thinner was the final straw).
I just gave a couple of weeks ago! I'd tried to give blood several times in the spring and couldn't for various reasons (sick, didn't meet the iron level requirement, etc.), but I finally made it through and was able to give. It's something I can do relatively easily, so I try to do it as often as I can.
To change the subject it suddenly occurred to me - those taxidermied mice, with costumes and accessories? those are Aeslin mice!
HAIL!
The rule is an aggregate of 6 months in the UK.
The Red Cross site [link] says 3 months. It's 6 months for certain European countries.
How do they check on the iron? Or do you have to have lab slips that prove you're eligible? (Mine is always, always low.)
They do a hemoglobin test, don't they? That fingerstick thing where they check to see if a drop of your blood floats or sinks. (Although you can have a normal hemoglobin level and still have low iron.)
When I used to donate, that hemoglobin test would let me know if I needed to make an appointment with my hemotologist.
I just had my physical and while they didn't run the iron test that my hemo would run, all my other blood results came back well within limits, so I'm assuming I'm ok for the moment. My B12 is low so I'm doing weekly shots. Joy. CJ takes a bit too much pleasure sticking me with the needle.