hellziggy: (Default)
I was actually at Memorial Blood Center's main office this morning and saw their sign about there being a critical shortage of Type O Blood right now. I was even planning on doing a "Go donate blood" post.
Then the bridge fell.
No matter what your blood type is, go donate if you are able, but ESPECIALLY if your blood type is O! (Hellbob, I'm looking at you!)

mbc
hellziggy: (Default)
Wil Wheaton has put a call out on his blog looking for help for a friend.

Basically, there is a woman who needs a bone marrow transplant. Because she is Filipino it is going to be very hard to find a match.

The odds that another person will be a match to you are 1 in 20,000. These odds are increased further if the person needing the marrow is a minority, as the human leukocyte antigens (HLA) that must be matched are inherited so they must generally be found within the same ethnic group.

I don't think any of y'all on my flist are Filipino, but if you have friends who are, send them the link to Wil's blog.

I've been signed up on the National Marrow Registry for about 8 years now. By signing up you're not agreeing to donate, that is a decision that would only have to be made if you were a match to someone. Not that it's really a decision in my mind, it's just a given that if I matched they could take the marrow they need. But the fact that I've been registered for so long and never even been a preliminary match just emphasizes the need for as many people as possible to register.

The text from Wil's blog )

More info is at www.marrow.org

Go spread the word.
Get registered.
Save a life.
hellziggy: (Default)
I finally went to Memorial Blood Centers today to let the vampires have at me.
It's a pretty lengthy process for me usually, 'cuz instead of a pint of whole blood I give 2 pints of platelets. It takes about 2 hours because they pull out blood, spin out the part they want, put the rest back. As long as you don't mind a needle in your arm for 2 hours it's no big deal.
I hadn't been there since June because first I came down with the Martian Death Flu, then I took ibuprofen the day before my rescheduled appointment & realized my mistake an hour later.
So today I was all settled in with my book & fuzzy blanket & headphones. Then the lady says "oops" That's something you should never hear someone sticking a needle into you say. Luckily I'm totally fine with needles once they break the skin. It's the initial sticking in part that I can't watch. Apparently she couldn't hit the vein right or something. So we switch to other arm. No big deal.
Other arm seems to be doing fine & I'm just starting my 3rd return & it feels weird so I screamed bloody murder...no wait, that's not it... oh, I just told one of the ladies "This feels weird" She peeks at it & the blood is going onto my arm instead of into it. This is not what is supposed to happen.
Apparently my body did not want me donating today. And now I'm deferred for the standard 2 months because the red blood cells were never put back. Normally you can do platelets every 3 weeks, cuz they regenerate faster than the red guys.
*sigh*
Now my right arm looks like a medical experiment gone awry. Big dark dark purple stain. If anyone asks I'll just tell them I didn't get HellBob his beer fast enough. hee hee
hellziggy: (Default)
Being sick sucks! You get to stay home from work, but you can't even enjoy it. I think I might as well go to work tomorrow, even if my throat still hurts... And I have to cancel my donation appointment at Memorial Blood Center. For some reason they don't like it when you've been sick...

Profile

hellziggy: (Default)
hellziggy

September 2010

S M T W T F S
    1 2 34
567 89 1011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags