To want blood for Christmas?

[lochnessmumster]

This is my second AIBU of the night so maybe I am but...
My wee one was born with rhesus disease and needed a transfusion in utero then a further 2 transfusions once she was born.
To cut a long story short, if other people hadn't given blood, my baby girl wouldn't have survived.
I can't give blood myself now because of the antibodies left from the whole rhesus thing so i asked only the really close relatives not to buy me a prezzie this year but to give blood instead.
So far no one has done it, not even her Dad, and i don't think they will.
Am I asking too much?

And what MyBrilliant said. Gees, I used to give regularly in the US. It was one of these things, where if you went shopping in a mall on a weekend, there was a BIG drive. You just showed up. Creches on tap. You give, you're entered in a big prize draw, too- to win cars, spa days, holidays, all sorts.

None of this appointment business. Walk in, walk out.

People here need to step up and make it quick and easy.

Football matches would be the best place, with each person stating the team they support when they donate.

then, it would be PROVEN who the hardest football supporters are.

Yes exactly expat! It was just a walk-in, no appointments. Clear and obvious big permanent places. I used to get hotdogs and a milkshake afterwards. Here I get some crackers?

I don't want crackers, I want a hotdog!!!

I'm O pos, the universal donor.

But I need to be able to walk in and donate and go about my way. My husband works shifts and I have three young children. If he can't look after our kids, there's no one else to do it, and we have a very active two year old.

Target how it's done rather than the donors.

You guys are about a million miles behind.

Set that up to where people can do it and go and make it easy, even over Xmas.

I can't get out of here. It costs me £10 I don't have.

YY, I gave LOADS. It's actually good, particularly before you go to altitude, which I often went to serious altitude.

Like I said, I'm O pos and I don't have jack shit in the way of disease. My right arm is good, my left is shit, I've had 8 surgeries and 12 IVs to know that.

I'm there shopping, and I just think, 'Hold my bags securely lemme get out my arm,' and then, yeah, gimme some food.

I'm always hungry afterwards or trust me, I'm going to faint.

But this appointment/no creche action.

That doesn't work for me because I don't know DH's shifts till on a Sunday.

People are wussy here and full of excuses. I have never been in a place in a total of 48 countries where people had so many excuses for everything.

And so many dogs unneutered and men who act like twats and unwilling to get the snip because they are big hairy pussies I have more balls in my left pinky.

Honestly, buck up!

'Oh, I have needle phobia'.

FFS.

I'm O pos as well. And I'm always hungry afterwards, never fainted yet though. Healthy as anything.

NHS make it easy for us please!!!

I'm MAJORLY hungry afterwards. I used to give about every other month, maybe more, it was so easy there.

Used to just breeze right in, 'O pos'.

It lowers your bp.

But I've never donated here because they make it such a PITA.

I'm O rh neg and tried often to give blood but alway had low haemoglobin so they ouldn't take it and then after I had Ds I had to have transfusion so am not allowed to, though I have asked since and the answer is always 'no.' :(

I mean, 26 Jan and then I have to set an appointment? I'll have to check DH's schedule and if he's on I'll have to re-arrange.

DD1 has hospital appointments for her fecking dys everything and DS for his lazy eye.

Gah, this takes about half an hour!

My GP can come to mine and do it and go away, he's good with needles he can hit me off in no time.

But noooo, make it complicated.

I have always wanted to give blood but was told I couldn't because of the part of the world DP is from, even though he has lived here for years and we are disease free. I've just rerun the questionnaire and it looks like it might be OK now. Maybe something has been refined in the criteria. Will give it a go!

Both my pregnancies ended with em c-sections - first time I had placenta praevia, second time twins. Because of the risk of blood loss the first time, I was told that several units of blood were on hand, and I've been 'meaning' to give blood myself ever since.

I have low blood pressure and nurses have always had trouble getting a decent vein up to take blood during my pregnancies, so that puts me off. But I've had 2 sections now and I'm a big girl so my new years resolve is to pull myself together and start donating. A friend has just clocked up 30 years of regular donations so i've some catching up to do.....

YANBU to want it in an ideal world. But alot of people hate needles or can't.

I would if I could but i gave up trying. Always some reason: your haemoglobin's right on the line: absolutely fine reason. My bloods useless becasue of that at the time.

But other stuff: I got turned down once as I'd had a denstist appt that day too. I told them it was a routine check up and I had no work done, no infections, no abcesses and it was a 6 mth check up only. They wouldn't take it becuase of that.

They can be so difficult and it's so time consuming when you work etc just to get knocked back.

I am O- and a universal type but if they don't want it.....!

I think they're ridiculous in contraindictions here, too.

'You're gay'. Big deal.

Most gay men have slept with far fewer partners than I have and yet I'm considered more suitable here. WTF?

'You're from South Africa?' that's the reaction my mate's husband got and they were both virgins when they married.

Seriously, about a thousand miles behind the rest of the world.

I am so, so grateful to anyone who has ever given blood: you have saved my life and the lives of so many people I love. Thank you.

I would love to give blood myself but no-one wants it because I received blood in the 1980s. Apparently it's a vCJD thing. I was told to pop back in a few years and see if the guidelines have changed.

I'm allowed to carry a donor card, though. And I would give you a whole armful of blood if I could.

Yes, expat, those are exactly the kinds of unsubtle hurdles I'm hitting. Strictly I have to answer 'yes' to one of those questions, but logically there is no reason why that suggests a higher risk in my specific case.

Seriously, needle phobia's not funny. They won't even have me sat down before I faint, and they won't do it while you're unconscious.

O pos isn't the universal donor- that's O neg because people with Rh-ve blood groups cant be given Rh +ve blood, but people with Rh +ve blood groups can be given Rh -ve blood.

Therefore, anyone can be given O-ve blood without requiring prior testing.

However, only 7% of UK pop is O-ve which is why they are constantly hounded by the blood transfusion people

I remember my Mum giving blood for a pg womans unborn baby. It was around 1979/80 and they just took it from Mum, whizzed it round this big machine behind the woman and chucked it into the woman/baby. Amazing. Mum had rare Lewis antibodies which she developed after her own pg's.

Well, I'd be happy to give as O pos. But that may be a while because my earliest appointment is 26 January.

I used to give blood every three months (I think it was every 3) when I was in the states, then I started having problems with my iron levels.

I need to try and give blood here. Once everything is settled and kids are in school (I'm a SAHM) I will get out there and give it a go.

my local cnetre used to be turn up, no appointment, give blood leave. I found that was a pain because I had to wait around for ages, then they introduced appointments and it was much mch better imo.

I had the whole needle in, only half pint given, time up and loads of bruising thing the first time I gave, the next time was much better. But then the third and fourth time they cocked it up again, and told me to give it a break for a few months. A miscarriage and a prem birth then took out the next 18 months or so but I've just made an appointment for the beginning of next year. You've reminded me Lochnessmumster so Happy Christmas!

gave two weeks ago and on the bone marrow register, organ donor reg. Offered platelets too but they only want them from men at the moment. Difficult your family won't step up but it's their choice. Maybe one day they will well of their own free will.

YANBU. People have their own reasons to give or not but why not encourage them?

curlymama my DH never used to give blood because he hated the idea of it. Since we have had our extremely premature and tiny son who needed countless blood and platelet transfusions he has become a regular donor. He doesn't love it, but it's not so bad. It's life saving. So a bit of discomfort for him is worth it.