I used to regularly donate blood, but no longer can. My medication makes it impossible to donate anymore.

I did hit more than 3 gallons over my donation career.

i would love to but medical condition makes it unlikely they would take it. my daughter's life was saved on dec. 23rd by donors when she lost half of her blood during childbirth.....
thank God for donors!

i want to donate but have a dang cold & cough right now i have been sick everytRme the blood drive comes around our area i have donated i time and yes it only takes a few mins and its really painless..I DONATED AT MY GRANDSONS SCHOOL ..IN MEMORY OF MY FALLEN HERO SON THIER UNCLE & THE TECHS WERE CRYING WITH ME WHEN THEY FOUND OUT WHY WAS WEARING MY DOG TAGS

I have in the past, but I was told not to due to a couple different health issues I now have.

Jae, have your DD read up on Sheehan's Syndrome. She should be aware of this rare medical issue since she did lose so much blood.

Jae, I'm glad your daughter is okay. Was this her first baby? What happened?

I used to. But no more.
I got my son to, but every time he gets a tatoo
he has to wait for a year. He should be
able to now. I'll have to remind him.

I'm so happy that your children were saved.

I'm a regular blood donor, as often as possible, which is every 56 days, plus I volunteer on Tuesday evenings' at our local blood bank from 5-8pm in the "canteen" area, handing out the cookies and juice. People always thank me for volunteering, and I reply to them, "no, thank YOU! You're doing the hard work, I'm just giving you the cookies and juice."

And yes, donating one pint (a bag) can save 3 lives.

Here are some tips to those who donate to make your experience easy and quick:

1) Make sure you're very well hydrated. Drink plenty of fluids throughout the day leading up to your appointment.

2) Maintain a healthy iron level in your diet by eating iron rich foods, such as spinach, red meat, fish, poultry, beans, iron-fortified cereals and raisins.

3) Get a good night's sleep the night before your donation.

4) Drink an extra 16 oz. of water and fluids before the donation.

5) Eat a healthy meal before your donation. Avoid fatty foods, such as hamburgers, fries, or ice cream before donating. Tests for infections done on all donated blood can be affected by fats that appear in your blood for several hours after eating fatty foods.

6) If you are a platelet donor, remember that your system must be free of aspirin for two days prior to donation.

7) Remember to bring your donor card, driver's license, or two other forms of ID.

And then enjoy the good feeling that comes with knowing that you may have saved as many as three lives!

I never have been able to donate blood and it saddened me. I had serum hepatitis as a child, thus I cannot donate. I also had a serious kidney disease that require many many transfusions. I appreciate so much all the people who do make the effort and donate. They saved my life.

thanks for the kind thoughts. don't want to highjack the post so will make another.

I am O- so I donate as often as I can.

I have donated over 6 gallons.

I've been a regular donor for thirty years. This has led to scar tissue around the veins in my arms. I may have to stop donating at some point because of this, but I'll keep trying until they ban me!

Used to but after I came back from Germany was no longer eligible due to mad cow disease. Sucks.

I try to as much as I can. First time I did it was just to get out of class in high school! The blood bank would come and the seniors could donate.

I donate now when I can, but it's hard with 2 little ones at home. Luckily the local rec centers and libraries have drives set up once a month or so.

I figured it didn't hurt much, helped a lot of people, was free, plus I got some juice and cookies out of the deal!

I donated every other month from December 1971 until 1998 when illness permanently sidetracked me. Up until then I used to donate whole blood and also did pedi-paks.

No, I have a form of anemia so never even tried. They call my mom to donate every month or so (actually more often than normal donaters). After her knee replacement, the MD realized she is CMV negative and VERY few adults are CMV negative so the MD told her to start donating. The blood bank gets so excited when she comes in,lol. Apparently, her blood is especially good for neonates because the CMV virus can be so dangerous for them.

I used to all the time, but then I had some medical problems and wasn't able to for a long while. I've been thinking of starting again.

What does "CMV negative" mean, Janie?

I wonder if the CMV thing is the same thing that's not in my sisters blood. She was told her blood more than likely goes straight to the preemies.

Kathsgrdn why wouldn't they let you donate? Mad cow isn't even a question they ask about when we donate here. I'm in Alberta. Mad cow has happened here several times. And I'm a typical Albertan who loves her steak.