Just wondering. I don't give blood, my iron is too low and I don't weigh enough (and I'm petrified of needles and have really low blood pressure so hello, fainting!) but I am an organ donor. I'm always so suprised to read the stats on how few people are, it's kind of shocking to me since it's just an easy peasy thing to do and it saves lots of lives, lots of them kid's lives! Just wondering if you do or you don't and why...

I remember RiverFraggle on here years ago, she had gotten a series of blood transfusions when she was very young that saved her life. She was so grateful to those anonymous donors and she was just such a lovely, lovely person. She changed my mind about the whole issue, I hadn't been very interested in it before that.

I used to when I was younger. I gave 13 pints (not at the same time!!) as I recall. But I stopped when I traveled out of the country a few times and they don't accept your blood for several years after each trip. I got out of the habit. And now, I'm not in very good health.

I am an organ donor. I think we all whether we tick yes or no. Corneas seem to be exempted because they only last a few hours after death. Other organs that can be preserved for days and give long enough for the coroners to hunt down the proper permissions.

Organ donor, yes, Blood, no, because of infection. Will try again in the future. Their orange juice always tastes better, perhaps because it is with a confident sense of purpose that one downs it

When I was about nine, a man came to our small school and talked to us about having been blind and how he had cornea transplants that allowed him to see now. I was amazed. Hearing that from a recipient left a lifelong impression on me and I have always encouraged people to be organ donors. Thank you, Tamukha, for keeping the questions out there for us to think about.


My favorite raw vegan

Yes I am an organ donor and no can't give blood because of low iron and thyroid issues

Coco, I tried to donate blood for the first time two years ago. They said my iron was too low, too! It kind of worried me but then I remembered that I was winding down my period that day. It was quite the ordeal, though. They gave me a huge binder as I sat waiting to see if I could give blood. The binder had all these questions, like if I had traveled, had I had this or that disease or any vaccines (honestly, I can't remember most of the questions but it was a thick book). Insane.

Strange that so many were found to have low iron when giving blood. Mine always came back normal from the blood donor tests, but the doctors' test always measured low. My last serum ferritin was 8 ng/ml with an ideal being 70 - 150 ng/ml.

I have given blood every eight weeks for the past several years. Ever since a dear friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer. I am almost at a two gallon donor level. It makes me feel good to give it, simply because I know it helps so many people. My husband and daughter recently started donating and now it is a family thing.

Although I haven't made it a public statement, my family knows that if I should die that I want my organs donated. It seems like the ultimate gift and one last thing that you could do to help someone.

Deb

Wow - veghunter that ferritin level is rock bottom - not good.

I dont give blood either, I am terrified of needles, the only reason I can even get blood tests (and I SWEAR she does this on purpose!lol) is that the very beautiful 32 year old nurse who takes my blood, always seems to position herself when going to take my blood in a way in which her half unbuttoned shirt, puts almost half of her bear breasts, 4-5 inches from my face, if it wasn't so obvious it was on purpose, id feel like a total jerk for it, but to distract myself from the needle, I stare directly at them, blushing up a storm every time... last time she joked about how my blood seems to fill up the vials so much faster than anybody elses, my heart must be pumping extra fast for some reason...lol... she is such a sweetheart too, I mean assuming she doesnt do that for everybody, which since I had seen her outside the office, and a few times when taking my dad in for checkups, her shirt was buttoned up completely, id say its kinda amazingly sweet of her that knowing my fear of needles, instead of just telling me to man up, she does something I think most women would find mildly degrading to help me out... hmmm, votes, who here thinks I should maybe politely ask her out on like maybe a group date next time? Or may be better to wait till I see her somewhere outside the office, although that is rare...

Ok on to the subject at hand, I am an organ donor, I really like the idea that if i die, part of me can be used to give some one else a second lease on life, well, maybe a shorter than normal lease, but still a second lease...

Curator,

Is this a letter to Penthouse, or . . oh, I see you do say you're an organ donor. Never mind.

yeah, sorry, wow i really did run on there a bit didnt I? I didnt realize I typed that much...sorry everybody, I just got my blood checked again yesterday, plus coco's remarks about needles reminded me of it...lol...i'll try not to let it happen again, or at least not often,lol.

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Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

LOL!

ok that was hysterical ;p

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

hahaha, im glad the nurse that gets my blood pumping is of amusement,lol...

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Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Tamukha Wrote:
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> Curator,
>
> Is this a letter to Penthouse, or . . oh, I see
> you do say you're an organ donor. Never mind.

LOL!!!!!!!!!

i don't do either

Ver, I was interested in people's reasons for choosing to do it or not. Why dontcha?

ima organ doner, i figuire im not gonna need them anyways so why not

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

the reasons i have are substandard