Mrs

[Space Chick]

I've eaten beef all my life... May have CJD?.... Lots of people have called me a mad cow

 

I work in the NHS and we are in crisis at the moment with blood donations, we are constantly getting emails through confirming how few days supply of each blood type we have. I am O neg, highly sort after, but due to Meds I'm on they won't take my blood

[whoopsie]

I was amazed (and somewhat emotional) when I called to the blood donor register to tell them I was pregnant and couldn't donate for a while - the lovely man on the phone was one of the first to congratulate me!! Apparently I can start donating again once she/she is 9 months old so he made a note on my file and i'll get a reminder then.

 

I've carried a donor card ever since I found out about it, and we had a family discussion a few years ago to make sure all of us knew each other's wishes. Probably time I did that with OH too.

[Lewis]

Congratulations from me too!

 

We spoke to a lady this morning about giving blood, I was going to do it later/tomorrow but because I went to Mexico over Summer I can't donate for 6 months in case of a Malarial risk

I didn't even think about it!

 

They're back in May so mebbe I can give blood then!

[chickencam]

Just called the Blood donor service to check whether I can give blood with my medication and the answer was yes

 

I have an underactive thyroid so I wondered if that would exclude me but apparently because I have been on the same dosage for more than 4 months and feel well, this is ok, but if my dosage changes then I would have to wait until it was settled before donating again.

[JS1]

Why would they want the eyes?

 

By coincidence I've been doing some reading up on organ/tissue donation today for work and I've really learned a lot. The tissue from one eye can help two blind people see, which is just amazing. And while we tend to think of donation as involving solid organs (eg kidneys), this can only happen when the circumstances are right, and is relatively unusual - whereas just about anyone can donate tissue, including corneas, skin, bone, ligaments, tendons and heart valves. Of course heart valves can save lives too - the tissue from just one person can be used to help more than 40 others.

 

Sorry to go on a bit, but I thought I knew about this subject and now realise I really didn't!

[surfer_chicken]

Why would they want the eyes?

 

By coincidence I've been doing some reading up on organ/tissue donation today for work and I've really learned a lot. The tissue from one eye can help two blind people see, which is just amazing. And while we tend to think of donation as involving solid organs (eg kidneys), this can only happen when the circumstances are right, and is relatively unusual - whereas just about anyone can donate tissue, including corneas, skin, bone, ligaments, tendons and heart valves. Of course heart valves can save lives too - the tissue from just one person can be used to help more than 40 others.

 

Sorry to go on a bit, but I thought I knew about this subject and now realise I really didn't!

 

All true! My nephew (now 2 years old) was born with defected heart valves and was very very ill in his first few months. He will be getting heart valves from a donor when he is a teenager (he has something temporary and artificial at the moment until he's strong enough). He's a wonderful little boy, never cries or complains (plus he loves the chickens ) and I'm so glad these advances can help him.

 

A representative from the NHS came to talk to the sixth formers at school today about blood donation and organ donation and I was proud to see at least half the people in the room had already signed up!