So I am now on the platelet donor panel

norrie rugger

My only disappointment is that I can not donate blood, while on this panel

Pity.

Anyone doing this? why did you decide to do it? What has your experience of it been?

Mine is not purely 100% unselfish, my uncle had chemo and needed transfusions and was very lucky to be able to get them, so I decided that it is a better use of my donations to take the time to do this, over blood.

So far, the only down side that I can see is the time it takes but the clinic has WiFi, so I can work away while doing it

DrIndy

congrats mate!

Its an honour to do this - although it is much more demanding of your time, your contributions make a much more real difference.

A friend of mine is a platelet donor and he had been asked to come in one christmas day one year and he did so no questions asked. The things about platelets is some people develope very specific antibodies which resulted in one case where only 3 donors in the whole country could provide her with platelets - but both those donors were her lifeline pure and simple for the entire time she was in ICU and those three people were personally responsible for her survival from leukaemia.

Vorsprung

I've changed my sig in your honour! Fair play!

bleg

Where can I get more information on this?

norrie rugger

bleg wrote: »

Where can I get more information on this?

http://www.giveblood.ie/Become_a_Donor/Give_Platelets/

mardybumbum

Fair play to you buck.
I gave blood for the first time there last week and its a great feeling.
I was chatting away to the nurse and she was telling me all about the platelet donations but I didnt have suitable veins?
I think she was telling me that they put your name on a list for ten years and you may or may not get called.
I wasnt really listening to her anyway. Too busy squeezing my medicine ball. :pac:

norrie rugger

Cheers guys, it is a good cause but it never gets any attention.
I guess they have enough trouble getting people to donate blood.

norrie rugger

mardybumbum wrote: »

Fair play to you buck.
I gave blood for the first time there last week and its a great feeling.
I was chatting away to the nurse and she was telling me all about the platelet donations but I didnt have suitable veins?
I think she was telling me that they put your name on a list for ten years and you may or may not get called.
I wasnt really listening to her anyway. Too busy squeezing my medicine ball. :pac:

Platelets are given every 4-6 weeks but yeah, you need very straight, accessable veins apparently, as the needle is longer

Marrow, you are put on a list and may or may not be called. Working up the courage to go on that list

DrIndy

I've been on that list for 6 years - never been called, but i know that marrow sometimes comes from australia and vice versa. You normally contribute this by peripheral stem cell transplant - where you get drugs and it is removed like for platelets by a machine - marrow harvests (hoovering it out of your pelvis under anaesthetic) is done second line as peripheral cells are less intrusive and they actually graft much faster so are preferred.

norrie rugger

DrIndy wrote: »

I've been on that list for 6 years - never been called, but i know that marrow sometimes comes from australia and vice versa. You normally contribute this by peripheral stem cell transplant - where you get drugs and it is removed like for platelets by a machine - marrow harvests (hoovering it out of your pelvis under anaesthetic) is done second line as peripheral cells are less intrusive and they actually graft much faster so are preferred.

As I read this, I realised that I knew this previously! Obviously I had forgotten

norrie rugger

Hard to believe but it took untill now, to get called to the clinic.
There was a very low possibility that I had received blood, in the past. I "knew" that I had not but records of a hospital procedure were missing.

Anyway it turned out that I never had one.
Donated the platelets today and they were sent for immediate use in Crumlin.

I feel strange about it, people are all saying that I did this marvelous thing but I really did nothing other than lie there and read a book for 50 minutes.


People, there is absolutely nothing scary about this so please PLEASE think about taking the time to do it. The clinics open at 8, so allow you to get in and out without missing work.

Sorry for the thread necro but I did not want to highjack the "Urgent donations" thread

Tree

Also, platelets have a very very short shelflife in comparison to blood, so they can't stockpile them in the way they do red cell packs. So having a list of regular donors they can call up for apheresis is fantastic.

(apheresis is a brilliant concept, where they pass your blood through a device like a dialysis machine, take out the bits they want (eg. in this case platelets) and return all the other cells to you)

norrie rugger

Tree wrote: »

Also, platelets have a very very short shelflife in comparison to blood, so they can't stockpile them in the way they do red cell packs. So having a list of regular donors they can call up for apheresis is fantastic.

(apheresis is a brilliant concept, where they pass your blood through a device like a dialysis machine, take out the bits they want (eg. in this case platelets) and return all the other cells to you)

It is rather cool to see your blood coming out, filling the resevoir, and getting pumped back into it. All the while the bag is filling with the platelets

aidan.connolly

Yes,

It is a good feeling, I was there on Monday morning. Very nice staff

Jayd0g

Apologies for the thread necro, was thinking about this recently and this thread popped up in the search.

It's a good thread for a bump, donating is very easy and doesn't take all that much time.

Work are usually very understanding, I've been able to take a longer lunch of 1.5 hours, hop out on the luas to donate and be back for 2.30.

Also they feed you loads at the clinic! It's a great cause and an easy way to do something good.

aidan.connolly

Hi

Well done, they are a great team in the clinic.

Unfortunately, becasue my Iron level dropped I have been told I can't donate again until after Feb 2011

Aidan

norrie rugger

Got a phone call the other day. The weather is causing severely diminished supplies.

I was actually able to to a walk in donation yesterday. Never been able to donate without an appointment before.

Obviously it is a hard thing to do in this weather but if anyone is on the Luas line, in Dublin, or living/working near Finbarr's, in Cork, please consider calling in.

1.5 hours max, of your time.

Chuchoter

Out of interest (probably a dumb question now but) , why would they take specifically platelets? I mean I know they are for clotting, but why not just use blood? Surely that has platelets in it?

Anyway, well done to the OP!

Tree

separating the blood into its components means better use can be made of the supplies.

platelets are often given to leukeamia patients who have had their bone marrow destroyed in advance of a transplant. red blood cells turn over every 120 days but platelets have a much shorter life span. So giving whole blood will just overload the redcells and still only supply the same (or less really) amount of platelets. Better to give platelets.

So they're very very very important for people undergoing severe chemotherapies. They're also important for neonates who have reduced platelet counts due to antibody destruction by maternal antibodies.

A Neurotic

Just applied online to give platelets. I'm out in James's quite often anyway with college so I've no excuse not to. Is it in any way more tiring/painful than giving blood?

norrie rugger

Less tiring and no more painful

And the pain is absolutely minimal, just like getting bloods taken, in hospital

lmmoonbeam1976

A Neurotic wrote: »

Just applied online to give platelets. I'm out in James's quite often anyway with college so I've no excuse not to. Is it in any way more tiring/painful than giving blood?

hi guys

just reading through the posts here , i've given blood 39 times and cant do the platelets as my veins are not strong enough -- i would love to -- but i'm still doing my thing by donating blood

if you are accepted to be a platelet donor please do help out -- its a max of 2 hrs every 4-6 weeks -- you get to chill out , read and relax -- girls there are so nice

i didn't realise how much i was helping till i seen my nephew have a heart operation and i know that maybe some of my blood helped out as im 0- negative

Its only a hour every 3 months to give blood -- most companies organise blood drive where groups go down to the nearest clinic and donate in a group -- its only a lunch break and most companies are cool if your a little late back if you bring back the details from the blood clinic and if you advise them earlier

kelle

norrie rugger wrote: »

http://www.giveblood.ie/Become_a_Donor/Give_Platelets/

From this site:

You cannot become a platelet donor if:

1) You have ever received a blood transfusion
2) You are a female who has even been pregnant
3) You require to take aspirin or anti-inflammatories regularly

Why can you not donate if you have ever been pregnant?

Tree

you may have been exposed to the blood of the baby, and you may then begin producing antibodies to elements of the babies blood that you may not possess. platelets are donated with quite an amount of plasma, and this is the part that contains the antibodies.
If you put antibodies into a person who has the antigen to that antibody a very serve immune reaction can occur. While not all pregnant women have high titre antibody, it's best practice to reduce the risk they pose by excluding them.