The stupid drone is taking away my egoboo!

[celticdragonfly]

Oooh, I'm a bit cranky.

I've given blood for years. I was a good regular donor in college, just about every 8 weeks. And I used to give reasonably regularly in California. Hey, I'm O-neg CMV-neg, they need me. It was important to me. I can't give much to charity in my life, but I can "give til it hurts" as a blood donor. And it makes me feel good.

I hadn't done it for quite a while. A couple of pregnancies and time spent as a busy nursing mother will do that. I had, however, been a milk donor - informally when Brendan was a baby, with the San Jose milkbank after Maggie, and with the Texas milkbank post Jamie.

So they do blood drives at our church occasionally. And Sunday Van was asking me after service, was I a donor? Hey, I thought, I'm not pregnant, not nursing anymore, not prepping for a surgery, hey, I could give blood again! So I arranged to pick Karl up from work and have him come along to chase the kids while I gave blood.

So there I am filling out their forms. They put me down for "Have you ever given blood under another name" as No, even though I'd told them yes, I had - apparently they only care if you've done it for Carter Blood Services. Which is dumb, given the wording of the question. Mistyped my address, too. Then there was the whole big list of questions on the back, and I'm filling them out, and figuring okay, here's the weird technicalities I'll have to explain, no big deal.

Then I actually see the guy to go through the list. And hit a problem. See, it asks if you were ever in Europe and such (and various other questions, yeah, yeah) and then it asks if you've spent time equal to or adding up to 3 months in (list of countries including the UK).

Well, back in oh, 1984? rlseiver had a business trip to the UK, and bkseiver and the rest of us were giving him that "Don't even THINK you're going without us" look. So it turned into a family vacation. I don't remember precisely how long it was. I was 15, fer crying out loud. A few weeks? Then in college, summer of 1989? 1990? I had a summer course of overseas study, a forensic anthropology trip to London and Cambridge. A few weeks? couple of months? I'm not sure, that was a long time ago. So yeah, between the two of them it might just have added up to 3 months.

So I'm not even worrying about it, because I've put own details of my travel all the times I've given for the Red Cross, and explained it to them. It's never been a problem, I wasn't there during any of the Mad Cow disease hoohah or anything, no problem.

Well. Apparently it was a problem. The drone I got to go over the questions - and he really seemed just a drone, I clearly seemed to know a lot more about medical questions than he did - found this a big deal, and wanted to pin me down on the exact times. Heck if I know, that was a loooong time ago. It might add up to just 3 months. Apparently this was a dealbreaker. I'm pissed. I've been a multi-gallon donor since this travel happened!

And oh gah grrrrrr, stupid drone, if this is a dealbreaker, than flipping say so and do NOT make me go through the rest of your form with you! Because why the heck bother? The answer is no, so let me go. He kept going on about forms and records. Doesn't matter, if you say I can't donate, I'm going AWAY now, and clearly there will be no point in me coming back, so who cares. Oh, but that number about the travel might CHANGE someday! Well, if it does, since I won't be coming back, how the hell would I ever know? Again, no point. Pissed me off.

You know, if I'd been told no for something recent, it'd be okay. No, you had surgery in the last 12 months, come back next year. Or even, oh, you had home-injected medications during fertility treatment? No, you can't donate. (Okay, that'd be annoying, but I wouldn't be this mad) But to have them tell me no on something that the Red Cross had said yes and taken multiple gallons from me after, oh that makes me MAD.

Heck, I've qualified as a milk donor for premie babies in two different states.

And they wonder why blood donations are in such low supply.

Comments

[estokien.livejournal.com]

I'm banned on the same condition, and it pisses me off to no end. I got my gallon pin, always been a regular donor, and then I'm suddenly banned because of my school year abroad. I'm sure you better not get a blood tranfusion in Europe either since I doubt they are discriminating against their donors having been to Europe!

Time in the UK

[bkseiver.livejournal.com]

I think your Dad was there 5-6 weeks, and we were there about 3.5 weeks.

Re: Time in the UK

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

I hadn't remembered that the times weren't the same. But also, I don't know how long I was there for the college trip.

[marymont.livejournal.com]

It's not just Carter Blood Care. It's Red Cross, too. It's preposterous that they count all the way back to 1980, because SOME sign of illness would have surfaced since then, but it's the way it is. And Red Cross has had this rule for years. I don't know how you slipped through the cracks. The booklet they give you when you walk in has a whole list of countries that are on the hell no list, the not likely list and the time-deliminated list. You are asked if you have read the list, and you are asked if you are guilty of having spent time in any of those countries. Heck, now you're not even allowed to know anyone from certain countries of Africa without raising the red flag.

My mom has volunteered for Red Cross Blood Services for many years, but she can't give them her blood because of the 3-months in Europe rule. Last year, she was awarded the Volunteer of the Year for the American Red Cross, but she can't give them her blood.

When did you last donate? They've tigntened the rules since Brendan was born, but the rules have been this way since before Maggie was under construction.

Give what you can. I'll give blood and think of you while I'm doing it. But don't be mad.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Heck, what illness are they looking for?

The Red Cross must have asked the questions differently. Maybe they ask if you've spent more than 3 months on one trip. I know I gave in California, I am pretty sure it was since Brendan.

Now I can't give anything. And I damned well am mad, and I'm staying mad.

[asimovberlioz.livejournal.com]

Heck, what illness are they looking for?

Twonk's Disease.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Now if they were evaluating me as a volunteer to help get their blood drive newsletter out, checking for that would make sense!

[sandy-tyras.livejournal.com]

AIDS, mostly.

I used to give regularly in California and if I remember correctly the Red Cross (at least there and then) asked if you had spent 3 consequtive months abroad. I've never been out of this country except for a day trip to Toronto about 20 years ago, so it was no problem for me either way.

It is aggravating, isn't it? They want to protect the blood supply, but if they aren't careful they will protect it until there just isn't enough.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Hmph. Idiots. I've been tested for all kinds of things many times since then, and been tested for AIDS lots of times. This is, ironically, the same outfit that did the testing for the Austin milkbank before I was allowed to donate milk. 14 or 15 years after the last trip to the UK. (And since when is the UK a hotbed of AIDS?)

[estokien.livejournal.com]

For Africa and the like it is AIDS, for Europe it is apparently Mad Cow Disease. It was originally just England, then when they saw it popup in France, suddenly being in France was anaethema and they may have widened it out to Europe. They apparently have very little idea what the onset time of the human form is, so they just mark out everyone.

The sad thing is, I think they still have the Haiti prohibition on there, which tells me that they aren't in the business of taking restrictions off.

I'm speaking of the Red Cross here, which is where I always gave blood.

[hopeevey.livejournal.com]

The ridiculous and homophobic rules for blood donors keep me from donating. It's not as much of a loss in my case, have AB+ blood, but it's still really annoying.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I've had (a) malaria and (b) over 3 months in England during the appropriate times, so have been barred from giving blood.

Well ok, the malaria thing never stopped me from giving blood - I never had any relapses and after 12 years with no relapses you're considered cured - but it was always fun to watch the people go into a panic and start twittering around because really, gosh, how on earth would you ever get malaria? And then after pointing out that I lived in Tanzania as a child, they'd then go into another twitter and spend forever looking up how long ago it would have had to be to consider me cured.

[majellen.livejournal.com]

I'm a person who has been saved by transfusions. And yes, I think they have some pretty ridiculous rules. First of all, if they're looking for a disease, they should tell you which one it is, so that you can go get tested for it and have a card or something you can give them saying, "I don't have this obscure disease, go for it."

They also claim they test the blood after you donate anyway, so what does it matter???

I am also banned from giving blood. I had severe aenemia (to the point where I needed 3 transfusions and intravenious iron treatments)

I wonder if it's because it would make me an "indian giver?" (no offence to any indians out there, I don't know what the PC term is.)

[castiron.livejournal.com]

Yep, my ex got banned because he lived too long in Europe, even though he'd rarely been to the UK.

I'm just waiting to see whether they change the rules at all once we've had a few more BSE outbreaks among U.S. cattle.

[tygerr.livejournal.com]

Of COURSE they won't change the rules.

Many of those rules serve no useful medical purpose any more (though I'll concede that once upon a time they did). Their "purpose" now is to prevent headlines along the lines of "Safety Rules Gutted--Is US Blood Supply Compromised?"

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

It would be wrong for me to say to you, "Next time? Lie."

Yep. Very, very wrong.

[ndrosen.livejournal.com]

It might be useless, too, if you're in their records by SSnumber as someone who has spent too much time in Europe.

I was a multi-gallon donor, and now I'm excluded beause of Europe and Mad Cow disease, een though I'm a vegetarian.

But them's the rules.