#platelet donor

[misslisamiray]

Second "after blood center, before failed attempt to get eclipse glasses" pic from Monday. Yes I brought Rick Bear with me again, because, see below.

I've mentioned before that blood/platelet donation is getting harder for me because my veins don't want to cooperate. What I haven't mentioned is: this is causing my brain to revert to almost-as-bad-as-when-I-was-a-kid level fear of needles. Which sucks just as much as it sounds like it does. And well, bringing him helps. Even though I do leave him in my backpack so he isn't in the way. 😅

So if you ever want to donate blood, feel like a plushie will make you less nervous, but feel silly taking one, I hope you remember this post. And that even 40 year olds who've been donating for almost 19 years can:

1. Love what they do, but hate/be afraid of the few seconds the needle stick takes.

2. Bring plushies along to help with that.

[shayna365x]

Friday, 7/5/24. Another successful donation!

[oediex]

When the blood donation centre calls me, I usually recognise the number before I pick up. But on Friday their opening line was different from the usual one.

"We have vegan Magnums!"

In the summer, a freezer occupies the recovery spot at the centre, where you can have a drink and a snack. Besides the usual biscuits, cakes and pieces of fruit, you can have some ice cream. A treat. As a vegan, it's usually slim pickings. Just one or two types of ice lolly. Orange flavoured. Boring.

But when I donated earlier this summer, the nurses were all excited that, for once, they had seen vegan Magnums on the list of products that could be ordered. All of them were very keen to inform me.

"We've been saying, when Oedie comes, she can have a vegan Magnum!"

But when they went to check the freezer that day, while I was still locked to the machine singling out the plasma and platelets in my blood and giving the rest of it back to me, they returned with a disappointing message. Apparently, the vegan Magnums had not, in fact, been ordered. Bummer.

Hence Friday's opening line.

But today was the day. And as I was leaving after a, unfortunately, failed and early-terminated donation session (it happens), the nurse I get along with the most says conspiratorially, "let me come with you to get the vegan Magnums."

They had, I kid you not, hidden the vegan Magnums at the bottom of the freezer, underneath all the other ice cream and ice lollies, just to make sure that I, the one donor they know to be a vegan, would not miss out.

[morphofan]

So I finally tried to donate platelets again today. I had hoped taking a few weeks off would let my scar tissue heal up.

Unfortunately, no. They couldn't get my blood to flow and the pain was so bad I had to tap out.

I started crying and the poor little Tech was so distressed and kept apologizing. I reassured her that my tears weren't because of the pain, or anything she did.

The tears were because it looks like I can't donate anymore. And I feel like this was the one good, unselfish thing I could do for the world. It made me feel good to donate and know I was helping people.

Sadly my left arm is not suitable for donations because of vein placement. 😔

[boffincoderproducts]

Discovering the world of platelets is like unlocking a secret to our health. From a normal range of 150,000 to 450,000 platelets, understanding what's too low or too high empowers us to take charge of our well-being. Regular checks ensure these tiny blood heroes keep us healthy and thriving.

[fanaticsnail]

Resident Law

Masterlist Here

Word Count: Mini-fic (I wrote it on Tumblr instead of in a doc, so I don't know - but it's short)

Synopsis: Visiting a routine donation setting introduces you to a handsome young doctor. The doctor seems as infatuated with you medically as you are with him physically. Chemistry unfolds the longer he spends with you.

Themes: Law x m!reader, talks of blood and fluids, reader has 'O Neg' blood type, talks of needles, discussion of donation. (No gendered terms used, but considering platelet donation is discussed - implied m!reader is suggested), fluff, flirting, doctor Law, modern au. Bepo and Marco mentioned.

Notes: Inspired by conversations with @thenotsofantasticlifestory because residency Law is a good Law. Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, but I do have experience in donating blood. I hope you enjoy some genuine friendship and rapport with our favourite broody, tattooed doctor.

The flickering blue lights buzz in oblong cylinders above your head. Each square on the roof is outlined by checkered etchings of patterns made for calming patients that come in through the donation doors. The call to donate your life essence was felt as soon as you were able, always wanting to help

You're welcomed in by an extremely friendly white-haired nurse who goes over your check list before he leaves you to relax. While sitting on a hospital cot in a routine medical bay, you drew in some steady breaths as you steadied yourself in preparation for your extraction.

At the crack of the material sheet pulling at the curved rings in the corner, splitting aside to reveal a raven haired, tattooed doctor holding your charts in his hand. His lips move in a murmur and your eyes follow down to his whiskered chin bobbing each time he speaks.

"I'm Doctor Trafalgar, resident on duty today," he utters, moving a pair of glasses to press up the bridge of his nose while he takes in more of your information, "State your name, your date of birth, and your blood type for me." He moved the notes down his face and turns his attention back towards you.

Your lips curl into a smile as you stare your full name in a practiced speech, alongside your birth date and a small whisper of "O negative," to follow your confirmation. Your smile rises one on himself, his curved, crooked smile spreading up his cheek while he confirmed with you.

"Oh, look at you. Sitting all 'universal donor' and responsible like that," he teased you, placing your charts down and taking a few latex gloves and drawing them over his tattooed digits, "Not your first time donating blood, huh? How many times have given?"

"A fair few, Doctor. I do it routinely every two months or so," you nod as you recline back on the hard mattress and prepare for a long haul, "And I don't donate blood." You looked over to your arm, rolling up your sleeve and revealing your forearm to him for assessment of your veins.

"Oh?" he commented, quirking up his brow and moving to your side. He used the tips of his fingertips to fish around for your veins, slowly tapping and gently caressing the surface with practiced precision.

"I donate platelets."

His fingers pause on your skin, drawing up his honey-colored orbs to meet with your own. He darted them between your two, parting his lips as he darted his attention back down to your arm.

"Platelets, huh? What made you want to do that?" he resumed his tapping, finding a small port he could use in your arm and pressing his thumb to it to hold it in place. His unoccupied hand found his elastic chord to clasp around your forearm, alongside fishing out another for your other arm.

"Sometimes people don't need blood, and platelets are harder to come by for those in need," you smile back at him, watching in interest as his gentle actions continue on your skin. "I have a few friends who went through leukaemia, and a couple family members who had chemo. Couldn't do much else to help them through it aside from a good time watching movies. Wanted to do something practical."

"That's quite considerate of you," he strapped the chord to your arm, pulling back the toggle to tighten the band, "Beautiful veins, by the way. They just pop right up."

"Yeah, I get a lot of compliments from phlebotomy and the nurses every time I come in," you smile out, your nose expelling a soft chuckle through the words. "Surprised I didn't get Marco this time around. He usually brings me a cookie and a juice and chills out on his lunch break."

The doctor arched his brow up further while readying the instruments to prick and prod you.

"Marco's not in today. Unfortunately, you're stuck with me," he spoke dryly, focussing on your skin beneath his thumb, "Deep breath in and exhale slowly. Sharp scratch on the exhale incoming."

"Yes, sir," you laughed, reclining and taking a deep breath in. On the exhale, there was no pain to indicate he poked you at all, let alone successfully pop a port inside your body.

"And that's one side done," he smirked to himself, drawing his gaze up to you and whispering softly, "I can't get over how easily your veins are behaving for me. Usually they're a little more wriggly, even for regular donations."

"Guess I'm just special," you offer him slyly, narrowing your eyes and looking to your other arm, "Didn't get a chance to roll my sleeve up on this side before you chucked it in."

"Don't you lift a finger, I'll do all the work." His voice bloomed with a warmth inside you were in expecting. Drawing over to your other arm, he dutifully and softly rose your sleeve up with his hands and curled the material as you did on the other arm.

He removed his gloves before sourcing out a fresh pair, causing you to smile a little more warmly at the young resident for his perfect practice. The snap of latex at his wrists followed alongside the cord being fastened up your bicep, gentle motions again being found on your skin.

"Alright then. Another deep breath in, and a sharp scratch on the exhale," he warned you, thumbing over a vein and drawing a port to your flesh. Doing as he said, another routine deep breath through your nose and a whistled exhale through your lips was enough to distract you from a little prick on your skin.

"And that's the second in. I'll get a tap to the centrifuge all sorted for your platelets, and all you need to do is sit back and relax," he chuckled, moving over to the small device at your side.

"You sure it's in?" You chuckled in response, looking down at your arms with feigned disbelief, "Hardly felt a thing."

"In any other circumstances, I'd say that's a bad thing," he laughed with you before catching himself and gulping back his flirtation, "Sorry, that was unprofessional. You didn't hear anything."

"Oh, that's nothing. You should hear half the crap Marco talks while he does it. It's usually about ten times worse," you respond in kind, watching the doctor as he moves the tubes and wires from your body to the machine. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll forget it. Although, I'd rather not, you actually seem fun."

"Fun and me are usually not sourced in the same sentence, but I'll take it," he chuckled, removing his gloves and setting up the movement on the centrifuge. "Now, I know you've done this before, but I'll say again for my benefit. Your blood gets a little shake around: platelets and plasma go to the bottom, and your blood goes to the top. In the other port, your blood returns to you and will make you feel a little cold."

You nod your head in understanding, listening to each of his words and taking them in as if it was your first time hearing him.

"I'll go fetch you a blanket, and I'll put the kettle on for afterwards for a hot drink to warm you up," he moved to your side, releasing the cords from your arms and making sure the ports remained in one place. "No food or fluids while this goes on, alright?"

"Yes, sir," you give him a smile and recline on your cot while you felt the strange cooling of your internal temperature begin at your arm.

"Hm," he nods in response, moving to the side of the curtain and pausing for a second. "You, uh... Marco usually sits with you on his break?" You tilt your head to look up at him, taking in his posture and quirking your head to the side.

"Yeah. He usually just hung out and ate lunch, talking about whatever took his fancy," you shrug, your teeth starting to chatter as the strange cooling sensation met your chest, "Why do you ask?"

He paused further in his step, gently rocking on his heels and facing away from you.

"I'm due for mine. Don't really wanna eat in the common space," he spoke softly, turning his head to face you while avoiding your eyes, "Can I share my time with you? Just to have a chat and chill? The, uh... The other residents drive me up the wall."

You chuckled at his confession, closing your lips as your teeth chatter further.

"If you come with that blanket you promised me, I'd say you've got yourself a date," you respond in kind while shrugging your shoulders. He rewards you with his lips blooming in a soft smile of his own.

"You got yourself a deal."

Tag list: @mfreedomstuff @daydreamer-in-training @since-im-already-here @gingernut1314 @writingmysanity @i-am-vita @indydonuts @feral-artistry @the-light-of-star @empirenowmp3 @racfoam @sunflowersatori @carrotsunshine @skullfacedlady @jintaka-hane @thenotsofantasticlifestory @ane5e

[misslisamiray]

After 3 failed attempts, at 3 different blood centers, with a different thing going wrong each time, I finally had my first successful platelet donation of 2024 yesterday!

And yes, surprising no one, I brought the bear (my Emotional Support Rick, as he's been dubbed by some folks at work, which is accurate 😅).

Happy belated Valentine's Day!!!

[shayna365x]

Monday, 4/29/24. Happy birthday to me! I decided today would be a good day to offload some bodily fluids, and I managed to charm the staff into giving me the hat even though it’s not supposed to be available until Wednesday!

[oediex]

It all starts with a lot of questions. They want to know everything about my sex life. Then if I've been to the dentist. Have I travelled lately. There are questions about my medication and if I identify as the same sex I was assigned at birth.

Then there's a needle. I trained myself into curiosity so I don't have to look away. Vibrant red runs through a little tube. They give me a blanket because I've forgotten my scarf and my arms get cold. They give me a star to pinch. Sometimes it's a heart.

It is, perhaps, my favourite hour that comes around every two to four weeks, whenever they need me. Or part of me.

When life runs from my veins through a tube into a little bag. Elsewhere, elsewhen, the opposite will happen - my blood travels into someone else's body. And saves their life.

Like magic.

[romirola]

Headcanons for the Solaire Clan's First Live Donation Feeding as Newborns

I'm a routine blood donor (usually platelets and plasma), but today my donation didn't happen because my veins didn't cooperate. It's not uncommon to have happen occasionally due to the apheresis process, but it's disappointing. Alas, I will try again in a few months!

Naturally, as I ice my arm, I am now thinking about the Solaire Clan as newborn vampires who are feeding for the first time at a live donation event struggling to do so. Which leads me to think about...

... Sam, who is able to stomach the thought of blood bags, let alone live feedings. By the time Vincent drags him to the event, Sam is half-starved and desperate. He's mortified to have blown his donor's vein almost immediately, and even more so to admit that he hasn't yet regained his healing ability with this new core. Sam apologizes profusely.

... Vincent, who can barely look his first donor in the eye, even though William and the donor invite him to initiate a trance as practice. At the first taste, Vincent is overcome and doesn't stop after he's taken a unit of blood. William has to yank him off as Porter helps the donor lay down.

... Alexis, who realizes that there's a part of her that craves a hunt or a chase as strongly as her core craves blood for sustenance. She's not sure if she's excited by or afraid of that part of herself.

... Porter, who can't help but interrupt the feeding every time he breathes, asking the donor, "Are you okay? Does it hurt too much? Tell me to stop if it's too much." Porter is so anxious that not two minutes later, he runs outside and vomits all the blood he just consumed.

...William, who wishes that when he was a newborn, live donation events existed. For his sake and so many other vampires'.

Find more headcanons about blood donation in the Redactedverse here!

[wakingfromthewater]

Fuck yes! This is great news!

I can't tell you how excited and happy this makes me. Blood and platelet donation are really important and only a fraction of eligible donors do it. The policy WAS discriminatory (no thanks for the hedging, NYT), and although it was cut down from a lifetime ban to a year ban and then in 2020 down to three months, gay men who were eligible were still sometimes subjected to extra questioning essentially asking if they were telling the truth. Furthermore, because the policy was based around crude birth-assignment ideas of "men" and "women" I've heard stories form both binary and nonbinary trans people about blood bank staff treating them with hostility and suspicion. This is a massive step towards making sure that queer and trans donors get treated with dignity and respect.

I have talked on here about being a regular donor and my delicious AB+ blood but I may not have mentioned that, although I am a cis woman, I had a lifetime ban on donating for years because the policy covered not only men who have had sex with other men but also anyone else who had ever had a male partner that had ever had sex with another man. I actually go to the place I do because the place I initially asked at still adhered to the lifetime ban.

Donated blood and platelets are really important for treating cancer, blood disorders like sickle cell anemia, surgery, burns, childbirth, and more. If you don't know whether you're eligible to donate or if you were banned in the past, check! There have been a number of reforms to the guidelines in the last few years.

[boffincoderproducts]

Removing blood platelets would disrupt clotting, risking uncontrolled bleeding and delayed healing. Appreciating their role in maintaining health highlights the importance of blood donation, replenishing these crucial elements, and ensuring well-being.

[carrion--comfort]

Good morning everyone it is National Blood Donor Month! If you are able I encourage you to donate—and if you haven’t heard yet, gay people CAN donate in the USA, and some other countries, per updated regulations! Only specific sexual behaviors in a specific time frame might still disqualify you, regardless of the sex or gender of your partner. (Other potential disqualifiers are related to travel, medications, and more…see here for the full list used by the American Red Cross.)

Donations slow down by a lot in the winter, so this is our time of greatest need. It is not an exaggeration to say that a blood donation can be lifesaving for somebody who’s sick or injured. Blood donations take about an hour from walking in the door to leaving, although last time I went in I was out of there in 45 mins. Note that the actual donation is only 10 mins or so.

Finally, if there is a platelet donation center near you, we can always use platelet donations...platelet units have a very short shelf life (5-7 days, as opposed to up to 42 days for red blood cells) and are very precious. The procedure takes longer, about a couple of hours. So bring your favorite YT video essay and you’ll be halfway through by the time you’re finished 😄

[spooniestrong]

Today is Valentine's Day ❤️ but it is also #NationalDonorDay. We thank & honor all who have given one of the ultimate gifts of love and life by being an organ, eye, tissue, blood, platelet, or marrow donor. Share the love by encouraging those in your life to register as a donor.

[oceaneyesinla]

Would you mind sharing some random facts about your branch of science? I'm really curious

you come to ask about my science??? 🥺🥺🥺 hugs and kissies for 100000 years :3

*i pull out a scroll and open it, the end comedically rolling away*

blood is SUPER COOL!!!! and SUPER IMPORTANT

okay so my branch of science specifically is hospital haematology and transfusion, so it's looking at whether people have the right amount of blood cells, and whether they're normal and working properly. it's also giving out donated blood and testing the patient beforehand so we give out the right blood!

there are 47 different blood groups that we know about right now (and we keep finding more!!!!) ABO and RhD are the ones most people know about, but there's a bunch more we have to think about when we're giving out donor blood to patients, and it's super interesting!!!

donated platelets get wiggled so that they don't clump together, and to help keep them usable for as long as possible! and the packs we use for teeny tiny babies are also teeny tiny, and i will never get over how small they are 🥺

blood groups are very interesting and there's a lot of research into whether your blood group can affect certain diseases!

tldr blood is cool and interesting and exciting 🥳