Donating blood burns 600-650 calories!

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Replies

  • Athena53
    Athena53 Posts: 717 Member
    Well it's a good thing I have a milligram scale, so I can weigh the ticks I pull off of myself once it warms up! It'll be a bit of work because I will need to weigh them, then squish out any blood they had already sucked, and then re-weigh to get the difference. I mean, if I were to count the whole weight of the tick plus the blood that would just be ridiculous and totally cheating.

    Try leeches. They'll get the job done much faster. :laugh:
  • IzzyBooNZ1
    IzzyBooNZ1 Posts: 1,289 Member
    I'm donating blood for the first time next week, kinda nervous. I am not gonna log it as an exercise.
  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
    In Canada they won't accept blood from Homosexual donors. Not high-risk homosexual donors-ALL homosexual donors.

    Therefore they don't get my calories.

    it's the same way here in the U.S.
    it's a shame really :( there are so many people out there willing to give blood and help others, and they turn you down due to your sexual preferences.


    In the states too? really? I've never heard of this and my sister (who happens to be a lesbian) donates blood quiet often. this is very interesting.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSM_blood_donor_controversy

    It is only gay men who can't donate as far as I can tell even though they have the same, if not smaller cases of HIV than other groups of people. There are many many countries who have this ban in affect. UK removed the ban in 2011 however Canada and the US have yet to do the same. A senetor in the US has tried but has not been successful as of yet as far as I know.

    Also, any women that have been with a man who has been with a man previously can't donate in certain countries apparently.

    It is incredibly outdated and not right. Regardless of who you are you can still contract HIV or any other disease. While I understand the reasoning behind it, blood is tested now so why be so judgemental.
  • barbiesnd
    barbiesnd Posts: 54 Member
    In Canada they won't accept blood from Homosexual donors. Not high-risk homosexual donors-ALL homosexual donors.

    Therefore they don't get my calories.

    In the USA I'm not allowed to give blood because I'm English and I may have Mad Cow Disease.

    In England they don't want my blood because I live in the USA and I may have West Nile Disease!!!!

    Oh well, no easy calorie burn for me.....
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    Well it's a good thing I have a milligram scale, so I can weigh the ticks I pull off of myself once it warms up! It'll be a bit of work because I will need to weigh them, then squish out any blood they had already sucked, and then re-weigh to get the difference. I mean, if I were to count the whole weight of the tick plus the blood that would just be ridiculous and totally cheating.

    Try leeches. They'll get the job done much faster. :laugh:
    Ooh, cool we have leeches in the pond too. Now I can get even more calories from swimming this summer.
  • JUDDDing
    JUDDDing Posts: 1,367 Member
    They call me once a month, cause I have a rare blood type and practically beg. I'd like to, the thought of helping people and saving lives is a good one, but I have to take a moral stand here.

    :drinker:

    You win!

    For the most ridiculous "moral stand" in history!
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    They call me once a month, cause I have a rare blood type and practically beg. I'd like to, the thought of helping people and saving lives is a good one, but I have to take a moral stand here.

    :drinker:

    You win!

    For the most ridiculous "moral stand" in history!
    LOL.

    This is a Godwin waiting to happen.
  • JUDDDing
    JUDDDing Posts: 1,367 Member
    They call me once a month, cause I have a rare blood type and practically beg. I'd like to, the thought of helping people and saving lives is a good one, but I have to take a moral stand here.

    :drinker:

    You win!

    For the most ridiculous "moral stand" in history!
    LOL.

    This is a Godwin waiting to happen.

    Fine...

    Second most.
  • coolraul07
    coolraul07 Posts: 1,606 Member
    I wish I could donate, but my veins are too small and roll too much to deal with the cannula.
    Damndest thing, I have 'wandering veins' and it's why I stopped donating. When I was a kid, I swore up and down that I'd donate as soon as I was eligible and as often as allowed. :happy: Well, 4 consecutive bad visits have turned me off to the whole process. :angry: The first visit went OK although it took 3 tries, but the 2nd visit I was treated like a friggin' pin cushion! :mad: The next 3 visits, I told them upfront "Give me the best person you got, even if I have to wait an extra hour" and each time the response was either "That's me!" or "We're all equally good!":huh: Yeah, well they lied! :explode:

    It's probably been about 5-10 years since I've tried. :frown: Maybe I'll give'm one more try during the next blood drive at work... :ohwell:
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    I wish I could donate, but my veins are too small and roll too much to deal with the cannula.

    My wife is a phlebotomist, and a damn good one at that. I bet she could stick you, and you wouldn't even know it.

    Yeah, I wasn't the original one to post this, but do you have any idea how many times I have heard that? I usually have to walk out with cotton balls and band aids on both elbows PLUS my hand.

    My wife is the one they call to stick babies, cancer patients, morbidly obese people, dying people with virtually no blood pressure, and people that no-one else has been able to stick. There are regular patients in all the locations she works that refuse to be stuck by anyone but her. If she can't stick you, I'm pretty confident in saying that no one can :laugh:

    Can you have her in my doctors office next month?

    I was in the hospital as a child and got to listen to two phlebs: we will have to take it out of her hand! Her hand, you can't do that, it will hurt! 30 some years later, I can tell you the hand hurts less than the digging!

    :laugh: Sure, if I ever get her home. During the blizzard the hospital has asked her to stay over so they know she'll be on hand, and so they don't have to worry about whether she can make it in. Yeah, never mind her family, guys, we need her too!

    I believe you about your wife. But, I also have very small veins. And anytime I have been in the situation of needing an IV, my veins were even smaller (from dehydration and/or blood loss). I can not tell you how many nurses (and I mean male and female nurses) were so cocky that they could do it, as they stabbed me and stabbed me and stabbed me until they finally had someone else come in (I still have scars). And they always need to put it into my hand (sometimes with insulting me for being small and saying I am child sized, like they are mad at me).

    My midwives were amazing after I had my second baby at home. They worked for a long time to get the I.V. in because I had lost too much blood and the bleeding was not stopping. And once the IV was all in, she explained that if I have any more kids I need to tell them in advance to make sure I have an IV already in before I deliver.

    I also can not give blood because I'm too small.
  • RadioactivePirate
    RadioactivePirate Posts: 212
    Regarding MSM donating blood...

    The Red Cross's hands are tied in this situation. I believe they have come out in favor of lifting the lifetime ban, but the requirement is from the federal government. Boycotting the red cross does nothing to change this, and is only in fact hurting people who need blood.

    It would make a lot more sense for the requirement to be a ban on people who have had unprotected sex (outside of a monogamous relationship). That's the REAL risk factor for HIV transmission. Gay men may be more likely to have HIV, but being gay is not itself a risk factor. Having unprotected sex IS. The Red Cross knows this. Don't boycott them. They're trying!
  • corneredbycorn
    corneredbycorn Posts: 267 Member
    The red cross actually told me to stop donating. My blood flows so slowly that it takes over 20 mins to get a pint. This means it has too much coagulant in it and therefore can not be split. It can only be used whole. But the last two times I gave I went over the allotted amount of time, they were having to weigh the bag trying to get the right amount, and that meant they had to trash my donation. It was not usable. Totally stinks because I would love to do this but I can't. Plus I usually pass out.
    I would have told them to put it back. :P
  • RachaelKaye4
    RachaelKaye4 Posts: 57 Member
    BUMP! :)
  • louised88
    louised88 Posts: 159
    In Canada they won't accept blood from Homosexual donors. Not high-risk homosexual donors-ALL homosexual donors.

    Therefore they don't get my calories.

    it's the same way here in the U.S.
    it's a shame really :( there are so many people out there willing to give blood and help others, and they turn you down due to your sexual preferences.

    Same in Ireland. (Well, not homosexual people, but sexually active gay men, who have EVER had sexual contact with another man, even if a condom was used. It's a disgrace.) It's difficult, because I feel like if I am healthy enough to give blood, I should give blood (it's not the fault of the people who need blood), but I find that really difficult to reconcile with my opposition to such discrimination.
  • Katxith
    Katxith Posts: 7
    Info for anyone who's interested http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2333882/Donating-blood-good-YOUR-health-receiver.html
  • CostaClause
    CostaClause Posts: 2 Member
    I'm with him... How does sitting in a chair with an IV draining your arm burn 600 calories?
    How do you burn cals sitting on a chair with a blood draw in you is what I want to know.
  • CostaClause
    CostaClause Posts: 2 Member
    You're not "child sized" or "too small"... you're FUN sized!! :)
    I wish I could donate, but my veins are too small and roll too much to deal with the cannula.

    My wife is a phlebotomist, and a damn good one at that. I bet she could stick you, and you wouldn't even know it.

    Yeah, I wasn't the original one to post this, but do you have any idea how many times I have heard that? I usually have to walk out with cotton balls and band aids on both elbows PLUS my hand.

    My wife is the one they call to stick babies, cancer patients, morbidly obese people, dying people with virtually no blood pressure, and people that no-one else has been able to stick. There are regular patients in all the locations she works that refuse to be stuck by anyone but her. If she can't stick you, I'm pretty confident in saying that no one can :laugh:

    Can you have her in my doctors office next month?

    I was in the hospital as a child and got to listen to two phlebs: we will have to take it out of her hand! Her hand, you can't do that, it will hurt! 30 some years later, I can tell you the hand hurts less than the digging!

    :laugh: Sure, if I ever get her home. During the blizzard the hospital has asked her to stay over so they know she'll be on hand, and so they don't have to worry about whether she can make it in. Yeah, never mind her family, guys, we need her too!

    I believe you about your wife. But, I also have very small veins. And anytime I have been in the situation of needing an IV, my veins were even smaller (from dehydration and/or blood loss). I can not tell you how many nurses (and I mean male and female nurses) were so cocky that they could do it, as they stabbed me and stabbed me and stabbed me until they finally had someone else come in (I still have scars). And they always need to put it into my hand (sometimes with insulting me for being small and saying I am child sized, like they are mad at me).

    My midwives were amazing after I had my second baby at home. They worked for a long time to get the I.V. in because I had lost too much blood and the bleeding was not stopping. And once the IV was all in, she explained that if I have any more kids I need to tell them in advance to make sure I have an IV already in before I deliver.

    I also can not give blood because I'm too small.
  • hmg90
    hmg90 Posts: 314 Member
    Regarding MSM donating blood...

    The Red Cross's hands are tied in this situation. I believe they have come out in favor of lifting the lifetime ban, but the requirement is from the federal government. Boycotting the red cross does nothing to change this, and is only in fact hurting people who need blood.

    It would make a lot more sense for the requirement to be a ban on people who have had unprotected sex (outside of a monogamous relationship). That's the REAL risk factor for HIV transmission. Gay men may be more likely to have HIV, but being gay is not itself a risk factor. Having unprotected sex IS. The Red Cross knows this. Don't boycott them. They're trying!

    I do understand why gay men are not allowed to donate blood, yet I do understand that they feel discriminated against.
    Gay men do have HIV more often than straight men or women do. That is fact. It is not homophobic to say it. It is silly to deny it for politically correct reasons.
    And a lot of people are scared ****less by the fact that there are those who have been transmitted with HIV through blood transfusions in the past. Yes it is rare but it has happened.

    Denying those who have had unprotected sex is of course logical, but impossible to do in practice.

    People are also worried about needles being used that are not sterilized/clean. And they cannot risk losing blood donors due to fear.
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