In case you haven't made a regular commitment to donate blood, maybe the incentives Rex Blood Services has will get you to do so:
- Donate blood on Wednesdays, and get two movie passes to Raleighwood
- Donate on Fridays, and get free lunch (changes every Friday: 4/21 will be Ole Time BBQ, and 4/28 will be from 518 West Italian Cafe...they often have Carrabas and Qdoba as well)

If you can't donate, for whatever reason, volunteer/recruit/drive a carpool/spread the word!

(919) 784-4750 <-- Rex Donor Center
rexbloodservices.com
2709 Blue Ridge Rd
Raleigh, NC 27606

For those without cars: CAT #4 has a stop almost directly across from Blood Services. Plan well, though, because the bus doesn't run very often. If you tell the folks there that you are taking the bus, and really need to be out by ______ time to catch it, they'll do everything they can to avoid making you miss it. It helps to schedule an appt, instead of just dropping in.

4/15/2006 1:54:26 PM

"Men who have had sexual contact with other men since 1977"
Damn... teh gays can't legally donate there or to the red cross… well unless they’ve been abstinent since before most of us were born.

4/15/2006 2:06:19 PM

i can't afford to give up my blood.

i need it for teh exercise.

4/15/2006 2:25:47 PM

i need my blood so that my muscles get oxygen. sorry.

4/15/2006 2:27:36 PM

THERE WILL BE BLOOD DONATION STATIONS SET UP IN THE BRICKYARD ON MONDAY MID DAY. DONATE BLOOD THERE.

4/15/2006 3:03:26 PM

the first time i donated i had gotten a tattoo like 3 months prior

i was like i dont give a fuck i'm donating anyway

4/15/2006 3:05:25 PM

I would, but I was in india last august...malaria prone, omg!!!

4/15/2006 4:50:04 PM

this thread is a perfect example of how people will half give valid excuses, and then half just not want to do it. The things that the don't want to do it group will come up with amazes me every time.

4/15/2006 4:58:54 PM

if you are a male weighing 250 or more pounds with a hematocrit of 40( they will check your hematocrit there) you can give double the amount of red blood cells..............which is a nice thing esp if you have O blood. you give fewer times each year but it saves a lot of lives. Ask about it at a red cross drive

4/15/2006 9:23:06 PM

does giving blood reduce your blood pressure?

4/15/2006 9:33:57 PM

briefly..........thats part of the reason they dont let you jump up and walk out the door.

also if it is too low when you get there they dont let you donate.

4/15/2006 11:13:41 PM

but your HR will go up if you start moving....your heart will have to work harder if your volume is lowered

4/15/2006 11:15:05 PM

yeah............where are you going with that small bit of physiology?

4/16/2006 12:07:56 AM

needles are bad

4/16/2006 12:11:46 AM

im not allowed

4/16/2006 12:34:11 AM

b/c you're a republican?

4/16/2006 2:26:16 AM

i thought you only had to be 150 or something to do the double donation.

But i still wouldn't recomend it for anyone. b/c they selectivley try to take the red blood cells, that means they're putting shit back in. And now it's one thing to let them put a needle in my arm and let them leak out blood, but it's another thing to have one needle, a machine, and then another needle. And i hear it really sucks to have it done too.

still, i wonder, if you're 250, why can't they just straight up take 2 pints from you? I've known a few people who were like 115 and gave 1 pint. it can't be that much worse.

[Edited on April 16, 2006 at 2:31 AM. Reason : gf]

4/16/2006 2:31:19 AM

see, they are going about this shit all wrong. Jerry, a dude that worked for my dad who could drink any of you mother fuckers under the table round robbin style explained to me why he gives blood so much:

"Well, with less blood in your system, its easier to get fucked up"

seems like they should play this card if they need blood so damn bad...

4/16/2006 2:42:08 AM

oh snap, what are the rules on donating if you're anemic?

I'd totally do it for the 518 west lunch

4/16/2006 2:42:46 AM

I'm really bad with blood, as in i get queezy really easily, but i've always wanted to donate blood. any suggestions. I'm sure i'd pass out there.

4/16/2006 3:51:17 AM

give blood, people, because I can't until August!

[Edited on April 16, 2006 at 8:38 AM. Reason : ]

4/16/2006 8:37:32 AM

Give blood people because I can't for 8 more years

4/16/2006 9:08:10 AM

misha - if you're anemic, they just won't let you
you can give me a ride, though, and i'll give you my italian

Quote :

"i thought you only had to be 150 or something to do the double donation. But i still wouldn't recomend it for anyone. b/c they selectivley try to take the red blood cells, that means they're putting shit back in. And now it's one thing to let them put a needle in my arm and let them leak out blood, but it's another thing to have one needle, a machine, and then another needle. And i hear it really sucks to have it done too."

that's apheresis you're thinking of. they take platelets, and give you the rest of your blood back. the only reason it's a bitch to do is b/c the anti-coagulant they use is cold, and for whatever reason, they aren't allowed to warm it. It also used only one needle. The worst part about all of it is that you get cold and you have to be still for a while.
A double donation is simply giving double the normal amount of blood. it's not a different procedure.

4/16/2006 11:11:15 AM

If these things ever ran on schedule, us working folks could donate. I'd do it with or w/o the free lunch on Fridays, but I doubt I can be in & out in an hour.

Does Rex have anything on Saturdays or Sundays? Sunday would be easiest for me to set up for every other month and stick to a schedule; or even Saturday mornings are still more convenient than weekdays.

4/16/2006 11:48:20 AM

They usually turn me away because they don't accept zombie blood pressure levels.

4/16/2006 11:59:04 AM

i always worry about my iron content or my blood pressure being too high, but apparently they like it that way.

4/16/2006 12:02:20 PM

my father has super high iron levels (forget the name...supposedly it's a disorder, but not too harmful, and most folks never know they have it), and he's O-. they have taken four bags from him at a pop. (the "treatment" for problematic instances of said disorder is nothing but bloodletting )

needless to say, they work hard to get him in every two months.

4/16/2006 12:24:01 PM

Eh, fuck that.

I lived in europe so they wont take it. Oh well.
somehow i'm not too upset over this.

4/16/2006 12:31:22 PM

Quote :

"that's apheresis you're thinking of. they take platelets, and give you the rest of your blood back."

yes, but now you can give just red blood cells this way too, they put everything else back.

http://www.my-redcross.org/html/doublethedifference.asp

k, so this says that men weighing over 150 can do this...........the lady at the blood drive said 250, so whatever.


only a small percentage of women meet the eligibility requirements of being 175 pounds and over 5'5" tall

[Edited on April 16, 2006 at 1:23 PM. Reason : .]

4/16/2006 1:19:33 PM

They don't want my dirty English blood. Even if it is O-Negative.

4/16/2006 1:30:30 PM

being English is a high risk behavior.

4/16/2006 1:32:15 PM

i live in california


oh and i dont want to

4/16/2006 1:39:19 PM

^^^^ sometimes, they don't know what they're talking about. Usually they do, but they're not the doctors :-/

Quote :

"my father has super high iron levels (forget the name...supposedly it's a disorder, but not too harmful, and most folks never know they have it), and he's O-. they have taken four bags from him at a pop. (the "treatment" for problematic instances of said disorder is nothing but bloodletting )"

That's really funny. I remember hearing the expected tiime for all the stuff to recover, i'll try to reproduce them to the best of my memory:

plasma volume returns in about 3 days
red blood cell count in about 3 weeks
iron content in about 8 weeks

So it seems that would make sense, giving blood often would clearly decrease your iron content for the most part. but yeah, interesting stuff.

[Edited on April 16, 2006 at 1:40 PM. Reason : ^s]

4/16/2006 1:40:05 PM

ambrosia1231 the disorder you're thinking of is hemochromatosis. Some quack doctor tried to tell me I have that but really I'm very iron deficient (so like miska nobody wants my blood).

4/16/2006 1:59:41 PM

what do doctors know about blood conditions anyway?

4/16/2006 2:10:56 PM

Well this was the only guy to ever say it and after showing several other doctors the same results (I got copies of the tests) they disagreed and a diagnostic test came back negative. This guy likes to look for the worst case scenario but he did save my dad's life once by picking up on what was wrong before any of the other doctors did.

4/16/2006 2:19:14 PM

they now dont want my blood.

Got a letter today that somone who may have recieved blood i donated back in 2003 is suing them and untill I and ther other 10-20 folks who are involved get tested we are all on hold as far as donations go. Seems kinda fucked up to me that i gave blood before and after that, and now they have some nutjob trying to sue them.

4/16/2006 9:02:07 PM

^ dang, what was the issue with the blood in that case?

4/16/2006 9:08:14 PM

Chuck Norris donates blood often....but never his own

4/16/2006 9:14:29 PM

I never donate on my own, I always have to have a friend with me

4/16/2006 9:22:38 PM

Ole time bbq?

4/16/2006 9:31:20 PM

Quote :

"they now dont want my blood. Got a letter today that somone who may have recieved blood i donated back in 2003 is suing them and untill I and ther other 10-20 folks who are involved get tested we are all on hold as far as donations go. Seems kinda fucked up to me that i gave blood before and after that, and now they have some nutjob trying to sue them."

"they" being Rex?

did they tell you when you could get tested, and what kind of issue they're being sued over?

4/16/2006 10:07:55 PM

I love giving blood...it's one thing I do at LEAST twice a year...right now I can't give blood for personal reasons, but as soon as I'm eligible to, I plan to donate again. Everyone should donate. It doesn't take much time and it helps more than you know. You could save someone's life. And, if you're not into the whole "be a hero" thing, most of the time you get free stuff.

4/16/2006 10:24:11 PM

so, uh

518 tomorrow

go bleed into a bag!

4/20/2006 11:09:58 PM

I forgot about my piercings and tattoo until I was doing the checklist, and I asked...from the blood folks at rex, if your tat/piercing was done in NC at a licensed facility, you may donate, with no deferment period.

Looks like they're fixing to start up a point reward system for donating.

I must have started doing something right - my hemo count was up to 14.1!!

[Edited on June 16, 2006 at 3:53 PM. Reason : lkj]

6/16/2006 3:53:43 PM

Fuck giving. I'll sell it. I hate needles. Someone has would HAVE to pay me to give some of my precious blood.

6/16/2006 4:14:34 PM

^plasma donation. Mo' money!

6/17/2006 9:46:44 AM

i've tried to give blood 3 times in the past year

denied every time because of my heartrate

6/17/2006 1:23:09 PM

im forbidden for life

6/17/2006 2:40:06 PM

i have icewater in my veins

6/17/2006 2:58:11 PM