foiled! 101 - #90

[dirtylibrarian]

Eck.  Well, I've been thinking about revising the 101 list for a while now...cut out stuff put on their to get to know the area around my old job.  Maybe cut out a few impossible seeming things.  Maybe not.   But I wasn't expecting to cut out #90 - Give Blood.

Admittedly, I wasn't sure I could.  And as it turns out, I was sadly correct in this particular worry:

Unfortunately, you are not eligible to donate any blood products. There is a theoretical increased risk of variant Creutzfeldt- Jakob Disease for those who’ve resided in Europe. Because vCJD is transmissible by blood and there are no licensed tests to detect it, the FDA requires that we defer donors who’ve met the following criteria;

 From 1980-1996, have you spent time that adds up to 3 months or more in the U.K.?...  

Yes, that's right.  I, gasp, lived in London for a little over 3 months in 1993.  And for my wickedness I have been punished, by not being able to donate blood.  Bah.

Truthfully, there is a chance I wouldn't have been up for it anyways.  Like my mother I have amazingly low blood pressure...frequently when she used to try and donate there weren't enough cookies and juice on hand to get her's up high enough to donate ;)

But still.  I would have liked to have done might part.  Even if I do hate needles jabbing in me.

Comments

[jillbertini.livejournal.com]

I'm really starting to wonder who the hell is eligible to donate blood anymore.

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

No wonder there is a shortage, eh?

[jillbertini.livejournal.com]

Seriously!

It's kinda funny, though, because you and bostonsteamer both posted about donating blood! He's never done it before and is going on Monday, though :).

veggie exemption:

[lara7.livejournal.com]

although this doesn't apply to you, if you were a vegetarian during that time (or a Hindu, I suppose) you might still be eligible. the actual worry is from people who ate beef products in the UK..living there itself shouldn't be a disqualifier.

I'm slightly anemic, so I'm glad I can't donate blood, since I feel guilty about not giving it away but so squeamish about the needle.

[dana-drum.livejournal.com]

I mentioned to someone that I couldn't donate blood and they looked at me with disgust, like I must have some horrible morality problem that gave me a gross illness. Really, like I was completely untouchable. It was weird that they lept to the conclusion that I must have done something wrong and there was something wrong hiding inside of me.

Not just a combo of issues including anemia, low blood pressure, and my body goes into shock from donating sometimes. (I used to donate regularly but I started breaking out in hives after donating, so I had to stop.)