> Since last year, I've really been wanting to donate blood. December 7th is a blood drive at my school, and when I first heard about it, I was extremely excited. I'm not afraid of needles or anything, I'm healthy, and I'd be helping another individual, so I was "ready and rarin' to go," as my mom would say.
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> It was not to be. I was at school today, reading the blood drive flier, and it said you have to weigh at least 115 pounds in order to give blood. Sadly, I only weigh about 105. :( I see the reasoning behind this rule, but I feel bad since I really wanted to help someone out by doing this. (I guess I could eat an entire turkey or something prior to the blood drive...lol.)
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> Anyway, I just had to get that out, because I'm kinda disappointed now.
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> ~Den-"I could've gotten a cute pin shaped like a drop of blood, too"Kara

My ex-girlfriend had the same problem. I think she managed to hit 115 a little while back, but has been eating less lately and has dropped back down. (And she had the flu last weekend, which didn't help things.) Of course, she didn't reall wnat to give blood anyway...

If it makes you feel better, though, I'll give a little more blood to make up the difference for you not being able to. I just donated last Thursday, and plan to do it as often as I can in future. (I've been trying to do it regularly since I turned 18, but I've only managed to do it about six or seven times...) I'm also thinking about doing plasmapheresis-- That's where they separate the blood after taking it out of you and return the plasma to your body, and you can do that every week since the body can regenerate the red blood cells (and whatever else they keep) very quickly. It takes longer, though, and you have to go to one of their permanent clinics to do it. Fortunately, there's a permanent clinic on my bus route. Anyway, I'm not sure if I got the details on plasmapheresis right, so if anyone knows better, please feel free to correct me.

Don "The 'Universal Donor' Monkeyman" Jackson