> > > 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. [...]

> > I donate platelets, or red blood cells, every time the hospital has a patient who needs my type. They evidently match more things than just blood type, as I've had them tell me I'm a three of four match so my particular platelets are preferable for the patient. Since the body makes red blood cells relatively quickly, you can donate as often as every three days (as opposed to every eight weeks for whole blood). One time, when someone's type matched mine almost exactly, I gave for that person three times in a week [...]

> That's nice to hear! I should hurry up and go through the stuff I need to be in the bone marrow registry-- I have no idea how often it is needed, but based on your experience, I might be far more useful that I would have first thought. And regular plasma donations are definitely something I wish to do. Like you, I would never take money for it, but I would consider letting them reimburse me for steroids if the situation arose... I guess that's just a personal difference. (Although if it were cheap enough, I might not take the money.) I should really find out when the late nights at our local clinic are-- I could donate plasma every Tuesday if they're open late that night.
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> Don "The Monkey'Encouraged by Mousie's good example'man" Jackson

Wow Mousie, I'm amazed too. That's great! Although I am kind of wondering what it did to your limb(s) to donate blood every three days for a while... do the veins always heal up THAT fast?

The Hematècque Blood services where I live don't pay donors either. I've given blood about 8 or 9 times, judging from the needle marks ;) It wasn't painful. I understand that there may also be a beneficial side-effect to donating blood regularly, namely, that it purges excess iron from the body in males. (North American diets are typically very rich in red meat and iron, and individuals prone to iron overload suffer increased rate of heart attacks because of this.) Purging iron by weekly(!?) blood donation is the actually recommended method of maintenance.

Wolf "Bleeding inexcessively" spirit