I've been giving blood for over 10 years every 2 months. I've never been unsuccessful. Over the last year because of my rare blood type, the nurses there have been goading me to give an R1. This is where they hook the donor to the machine then take one unit of red blood cells, 2 units of plasma, and return to the donor 1 unit of saline. I agreed, and the first time I tried that had to move the needle around in my arm for a prolonged period of time to finally get the R1. That was not pleasant needless to say. The second time they had to do the same thing and eventually failed. I was more than annoyed, cause it wasted my time, their time, my gas, caused unnecessary pollution, and now there's one less unit of blood out there for a possibly needy person or child. Now say that they can guarantee being successful 5/6 times(a roll of the die). When they are successful, they get 50% more, when unsuccessful(16.6666% of the time) they get nothing. Over time, it's a net plus, especially for those who need the blood. It's a statistical no brainer, sort of like NOT taking insurance when the dealer shows an ace in BJ. However, next time, I'm going for the sure thing(one unit of whole blood) instead of being greedy. What do you think?
I also have a rare blood type and have been asked to do an R1. I've never had a problem, 100% success rate. It really comes down to the skill of the technician and the size of your veins. The R1 process isn't really any different than when I gave plasma for $$$ in college. One tip is to be sure that the saline is body temperature not room temperature. Once in college I got a unit of room temperature saline and it really, really sucked.
I don't have huge veins, but they're good enough. Maybe it was just a coincidence. But if you're batting 1000 until you change to a different procedure, one is likely to blame the new procedure.
Considering the discomfort, I think you'd be justified to stick with the regular donation. However, if you are willing to endure the discomfort, it sounds as though 5 times out of 6 of R1 is more blood for the recipients. Rather than thinking of it as gas, time, and pollution "wasted" driving to the place and sitting there during the procedure, consider that you're expending the same amount of gas and pollution, and I presume not too much more of your time, to give ten sixths (or one and two-thirds) the amount of blood. It's also possible that eventually they will figure out what their problem is and how to raise their success rate. I always feel kind of weak for a week or so after giving blood. Is it worse after an R1? This also could affect your decision. Wouldn't apply to me. I'm A positive and nobody's ever going to ask me to do an R1.
I didn't notice any difference between a normal donation and the R1. I simply drink more water than usual the day of donation. Of course I've don't feel any noticeable fatigue or weakness with a normal donation either. I usually donate in the morning and I am OK to run 3-5 miles by the afternoon.
I don't feel weak after giving blood. I usually go back to my normal exercise routine the next day. For the R1, I felt a little shivery after receiving the infusion of normal saline, but that lasted 5 minutes after my temperature equilibrated. If they could guarantee a 99% success rate I would do R1 no question. It's a better yield. Right now they're at a 50% success rate as opposed my previous 100% success rate for over a decade with the routine one unit. I'm going in the next visit super hydrated, and I'll see if they can convince me one more time for the R1, but otherwise, I'm just going to go for the sure thing.
In 1998 it was $20 for your first donation of the week and $35 for the second. No premium for blood types. You had to wait two days between donations so I went on Monday and Thursday. That wasn't a bad rate considering it only took an hour. I only averaged about $100 a week working at UPS in the mornings and I had to work 15 to 20 hours.
Yes. The US has a network of for-profit plasma collection centers. The plasma collected is not used in hospitals but instead sold to companies for use in medical research. Those that donate are paid for their plasma the same day. Plasma donation is popular among college students and the homeless. Some would use fake names and donate daily at different centers. I did it in college because I needed the money. I got $55 a week and it only took a total of 3 hours including travel time or ~ $18/hour. (The plasma center was just 2 blocks off campus) At the time a fast-food job paid $5.25/hour, I made $8/hour at UPS package handler, and $9.50/ hour as an engineering co-op.
I wonder if being paid for a 'donation' has increased or decreased the act of giving blood. You'd think it would be an incentive, but there are likely many people who wouldn't consider 'stooping so low'. If it's stigmatised as something only poor people do because they need the money, the program isn't going to attract high quality donors - or should I say those with high quality blood? - nor assure a safe and plentiful blood supply. Where do hospitals get the blood products they need?
FWIW, i've had issues twice giving blood over the past 9 years, both cases almost identical to what you described. The nurse missed the vein, and had to go digging around for it. One of those times resulted in a failed donation (I filled up half a bag and it just stopped). Both of those were regular donations. In both cases, i attribute it to the competence of the nurse. I know one of those times it was actually the nurse's first time doing it, so I tried to encourage her and suffer through as best i could... But it was still painful. So, my advise would be to stick with it. It's probably a problem with the person doing the stick, not the process itself.
I try to donate using the Alyx system at the Red Cross now, since it's 2 units of red cells and you get to wait double the time before donating again. I agree that the saline really should be warmer since there's usually an annoying chill as it goes in. Trouble is, they refuse to let me keep doing that all the time, and force me to either wait (which they don't really want) or donate the regular way once a year. I guess they think the system is OK most of the time but not EVERY time...
My understanding is that hospitals get blood products from volunteer donors. When I was giving plasma for money, I was told that it was sold to companies for medical research and was not used in hospitals. You could get extra money if you had rare diseases. As far as safety, I got a very complete example before I was allowed to give plasma. This involved a full body inspection for signs of drug use. (As in getting completely naked and checked head to toe, and between my toes, for needle marks.) It seems these clinics are still in business. The jobs classified section of my local paper had an ad for plasma donation in the Sunday paper. Up to $250 per month.
The nurse doing the sticking makes all the difference. Some can do it blindfolded and some couldn't hit a vein if it were as big as an oil pipeline. Roll of the dice, but once you get a good sticker find a way to get that person always to do the deed. I always ask for the same person who has a 100% rate.
I made donation number 67 today, always whole blood. We have blood drives at work, so I donate in the bus. They always ask me if I'll do the apheresis ( [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apheresis]Apheresis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] ) and I always tell them I want whole blood and that's what they do. My donations are not altogether altruistic... I've read that in men the donation lowers iron and has health benefits. Plus, as the above wiki article states, there are minor concerns regarding exposure to the plastic tubing. Only once or twice did they need to move the needle part way through, never had any bad effects except for laying sod in the yard a few days after donating... whole arm turned black and blue. I'm a universal donor, so I figure they take mine and dump it into people in the ER without taking time to type and crossmatch them.
