dhammer53

I gave blood a few days ago. The nurse told me that the hospital pays ~$200 a pint for blood. This is why many hospitals go and collect at blood drives offsite.

Calcifer

One more pint in the bag yesterday. Hematocrit still nicely above the cut off line.

bowdenj

Here in IND the Indiana Blood Center cut back on cholesterol testing to reduce costs. Wouldn't be surprised if a reduction in the number of donation centers in the area.

08/22/2014: NYTimes: Blood Industry Shrinks as Transfusions Decline

Blood bank revenue is falling, and the decline may reach $1.5 billion a year this year from a high of $5 billion in 2008.

Nonprofit organizations collect whole blood from unpaid donors, but hospitals may pay $225 to $240 a unit, according to executives in the business, which covers a variety of costs, including testing. If the unit is billed to the patient, the price can be $1,000 or more.

Calcifer

And another pint donated. Got the special breast cancer awareness bandage--white with pink ribbons, instead of the usual purple or turquoise. A nice change of pace.

goalie

Good on you! ^^^

BarneyOakwood

I refuse to donate blood because of the anti-gay policies.

cmn.jcs

Not to get too OMNI here, but that seems a touch strong given that (as I understand it) the developers of the policy are at the FDA, and the recipients of the blood are not associated with the FDA (broadly speaking). It seems like a rather ineffective way to express one's view.

JDiver

We will allow the posts immediately above as a matter of public education. Federal regulations established to protect the blood supply may be outdated, rigid and take a long time to modify, and a number of donors are excluded for reasons other than anti-gay bias: your travel history and medical conditions may also bar people from donating.

When push comes to shove, the products are not denied to anyone because of these policies.

JDiver
Senior Moderator

djk7

I'll get back to the original topic of blood donations being good for one's health. When I donated in February, my hemoglobin was just under the cutoff, they tried a finger from my other hand and I just made it. That's only the second time in 60 donations that I was borderline. When I went back in April, I was solidly low. I had noticed that I was getting winded easily and more run down feeling after yard work, but didn't know why, the low iron seemed to be the culprit.

I saw my dr., got blood work and all of the iron related readings were really low compared to the previous ones several years ago. Had an endoscopy to rule out an ulcer, also antibiotics for h. pylori in any case. Endoscopy didn't find any problems and several months later my iron is back to normal and I feel back to normal too. The reason for my anemia are still unknown, but at least I got it checked out before it got too far along, I probably would have waited longer before seeing the dr. if it hadn't been for the low reading at the blood bank.

Calcifer

Glad you're back up to normal levels! I know I felt pretty awful when my iron was too low to donate, and I found it easy enough to get it back up to healthy levels by supplementing and rejigging my diet a bit. Donating regularly also helps me keep an eye on it in between doctor's appointments.

djk7

Thanks! I'll be heading back to the blood bank soon for the first time since April.

djk7

So now the dilemma is whether to donate this week or wait for until next week when the have this t-shirt promotion:

goalie

So let me get this right.....

You're thinking about not waiting a week for swag?

Sorry, I just couldn't resist

djk7

Since you put it that way, next week it is!

goalie

^