So, I donated blood for the 2nd time ever yesterday and it made me curious to see who else has done it.

I know in Canada you have to be 18 in order to donate but beyond that you just need to be healthy and not have any blood born illness at the time of donating.

I also found out my blood type - I'm A+ which is funny to me. I was never an A+ student so now I get to be A+ at something

Anyone else donate blood? I haven't had anything happen that makes me feel the need to donate but I know that hospitals always need a steady supply of blood and every little bit helps.

I have never donated, though I'm pretty sure I'm not and will never be able to. Not because of my disease, which has nothing to do with blood, but because of the medication I'm taking that keeps my immune system at bay.

I've heard stories from my mom and my eldest aunt, who have donated quite a few times, and it can be quite the experience. It does no harm to you (if you take care of yourself after donating, we don't want anybody to collapse) and it always helps to have a little bit of supply, so you feel at peace within yourself.

geeogree : Good for you! Your blood donation may help to save someone's life.

Unfortunately, I am unable to donate blood because of medications I take, but I applaud you and encourage others to follow your example.

  first of all I just want to say congratulations on your second blood donation I myself have given blood 143 times and was told once by one of the nurses that my blood type is A- back when I first started to donate it was my dad who got me started he has donate over 180 times and has a different blood type than mine but my mom is unable to due to the medication she takes whenever I donate blood I always make an appointment for my next donation which I will be due for next month

no 8120 : that's crazy! 143 times! From what I understand men can only donate 6 times a year so you've been donating for over 20 years! Maybe the rules are different there but it is recommended in Canada to only donate that often.

I do hope to eventually get there myself. I know it'll take a long time but as long as I'm healthy enough to do it I don't see why I wouldn't. I'm indirectly helping to save someone's life which is just about the best thing you could do

I'm O+, 'the universal donor'... the Red Cross got me to donate blood the first time by setting up in the gym and having the teachers, ahem, strongly encourage attendance.  I didn't mind donating anyway, but it did cause more than a little trouble when the pressure they put on made an underweight girl lie about it just so she could be a part of things.  There's a reason for that minimum weight, as she proved when she passed out cold with under half the bag filled.  She got rushed off to be treated for blood loss and what she'd donated was tossed as unusable.

The third time I tried to give blood they had a bean counter filling out donor history, which they hadn't actually bothered with before.  She deemed me a health hazard because there was a chance, however slim, that I was a carrier of mad cow disease because of where and when my parents had conceived me.  So much for donating blood.  At least the Red Cross got tired of sending me about a dozen notices per year explaining how valuable my blood was and where I could donate it after three more years of never doing so.

I never donated blood ever and never even learned what my type was. I always wanted to at a couple occasions, but the people from the agency I'm with said I'm not allowed to unless they approve it long beforehand, unless I do it with one of their doctors, which never had a chance.

I've donated a handful of times over the years, both blood and plasma. I don't do it as much lately because there is no close location, which kinda sucks. Hopefully once I am back in a more populated area I will be able to get back into it.

I've been donating for a while now, I think I have gone around 6 or 7 times maybe? I don't remember and I don't have my card here with me at the moment. I am an O+ blood type though.

They won't stop badgering me on the phone now trying to get my blood XD

Noyb42 : O- is the universal donor

I've donated blood for the first time about 3 years ago and wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I wanted to see how it was done and since they were in the school area, I decided to sign up before heading home. I didn't learn what type of blood I was, though. Still, it was pretty cool to be able to donate it.

If the blood bank finds out that you have o type blood change your name, fall off the grid, and prepare to spend your life as a fugitive being hunted down by the Red Cross for your blood.

While I am joking that really did happen to my father, they just would never leave him alone. Where I live there is a weight limitation that one must meet before you can give blood, much like a height limitation on a roller coaster ride. Unfortunately every time I have gone to donate blood I am declared to skinny and turned away.

I love donating blood whenever I can, just like I love giving to charity.

I was raised to believe that we should be grateful for the things we have, and to live each day like it's the best day ever. But I was also raised to believe that we should share with the less fortunate so they can also live each day like it's the best day ever.

Blood, money... those things replenish. I will survive without a little blood right now. I will also survive without a little money.

I'm type A+, which probably says something about me.