Tempus Fugit

[olympic_torch]

I went to give blood tonight, (altogether now, it's only a little prick !).
By the time i go again in May, we shall have been in our IVA for a year.
The first year is whizzing by.
I am not an expert, but all i can say is, for those dithering on the edge, just do it!(sorry Nike)

Aucto Splendore Resurgo.
(9 down, 51 to go)

[james.c]

Good on you.

O would love to give blood, but i neally fabte at the site of a needle

no matter how bad money gets, theirs stll alot more important things in life

[Shining]

I used to give blood regular but they changed the rulings and anyone having received blood can no longer give! So that's me out!

[johnz]

Hi Isthereanend. How recently did they change the rules. I know it used to be you can't give blood for 2 years after a transfusion. I used to give regularly, but then they changed it from 1 year to 2 years, so I thought I only had to wait another month (had an op 2 years ago this month). Is the rule definately if you've received a blood transfusion you can NEVER donate again??

Cheers

Johnz

[Shining]

Not sure Johnz to be honest, I received a letter a while back now saying sorry that they can no longer accept my blood donations due to a rule change. The reason I decided to donate in the first place was that I had a transfusion after an operation and felt I needed to give something back as I will be eternally grateful for the person who saved my life. I will try and find out from the website if I can the ruling.

[johnz]

I've just sent them an e-mail asking if I can donate or not. I'll let you know what they say.

Johnz

[Shining]

I went on their website and did the questionnaire that tells you if you're eligible to give blood. Going through the questions fine until 'have you received blood since 1st January 1980' I answered yes, no more questions just told me I'm not eligible. Does give a phone number to ring for more information but didn't ring as I'm at work right now but feel unless there is a rule change I won't be giving again, which is such a shame as I am healthy and have a rare blood type that twice before they have asked me to donate.

[johnz]

My blood type was the reason I donated before. Apparantly there's always a shortage of it cos it's rare or something.

I really don't get why they've changed the rule. The amount of people that have surgery these days and most of the time they don't even know if they've had a transfusion during surgery. I only knew because I asked why I had an extra needle mark on my arm!! It seems silly that they're crying out for doners, then refusing to allow willing people to donate. After all, the blood we've received would have been fully screened for everything.

Johnz

[johnz]

Had a response the blood donor people.

Thank you for your recent email.

Recent changes in the rules has meant that anyone who has received blood since 1st January 1980 no matter where this was, now cannot donate blood. This is a precautionary measure against the possible risk of vCJD being transmitted in the blood.

vCJD is thought to be the consequence of eating contaminated beef, related to BSE (or mad cow disease) in UK cattle after 1980. Fortunately, vCJD is very rare. But in late 2003, there was evidence that a blood donor transmitted vCJD to a patient, via transfusion.

Scientists are not 100% sure that this is the case, as it is possible that both donor and patient acquired vCJD by eating contaminated beef.

We do not know if and when there would be a change to this guideline but you could keep up to date with the latest information by contacting us again or for more information about vCJD please visit the news item on our website.

However, any deferral on an exisiting donors record will be identifiable so we could reinstate the donor automatically should a change to this rule be announced.

If there is anything we can help with or that you would like to discuss further, please do not hesitate to contact us again. We would be pleased to help if we can. May we take this opportunity to thank you for your past support which was very gratefully received.

Oh well.

Johnz

[Shining]

Looks like we're out then!