MacRumors 2024 Blood Drive!

[Doctor Q]

The Fifteenth Annual MacRumors Blood Drive runs for the month of May 2024. If you are eligible, we ask you to donate blood, platelets, or plasma this month. Your donation will help other people survive or recover from injury, surgery, or illness (see the Blood and Platelet Donation FAQ).

We also ask that you register as an organ donor and register for the bone marrow registry, if you haven't already. You might preserve the life of someone who suffers organ failure, or cure someone of a life-threatening disease like leukemia (see Organ, Tissue, and Bone Marrow Donation FAQ).


How to participate in the MacRumors Blood Drive

1. Donate blood, platelets, or plasma, register as an organ donor, or register as a bone marrow donor

Donate at any donation center in your area. Pick a day when you can spare an hour or two, and make an appointment.

Registering as an organ donor is easy. Depending on your country, you may be able to register online by filling out a form. You may be asked to sign a donor card or put a sticker on your driver's license. To register to be a stem cell or bone marrow donor, you typically fill out a form and have your cheek swabbed.

If you are ineligible or deferred from donating, please support our drive by convincing someone you know to donate, and you'll both earn a spot on the Honor Roll.​

2. Let us know

The reward for donating or registering is personal satisfaction from helping others. But we want to add to your reward by giving you a well-deserved pat on the back.

After you donate or register, post in this thread and tell us about it. For blood, platelet, and plasma donations, tell us how many units. You can even post a photo of your arm bandage or plaster.

Check out our Honor Roll, where we give you public thanks for your generosity.​

3. Spread the word - #MacRumorsBloodDrive

Let others know about the need for these donations. Share with your followers. Encourage friends, relatives, classmates, and coworkers to donate.

If you or someone in your family has received a blood or platelet transfusion, share your story.

And please thank the donors who post here.​

Two other ways to support the MacRumors Blood Drive

1. Edit your forum signature and paste in this line:
   
   
   :) [B][COLOR=red]I support the [thread=2425233]MacRumors Blood Drive[/thread]![/COLOR][/B] :)​
   
   
2. Download this image, then use it to set your avatar:
   
   
   

 

[Doctor Q]

The following MacRumors users have reported their blood, platelet, or plasma donations, either posting in this thread or reporting their donations on last year's Team MacRumors Page.

Members who have just registered for the bone marrow registry or have just registered as an organ donor will also be listed.

This post is updated as donations are reported.

Please help us congratulate and thank these forum members for doing their part to help people in need!

• chaleyer: plasma donation
  
  
• Doctor Q: 4 blood donations
  
  
• G4-power: blood donation
  
  
• headlessmike: 4 blood donations
  
  
• Linda+: 8 platelet donations (3 units each)
  
  
• Neil.gtis: 4 blood donations
  
  
• scubachap: platelet donation (2 units)
  
  
• Timelordprime: 20 platelet and plasma donations (each 2 units of platelets and 1 unit of plasma)
  
  
• jbachandouris: blood donation
  
  
• jouster: blood donation
  
  
• Huracan: blood donation
  
  
• KD7IWP: 22 plasma donations
  
  
• Eriamjh1138@DAN: 4 blood donations
  
  
• d-klumpp: blood donation (2 units)
  
  
• seidelhd: blood donation
  
  
• Snake50001: blood donation
  
  
• TechnoMonk: 14 plasma donations (4 units each)
  
  
• shagberg1: blood donation
  
  
• infinityharry: plasma donation
  
  
• Eric_WVGG: blood donation
  
  
• AnInanimateCarbonRod: 3 blood donations
  
  
• AnInanimateCarbonRod's dad: 4 blood donations
  
  
• sunapple: 2 blood donations
  
  
• headlessmike: blood donation and bone marrow registration (see others above)
  
  
• Timelordprime: platelet and plasma donation (2 units of platelets and 1 unit of plasma) (see others above)
  
  
• Doctor Q: blood donation (see others above)
  
  
• hallux: 6 blood donations
  
  
• zackdumont: 5 blood donations
  
  
• KD7IWP: plasma donation (see others above)

Totals

Blood donations: 48 units​

Platelet donations: 68 units​

Plasma donations: 102 units​

Bone marrow registrations: 1​

Organ donor registrations: 0​

Total units: 218 units​

Congratulations to every donor!

 

[Doctor Q]

MacRumors Blood Drive: Team MacRumors

The MacRumors 2024 Blood Drive ends on May 31, 2024, but we encourage eligible donors to continue donating blood, platelets, and plasma, and we continue to tally those donations.

From June 2024 to April 2025, please register your donations on our team page:

1. Go to the Team MacRumors 2024-2025 page. Bookmark it for the next time.
2. Click PLEDGE TO GIVE BLOOD.
3. Fill in your MacRumors username as your first name and @ macrumors as your last name.
4. In the Comments field, tell us what type of donation, the donation date, and how many units, e.g., 1 unit of whole blood, 2 units of platelets, etc.
5. The email address and zip code fields are required by the form, but MacRumors won't use that information.

We'll tally your donations from June to April and count them toward the MacRumors 2025 Blood Drive and its Honor Roll next May!

 

[jbachandouris]

Just donated last week.

 

[jouster]

It's worth mentioning that the long-time ban on US-based potential donors who lived in the UK and certain other European countries in the 80s and 90s was lifted in 2023. As a result, I was able to make my first donation in the US a couple of months ago and am scheduled for my next on May 16. I will post again with a screenshot once I've completed the process so I can be added to the MacRumors team.

 

[Huracan]

Oh, well. Just donated whole blood yesterday. Whole blood for me in May is out of the question. Platelets could be a possibility. Anyway, regardless of doing the pledge through this link or not I highly encourage anyone who can donate blood/plasma/platelets to do so.
By the way, I assume that regardless of the link taking to the American Red Cross that people can actually donate at other blood banks, can't they?

 

[KD7IWP]

Bummer, yesterday's plasma donation missed by a day. Oh well, I'll get a couple in this month. Keep giving, people! My dad had a brain aneurysm a few years ago and then developed an ulcer and needed 7 units of blood, definitely made this a bit more real for me.

 

[Timelordprime]

Bummer, yesterday's plasma donation missed by a day. Oh well, I'll get a couple in this month. Keep giving, people! My dad had a brain aneurysm a few years ago and then developed an ulcer and needed 7 units of blood, definitely made this a bit more real for me.

View attachment 2373752

Looks like the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) app? Nice work BTW As a plasma only donor can you donate 52 or 48 times a year?

 

[Doctor Q]

Oh, well. Just donated whole blood yesterday. Whole blood for me in May is out of the question. Platelets could be a possibility. Anyway, regardless of doing the pledge through this link or not I highly encourage anyone who can donate blood/plasma/platelets to do so.

Any donations from June 2023 through May 2024 count for this drive, as long as you post the donation date(s) and what you donated. So your blood donation yesterday definitely counts. Welcome to the Honor Roll!

By the way, I assume that regardless of the link taking to the American Red Cross that people can actually donate at other blood banks, can't they?

Yes, we use our team page on the Red Cross website simply to record donations made anywhere. During May you can post about donations in this thread. For the following 11 months, you can report donations on our team page.

Bummer, yesterday's plasma donation missed by a day. Oh well, I'll get a couple in this month. Keep giving, people! My dad had a brain aneurysm a few years ago and then developed an ulcer and needed 7 units of blood, definitely made this a bit more real for me.

All of those plasma donations count since they were made June 2023 or later. They are now recorded in our tally above.

 

[KD7IWP]

Looks like the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) app? Nice work BTW As a plasma only donor can you donate 52 or 48 times a year?

Yes, the CBS's app. You can do plasma every 6 days they tell me and and I think every 6 weeks for whole blood.

All of those plasma donations count since they were made June 2023 or later. They are now recorded in our tally above.

If that's the case, let's add 8 more to our totals!

 

[TechnoMonk]

My donations this year.

14 donations of Plasma 4 units per each donation). Total 56 units of Plasma.

Here are the screenshots, I don’t have feb, as the report only pulls till 2 months. I usually call 3 donation centers near me, and donate which ever has availability. National Donor Database makes it easy to switch centers

 

[KD7IWP]

My donations this year.

14 donations of Plasma 4 units per each donation). Total 56 units of Plasma.

Here are the screenshots, I don’t have feb, as the report only pulls till 2 months. I usually call 3 donation centers near me, and donate which ever has availability. National Donor Database makes it easy to switch centers


View attachment 2373922 View attachment 2373923

I’m curious how much is a “unit”? Here at our plasma site in Abbotsford, BC, Canada the max amount of plasma they will take is 896mL. I think there are 4 or 5 different sizes they will take depending on your body mass and how many times you have donated (they start around 500mL and work you up larger over your next couple visits).

 

[TechnoMonk]

I’m curious how much is a “unit”? Here at our plasma site in Abbotsford, BC, Canada the max amount of plasma they will take is 896mL. I think there are 4 or 5 different sizes they will take depending on your body mass and how many times you have donated (they start around 500mL and work you up larger over your next couple visits).

I have been told each unit is around 225ml. I have always given between 891ml to 896mL, there was no ramp up from 500ml here in Ga.

 

[infinityharry]

845ml of plasma donated yesterday!

 

[Timelordprime]

I’m curious how much is a “unit”? Here at our plasma site in Abbotsford, BC, Canada the max amount of plasma they will take is 896mL.

When I donate at CBS in Toronto, the plasma part of my donation is 225 ml, 475 ml of platelets for a total of about 700 ml total for each donation, which is reported as two units of platelets and one unit of plasma.

 

[Eric_WVGG]

I did a whole blood donation (A neg) last Wednesday, it was scheduled before the blood drive but I guess it counts?

 

[Doctor Q]

I did a whole blood donation (A neg) last Wednesday, it was scheduled before the blood drive but I guess it counts?

Absolutely. Thank you for donating, and welcome to the Honor Roll!

If you or anyone else knows the dates of your previous blood, platelet, or plasma donations, from June 2023 to the present, feel free to post the details, so we can add them to our totals.

 

[AnInanimateCarbonRod]

My dad and I both started donating for the first time last year, and we've made a habit of booking an appointment each time the clinic comes by our little town (every 3 months). I unfortunately missed one due to being sick but just donated again on Friday!

 

[Doctor Q]

My dad and I both started donating for the first time last year, and we've made a habit of booking an appointment each time the clinic comes by our little town (every 3 months). I unfortunately missed one due to being sick but just donated again on Friday!

Congratulations to both you and your dad for making this your new habit!

What led you to decide to start donating blood?

 

[AnInanimateCarbonRod]

Congratulations to both you and your dad for making this your new habit!

What led you to decide to start donating blood?

I don't think there was any one decision or turning point that led me to start donating. It's been one of those things I've been acutely aware of for years and would think to myself that I should look into the where and how whenever I'd hear a commercial on the radio or see an online ad to donate. I even had opportunities come to me when working out of an old corporate office where building management would organize blood drives in the lobby - you'd just go down for a few minutes, donate and head back to work. But I never took advantage.

In all honesty I regret passing up those chances to donate and start the habit all those years ago. It really is such a simple process. The least I can do now is keep up the habit as much as I can.

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

I donated Apr 30, 2024, whole blood.

Previous donations were
Dec 19, 2023
Oct 01, 2023
Jul 20, 2023

The app tells me lifetime is 125 units. I had 5 in 2023 total. Had to cut back because donating every 8 weeks on the nose for 6 in a year was killing my iron levels. Now, they tell you to take supplements a little before or after.

 

[sunapple]

Donated today, whole blood. One more donation since June; December 18th 2023.

Bit of a late donation in the year, but a cold or hay fever within 14 days prior to setting the date will result in a reschedule. With some luck I’ll manage two more this year though, aiming at one per quarter usually. I get the invite every other month which is a bit too much for my iron regeneration to keep up with. Four per year is more sustainable.

Got a letter the other day asking if I could ask around in my family for more type O- donors. Took the opportunity with the next family meeting but no new donors so far. I did discover some others where already donating, they had different types though. Got this type from my grandmother I discovered which is fun to know.

 

[headlessmike]

Did my 10th donation of whole blood today. Where I live the maximum allowed is 1 unit, 4 times per year (3 for women), so it's a slow and steady race.

I usually visit the blood bank on my morning commute by bike and I'm often their first customer of the day. It's a very peaceful place in the morning and I enjoy going there.

I also recently signed up and was screened as a marrow donor.

 

[Doctor Q]

I also recently signed up and was screened as a marrow donor.

What was involved in signing up for the bone marrow registry? Most people don't know how the process works.

 

[headlessmike]

What was involved in signing up for the bone marrow registry? Most people don't know how the process works.

Where I live (Sweden) there is a national registry called Tobiasregistret. After signing up on their website they send a swab kit by mail for collecting cheek tissue samples. These are used to make a preliminary match and they contact potential donors if the need occurs for further screening. Most matches result in blood stem cell donation which is very similar to donating whole blood and much less involved than a full marrow donation, but potentially lifesaving nonetheless.