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Saving a Life is Easy, But I Didn't

danshapiro.com

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Re: Saving a Life is Easy, But I Didn't

#31

Post by itsnotvalid »

timr wrote: post #21
danshapiro wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From your second link: PBSC donation is a non-surgical procedure done in an outpatient clinic. PBSC donors receive daily injections of a drug called filgrastim for five days, to increase the number of blood-forming cells in the bloodstream. Then, through a process called apheresis, a donor's blood is removed through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood-forming cells. The remai…

Yes...you're quoting from the section to which I linked, and that's why I linked to it. I'm not trying to hide anything. I'm also not trying to disagree that people should donate...it's just that you really do have to have a surgical procedure if you're donating marrow. Moreover, PBSC involves a five-day injection drug regimen (filgrastim) that you need to undergo before you get to sit in the chair ( http://marrow.or…

Thanks for providing the info. I think, if one really want to donate, one should read those first.

I also wonder why the databases aren't as international as it should be, so a match is against the world than just a region.

Re: Saving a Life is Easy, But I Didn't

#34

Post by heimidal »

tomjen3 wrote: post #22
heimidal wrote: post #17

This inspired me to register, but once again I was thwarted by the US' arcane rule banning gay men from donating. The rule applies despite the fact that I've been monogamous for ages and am tested for everything under the sun twice a year. A college frat boy who has had unprotected sex with a different girl every week for the past semester can give blood/marrow, but monogamous, healthy gay men can't. I don't get it.

It is the same shit for blood donations in Denmark. They got pretty unpopular when they asked for more donors because they feared a shortage but then turned away the gay men. And no, it is not for health issues because they don't turn away gay women. Of course you could register if you want to and then if called upon show up eagerly with your partner for moral support. Then flat out ask if they are going to kill thei…

tomjen3: Gay women are the lowest risk demographic when it comes to HIV contraction, so I don't take issue with their inclusion.

The problem, as I see it, is that most countries place an unreasonable bias against _all_ gay men rather than _some_ gay men. The appropriate way to handle donor screenings is to ask about sexual behavior in general, such as whether or not you are monogamous, how many partners in the past year/two years/five years, how often condoms are used, etc.

Instead, we blatantly exclude all gay men but do not exclude other high risk demographics. For example, black women are eligible despite being an extremely high risk group compared to white women (1 in 58 vs 1 in 588, respectively).

Unfortunately, the FDA is so afraid of alienating existing donors by asking them for a sexual history profile that they would rather stick to the status quo and continue excluding gays altogether.

Re: Saving a Life is Easy, But I Didn't

#36

Post by sequence7 »

danshapiro wrote: post #5

Canada http://www.onematch.ca/ http://www.blood.ca/CentreApps/Internet/UW_V502_MainEngine.n... The first site is supposed to be more current, but isn't rendering properly for me on Firefox. On the second site, Scroll to the bottom for the button to start the process. UK http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/bonemarrow/qa/index.asp#howcan It appears that you opt-in when you donate blood. I don't see mention of an at-home swab progr…

UK at home swab program:

http://www.anthonynolan.org/What-you-can-do/save-a-life/Onli...

Re: Saving a Life is Easy, But I Didn't

#37

Post by thechut »

itsnotvalid wrote: post #29
there wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

according to the story, the post office did better than any phone provider would. he moved to a new location, maybe years later, and a piece of mail still followed him to his new address. i'm sure the registry gets notified of forwarding address changes for people on their lists, so they could in theory keep up with you even if you moved a bunch of times (as long as you forwarded from at least your last address). if…

You have to pay for mail forwarding and in case for a address that old it probably didn't really something worthwhile. But we have email addresses now.

I recently changed my address and USPS charged me $1 to file the online mail forwarding form but I believe it's free if you go the post office or mail in the form (requires stamp). They will forward all mail to the new address for 18 months. After that I believe you can get a year extension but that will probably cost you another $1.

Re: Saving a Life is Easy, But I Didn't

#38

Post by marvin »

heimidal wrote: post #17

This inspired me to register, but once again I was thwarted by the US' arcane rule banning gay men from donating. The rule applies despite the fact that I've been monogamous for ages and am tested for everything under the sun twice a year. A college frat boy who has had unprotected sex with a different girl every week for the past semester can give blood/marrow, but monogamous, healthy gay men can't. I don't get it.

At least in Europe, you're not allowed to donate blood/bone marrow if you've recently had unprotected sex. I think moonogamous gay men are allowed to donate, but not single gay men.

Re: Saving a Life is Easy, But I Didn't

#39

Post by zacharyvoase »

marvin wrote: post #38
heimidal wrote: post #17

This inspired me to register, but once again I was thwarted by the US' arcane rule banning gay men from donating. The rule applies despite the fact that I've been monogamous for ages and am tested for everything under the sun twice a year. A college frat boy who has had unprotected sex with a different girl every week for the past semester can give blood/marrow, but monogamous, healthy gay men can't. I don't get it.

At least in Europe, you're not allowed to donate blood/bone marrow if you've recently had unprotected sex. I think moonogamous gay men are allowed to donate, but not single gay men.

Nope, it's not related to monogamy at all; if you're a man who's had sex with a man (protected or otherwise) in the last year, you're ineligible. Note that this is also regardless of stated sexual identity; the category is actually 'men who have sex with men', not 'gay men'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_who_have_sex_with_men

Re: Saving a Life is Easy, But I Didn't

#40

Post by jacoblyles »

tomjen3 wrote: post #22
heimidal wrote: post #17

This inspired me to register, but once again I was thwarted by the US' arcane rule banning gay men from donating. The rule applies despite the fact that I've been monogamous for ages and am tested for everything under the sun twice a year. A college frat boy who has had unprotected sex with a different girl every week for the past semester can give blood/marrow, but monogamous, healthy gay men can't. I don't get it.

It is the same shit for blood donations in Denmark. They got pretty unpopular when they asked for more donors because they feared a shortage but then turned away the gay men. And no, it is not for health issues because they don't turn away gay women. Of course you could register if you want to and then if called upon show up eagerly with your partner for moral support. Then flat out ask if they are going to kill thei…

In the United States, gay men[1] account for 49% of HIV positive people according to the CDC. Gay women do not account for at least 2% of the HIV positive population and so are excluded from the most recent CDC fact sheet[2].

So, gay men and women may be treated very differently by health officials with some valid reason.

[1]The CDC actually tracks the objective category "men who have sex with men", and not the fuzzy labels "gay" and "straight".

[2]http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/fastfacts-msm-final...

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