What are the guidelines on giving blood? How soon, if ever? I am about a month out and I eat between 500 - 600 calories a day. I sometimes get light headed when getting up out of a chair. I can't even imagine giving blood right now. I would think I would pass out, although I never have. But I have always given when we have our blood drive at work, which is coming up next month.

Any suggestions??

I can't say for sure, but I would think at the very least you'd have to ensure that you're not somehow anemic. Especially if you're getting the lightheaded thing. I get a doc's clearance to do that.

BTW, I listened to "It is well with my soul." AWESOME!!

Awwww...thanks for the advice, and thanks for listening!! I noticed you are getting your surgery with Dr Kim! That is who did my sleeve! That office is wonderful! Best of luck to you and God Bless!

Awwww...thanks for the advice, and thanks for listening!! I noticed you are getting your surgery with Dr Kim! That is who did my sleeve! That office is wonderful! Best of luck to you and God Bless!

Thanks! I'm on day 2 of liquids. Getting closer!

Since you are of the blood donation mind-set, I suggest switching to blood product donation instead. Platelet or white blood cell. Contact your local donation center and ask about it. Apheresis is the search term if you need to use.

Basically, it is a two hour commitment where they put a needle in each arm. Blood is drawn from one arm where it then flows into a machine where a centrifuge separates the blood into its components. They 'scrape' off the product they are in need of, reassemble the rest and it flows back into the other arm. If you have strong veins, they have some machines which are single arm where they pull and push from one arm. And if you thought the cookie selection was good at the whole blood donation, wait until you go to the apheresis area. You are treated like royalty. (I've done it in 4 different cities)

I like to do it because it forces me to actually sit and relax for two hours which is nice. They have tons of movies to watch (each chair has their own TV). During the football season, I would schedule my time to coincide with the game I wanted to watch. Wife can't bother you there!!

It truly is a rewarding experience, too. These are products which are more desperately needed than whole blood. AND you get to keep all of your red blood cells, so you don't have that let-down issue post donation. If they pull platelets, I believe they are replaced within 24 hours. I'm not sure about whites and plasma, but you can ask them.

Check it out.

I think it's great that you want to donate your blood. But your body has just taken a great big hit by the surgery and is struggling to heal itself. This might be a good time to take care of you and skip the donation this time. You can always go in and donate at a later date. Just a thought! You can't take care of anyone else, unless you take care of you first.

I regularly donated before surgery but I'm holding off until I'm at least 6 months out from surgery. I don't always get in enough calories so I don't want to risk light-headedness, etc. I also want to make sure my 3 and/or 6 mo blood test results come out with good numbers.

Unfortunately, apheresis is no longer an option for some women. I used to do it all the time.

American Red Cross says, "Recently, it has been discovered that women who have previously been pregnant are more likely to carry antibodies that are believed to sometimes cause post-transfusion complications for blood recipients."

Some centers just won't allow women to give platelets now. So, I'm listening to my body to see when I feel strong enough to go back to donating whole blood.

Good luck to you!

Mocha, you can still do white blood cell or plasma, and I believe they test for that antibody, so having been pregnant doesn't necessarily automatically exclude you if they are looking for platelets.

Great advice everyone! Thanks so much!

PdxMan - I will definately check into that! Great info and I appreciate you taking the time to explain it!

I would call the RedCross of whomever does the collection process in your area. I know that they have specific guidelines and I know that your hemoglobin had to be at a certain level or they will reject you from donations. It would be good to ask them about having the sleeve and their thoughts on donating. Please share your information when you find out.

Odd that you mention getting light headed when getting out of a chair. This happens to me also BUT only in my living room recliner after I've been sitting for a bit..What would be the cause of that? It never happened prior to surgery

I used to give blood pre-surgery, but haven't since, even though my weight's been stable for a year and I feel healthy. I can't load up on red meat like I could in the past, so while my blood counts are fine, I just don't really want to risk having them drop post-donation and then having difficulty bringing them back up.

i also donated blood on a regular basis pre surgery - my doc said that i should wait until my 6mo follow up visit to make sure that all my levels are good before donating blood.