Mastodawn

Heh, it's the same dance every time.

"Have you donated from this arm before?"
"Yes, always the left arm."
"This is a very narrow vein. I will call a more experienced colleague [this time a super young lady in a headscarf 💚] to do it."
(I'm happy they do check! It's just always kinda funny ... I can tell them by now that there are two veins and that it is easier to feel them than to see.)

And then they are surprised that I'm done in 5 min max. Narrow veins but good blood flow.

And the reason I post about donating is rather simple: I long procrastinated on starting to. And then folks I followed on twitter kept posting about them going donating so that at a point I made the jump. So trying to give back into the circle of encouragement...

Terence Eden Mar 11

@vicgrinberg do you get free biscuits and snacks afterwards? We do in the UK 🙂

@Edent yes! They actually encourage you to drink and eat something afterwards. And it's really nice Dutch bisquits, raisin bread or nuts at my location. You can also get a "soup in a cup" and similar, though I usually go for the sweet stuff 😅

Terence Eden Mar 11

@vicgrinberg soup! We get water or fruit squash. But, yes, lots of sweet snacks and crisps.

Thanks for donating.

@Edent well, it's instant soup... (but I have to admit that I have some of it at home myself - lively childhood memories!). And thank you for donating, too!

@Edent
Oh, so I was wrong complaining (in my head) about pasta with tomato sauce and cake with coffee? Good to know.

@vicgrinberg

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] pasta !

@nick
Look, at the place I was donating blood in the city I used to live we would get 25€ for additional food expenses due to the blood loss. Back in the days me and friends would spend the money at a local restaurant. Compared to that, some pasta with tomato sauce is... you get the point: I didn't know, how good I had it. ;)

This thread is now developing into that meme ("you guys have xyz?").
@Edent @vicgrinberg

@ditol @nick @Edent they are pretty insistent on there being no money involved in NL - too afraid that ppl would lie on the questionnaires because of money.

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] yeah there is no money in the UK either, just drinks, crisps and biscuits, plus a badge when you have donated 25 times etc

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] I got a badge for 50, looks like the next one is 75

@nick @ditol @Edent whoah, that one is really impressive! 💚

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] I actually got a metal badge sent to me as well !

@nick
Don't you get some souvenirs like a mug or a small book shop vocher?

Oh man, Germany starts feeling like a luxurious blood donor's paradise...

@vicgrinberg @Edent

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] we get stickers!

Terence Eden Mar 11

@nick @ditol @vicgrinberg
Oh yes! Great for laptops and other gadgets.
https://mastodon.social/@Edent/115400793572610711

@Edent @nick @ditol here is mine!

(Also, I'm also 0+ 😊)

@vicgrinberg
They're great, I need those in German! :)
@Edent @nick

@vicgrinberg @Edent @nick
I have this slight suspicion, I am not that special...

@vicgrinberg
I agree, but 25€ once every 2 or 3 months wasn't enough to be considered proper money even in my uni years. It really felt like reimbursement and they did their best to explain it like this. But I guess, with the recent cuts to the welfare state we may end up in a situation, where 25€ every couple of months DOES feel like proper money to many people...

@nick @Edent

@ditol @nick @Edent as someone who has both personal experience with and still knows folks on social welfare: 25 was a lot of money for some people 20 and 10 years ago, too.

@vicgrinberg
Same here. (Was there, not ashamed of it, know people still there.) Yep, true.

@nick @Edent

Daniil Baturin Mar 11

@vicgrinberg I feel lucky that I have highly visible veins in both arms so I simply tell them to use whichever is more convenient.
I made my first donation back when I turned 18 in 2006, so this year is the twentieth anniversary, I suppose... it's always good to see more people join.

OldDutchCap Mar 11

@vicgrinberg I would love to donate--was giving pretty regularly. But my blood iron has been too low lately and it's not rebounded enough just yet. But I think giving blood is one of the easiest ways to do something good in the world.

@onorio hope the blood irons gets up again - not just for donating, low blood iron is really not letting one feel well 😵‍💫

And yes on the super easy way to help! And it's worth trying. I always thought I'd be the person to faint etc., but my body surprisingly almost does not care, the only difference I feel is the lower performance when running after, but not that different from going to the mountains!

OldDutchCap Mar 11

@vicgrinberg Yeah it honestly annoys me more than anything else; I want to be able to help out but until/unless my blood iron improves I'm stuck watching on the sidelines.

Axel Gutmann Mar 11

@onorio @vicgrinberg I tend to have high blood pressure at all times and thinking of the dreaded big needle amplifies that.
As (somewhat contraintuitively) donating is forbidden above a certain pressure (that I'm normally never near of) I'm never sure if they let me donate at all ( which of course stresses me out even more).

OldDutchCap Mar 11

@virbonus @vicgrinberg you're willing to help--that counts for a lot all by itself. I'll forego my usual tendency to offer advice because I'm sure you've already tried everything you can to lower your BP so you can donate. Regardless, God bless you for trying to help!

Olivier Mar 11

I've had a similar experience as a late donor @vicgrinberg. Started in my forties because they do bi-annual campaigns at my workplace.

Only donated 3 times so far. The last time flow stopped and they started wiggling the needle. Then I almost past out...

Now I'm scared to go back and having the same thing happen again. They took great care of me though and in the end it wasn't so bad. I just get queezy thinking about it 😞

Thanks for reminding me I should try again.

@dacmot oh noes, sorry for the experience! Passing out was the biggest fear that stopped me from trying to donate in the first place, so I totally understand being hesitant now 💚

Axel Gutmann Mar 11

@dacmot @vicgrinberg Wiggling the needle?! 🫣😳 I'd pass out for sure!

Olivier Mar 11

@virbonus yeah, definitely unpleasant. Next time, if the blood stops flowing I'll ask them to not do that 🤢

@vicgrinberg I'm always letting work-chat know when I'm of donating. People are happy and everything, but so far nobody got curious enough to ask for details or consider going themselves.

I'm not giving up though!

Dr. Victoria Grinberg Mar 12

@florian it's a nice idea with the work chat! Will remember...

@vicgrinberg
Don't they check the vein by touching it? They do with me at least every time, although they clearly see it.

@ditol they do! But one of them is pretty much invisible by eye alone and comparatively far away from the worse than that is visible - at least that's what they told me 😅

florian

@vicgrinberg I love how genuinely friendly and caring they are at sanquin.

The only weird experience I had with them was during my intake. They wanted to know why I wanted to donate blood. "Don't know, seems like a good idea" was apparently not good enough

Martin Seeger Mar 11

@vicgrinberg My local blood bank has currently blocked me because my medication (Ozempic) would represent a risk. When I asked "Which risk?" they couldn't give me one.

Other blood banks would accept me, but are out of reach.

@masek it's interesting - seems like some English language countries accept donations when using ozempic, but for example the Netherlands don't https://www.sanquin.nl/veelgestelde-vragen?page=7#mag-ik-doneren-als-ik-ozempic-gebruik

Veelgestelde vragen

Sanquin

Martin Seeger Mar 11

@vicgrinberg There are several measure points for evaluating medications. Ozempic doesn't trigger any of the typical criteria used to determine risk for blood donations.

I asked them point blank: What kind of risk do you see?

And the answer practically was: You would not understand it anyway.

Once per year I ask them to reconsider and include a list of German blood banks that accept blood donations while on Ozempic.

The funny thing is: I am now a much healthier person than the one they accepted blood donations before.

@masek the Dutch explanation is "Dit uitstel is vanwege mogelijke schade voor de ongeboren vrucht van de patiënt die bloed of plasma krijgt." So their argument is possible damage to a fetus.

But it's of course super annoying that yiur blood bank does not explain their reasons.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301211525011121

Martin Seeger Mar 11

@vicgrinberg You link mentions as reason a possible teratogenic effect.

A systematic review published in late 2025 covering five studies with a total of 1,128 semaglutide-exposed pregnancies found mixed results, but concluded that current evidence does not indicate a consistent increased risk of major congenital malformations associated with semaglutide exposure.

And then we need to take into account, that the study was done with women who continuously take semaglutide during pregnancies. So the study was done with a dose several orders of magnitude higher than that of a blood donation from a person with that medication.

The risk evaluation is totally off as "not receiving a blood donation" carries a thousand times the penalty. And they still send me push notification to come donating blood as they risk running dry 🙂.

P.S. If they would check for alcohol in the system (which has a a proven negative effect) they would lose a significant portion of their current donors.

@masek I understand your point but also neither you nor I are medical doctors 😊 I do, however know, that the Dutch tend to err on the side of "good for population effects, even if bad for individual cases", see the bike helmet approach.

@vicgrinberg
What's with their bike helmet approach?

@masek

@ditol @masek https://dutchreview.com/culture/cycling/5-reasons-why-the-dutch-cycle-without-bike-helmets/ - I especially mean #5. Compulsory or even encouraged helmets => less cycling => negative impact on population health counterweighs the added security of wearing a bike for the individual.

5 reasons the Dutch cycle without bike helmets

While it may be shocking to many expats, most Dutchies cycle without helmets! If you are cycling with a helmet in the Netherlands, people can tell that you're not a local. Cycling is an important part of Dutch culture. As the Dutch dare to do what most people wouldn't do…

Dutchreview

@vicgrinberg
I am not Dutch, but I only started wearing a helmet several years ago, when I realised that sometimes I like to ride bicycle too fast and might lose control or hit someone if not paying attention properly. It turned out, bike helmets are perfect head cover for rainy days (of which we have far too many in Northern Germany), so now it's my standard accessoire.

Compulsory helmets would be devastating, I absolutely agree.

@masek

@ditol @masek der Unterschied ist halt, dass Fahrradhelme hier, in Gegenteil zu Deutschland auch freiwillig auf keinste Art und Weise gepusht werden. Es ist sogar verdammt schwer, überhaupt einen (guten) Helm zu finden. In Deutschland ist Helm nach meiner Erfahrung normal, auch in der Stadt; hier erkennen sie deutsche Touristen drab, dass sie einen haben.

@vicgrinberg
Ja, das habe ich gehört. Habe mir auch gleich gedacht, dass ich mein Käppi nicht vergessen darf, wenn ich mal in die Niederlande verreise. :)

Und diese ständige Helmnotwendigkeit im öffentlichen Diskurs ist ein Unding. Man lernt schließlich in der Fahrschule, dass man vorausschauend und rücksichtsvoll zu fahren hat. Da sollte die Gefahr für Leute zu Fuß und hoch zu Drahtesel schön minimal sein. Ist mir immer noch unerklärlich, wie die Leute das vergessen, sobald sie den Führerschein in der Hand halten. Aber das ist eine ganz andere Diskussion.

Jedenfalls danke für diese Logik hinter der Helmfreiheit in NL, war mir nicht bekannt. Ich dachte, die sind einfach entspannt. (Was bestimmt auch zutrifft.)

@vicgrinberg I used donate plasma in Australia, but they won't allow me here in Singapore.

@skribe sorry about that, ut sucks 😩 (I don't think plasma would work for me given that already for blood they are on the verge with my vein size - and I don't quiet have the time to go to the donation centre that often... So lots of respect for folks who do!)

skribe 🇺🇦

@vicgrinberg the worst thing about donating was that I was doing keto at the time and couldn't eat any of the food. I had to bring my own 🤣

Urban Camera Mar 11

@vicgrinberg

I used to donate regularly, marked it in my small book, and turned up like clockwork. But sadly I was in englandshire in the Eighties, and now I'm not even allowed to donate for research.

skribe 🇺🇦

@uc @vicgrinberg in Oz, they give you a card and a keyring, with your blood group on it. I still carry mine.

Urban Camera Mar 11

@skribe @vicgrinberg

In Germany you get a meal after donating at some travelling centres.

skribe 🇺🇦

@uc @vicgrinberg same in Oz. They put on a big spread. All you can eat. I was doing keto at the time and had to bring my own.

@skribe @uc they also give you a keyring in the NL with your blood type! Mine broke after several years, but they gave me a new one. And car stickers - I got one for each of my two bikes 😂

Urban Camera Mar 11

@vicgrinberg @skribe

No keyring given out here. But the cake is usually good. That's the bit I miss most.