So who is the voice of experience behind this site? My name is Rachele E. DiTullio, an avid O+ blood donor. I gave blood for the first time in 1998 on my 19th birthday at a church in Bandera, TX. And I was terrified. I passed out cold, the first of many times. But that's why I decided to turn my years of experience into a site of information because I'm sure many of you reading this are either terrified of needles or just don't like the sight of blood. I'm hoping that by learning more about the blood donation process, you can be convinced to give it a try.

I have donated well over 30 times, including blood and platelets (that's 3 + gallons). Unless there is a specific blood drive I want to try and hit, I typically go to the STBTC every eight weeks for whole blood and every 3-4 weeks for platelets. During 2001-2002, I lived in Ventura, CA where I donated through the Red Cross.

In addition to whole blood donation, which is what is discussed on this site, I have done dual red blood cell donation and apheresis. With dual red blood cell donation, you are hooked up to a centrifuge and twice the red blood cells as a normal whole blood donation are removed. It's like donating two units of blood without the fluid loss because the plasma is returned but you can't donate again for 16 weeks.

Apheresis (sometimes referred to as "Trima") is a process by which you are hooked up to a machine, some blood is removed, the platelets are centrifuged out (plateletpheresis), and the rest of your blood is returned with a citrus solution. This process allows 6-10 times the normal amount of platelets found in a whole blood donation to be removed (much like donating plasma: plasmapheresis). It's not a very pleasant experience, though; you can feel the cold solution going up your arm as it's put back in your body and then your mouth gets all tingly and you feel nauseated. You can donate platelets through apheresis and still be a regular whole blood donor. I have become an active platelet donor in the past year.

I plan to continue donating blood until I'm too old or until the scar tissue builds up too much over my veins.