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07-19-2005, 04:51 PM

Hi Steph, I'm doing good, thanks (if you can call taking too much work on good, that is.) I appreciate your comment, and my apologies to all -- time goes by faster than I think it does and the post on the Johns Hopkins was back a lot farther in the files there than I would have thought it would be. The answer is so detailed that it is important to read it all. Here it is, courtesy of another bc survivors determined efforts, copied for you all:

Update on the Blood donation question: I did contact the National Red Cross office, and pose the question of whether or not having chemotherapy permanently defers us from giving blood. Apparently, the criteria has recently changed, and the internet has not caught up with the recent changes. The person I communicated with at Red Cross did say that some local blood banks do have their own criteria, but that Red Cross has the same criteria across the board for donating blood, but it has very recently changed. I wanted to post again, because I wanted you and your readers to have the accurate, updated, criteria and not have my recent question and info confuse or discourage anyone. Thank you again for your time. This is a paste of the email correspondence that I had with Red Cross:

the following criteria is in effect for all of the American Red Cross blood donation centers. Other local blood banks may indeed follow their own guidelines for eligibility. All types of cancers are acceptable after treatment has been completed greater than five years and the donor has remained cancer-free with no recurrence for five years or more – EXCEPT: leukemia, lymphoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, mycosis fungoides, and Hodgkin’s disease, these conditions would result in permanent deferral from blood donation. Additionally, in-situ cancers and non-melanoma skin cancers treated and healed with no further treatment required are acceptable. I hope this information clears up any confusion you may have had about your current eligibility. If however you have been deferred in the past for a cancer history you may want to call the region to determine if your record needs to be reviewed in light of this new information and the change in criteria.

07-19-2005, 04:51 PM	#10
AlaskaAngel Guest Posts: n/a	Hi Steph, I'm doing good, thanks (if you can call taking too much work on good, that is.) I appreciate your comment, and my apologies to all -- time goes by faster than I think it does and the post on the Johns Hopkins was back a lot farther in the files there than I would have thought it would be. The answer is so detailed that it is important to read it all. Here it is, courtesy of another bc survivors determined efforts, copied for you all: Update on the Blood donation question: I did contact the National Red Cross office, and pose the question of whether or not having chemotherapy permanently defers us from giving blood. Apparently, the criteria has recently changed, and the internet has not caught up with the recent changes. The person I communicated with at Red Cross did say that some local blood banks do have their own criteria, but that Red Cross has the same criteria across the board for donating blood, but it has very recently changed. I wanted to post again, because I wanted you and your readers to have the accurate, updated, criteria and not have my recent question and info confuse or discourage anyone. Thank you again for your time. This is a paste of the email correspondence that I had with Red Cross: the following criteria is in effect for all of the American Red Cross blood donation centers. Other local blood banks may indeed follow their own guidelines for eligibility. All types of cancers are acceptable after treatment has been completed greater than five years and the donor has remained cancer-free with no recurrence for five years or more – EXCEPT: leukemia, lymphoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, mycosis fungoides, and Hodgkin’s disease, these conditions would result in permanent deferral from blood donation. Additionally, in-situ cancers and non-melanoma skin cancers treated and healed with no further treatment required are acceptable. I hope this information clears up any confusion you may have had about your current eligibility. If however you have been deferred in the past for a cancer history you may want to call the region to determine if your record needs to be reviewed in light of this new information and the change in criteria.