)The comments are across the board, including those who didn't realize that survivors have limited ability to donate organs and blood, which is a great topic all to itself. Acne and psoriasis meds: If you take acitretin or isotretinoin , as examples, you can’t donate. No, you can’t donate blood if you have had cancer. Giving a whole-blood donation usually takes about 10 minutes. Due to being a leukemia survivor the requirements are a bit more stringent. There is no substitute for this lifesaving gift, so patients rely upon the caring spirit of blood donors. Over time, these cancerous cells impair your immune system. You must wait 6 weeks after giving birth to give blood. For cancer survivors, if you have a history of a solid organ tumor in the last 1 – 5 years, you can’t donate blood. I tried to donate blood 5 years after I had been cancer free and they called me and told me they were throwing my blood away, because the new rules say you have to be cancer free for 10 years with breast cancer. The white blood cells are filtered out of the donated blood to lower the risk of infections and reactions. The guidelines say that you can’t donate blood if you have had cancer because there is a theoretical risk that a cancer cell could be passed on in the blood. The UK Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation services have guidelines about who can donate blood. However, childhood survivors may be able to donate after a 10 year cancer free period. I'd rather more healthy patients be encouraged to donate as opposed to lowering the standards of blood donation- far too many perfectly healthy people don't donate. I haven't donated blood in a few years, so I don't know if the restrictions have changed. Now this was a local blood bank in Richmond, VA. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world, provides free information and support services, and is the voice for all blood cancer patients seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care. Join the discussion and learn more about blood donation! Lymphomas are divided into two categories: Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. People who have had other types of cancer or were treated a long time ago may qualify as donors. It’s not that cancer spreads through blood, but still, there are certain rules a donor has to follow. Blood quality. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Every blood donation is also tested to check its blood group. Suffering From Cancer: A person cannot donate blood if he is being treated for cancer, or the cancer is spreading or has come back, or is having cancer of blood such as leukemia or lymphoma, and even one suffering from Kaposi sarcoma. People who have had leukemia/lymphoma as adults are not allowed to donate blood. So when the pulmonologist who helped him through his ordeal with COVID-19 asked if he would like to donate blood to help other patients, he did not hesitate. The Accidental Amazon touched on organ donation in a recent blog "Blood and Organ Donation After Cancer." You have a history of cancer: People diagnosed with leukemia or lymphoma previously may not be able to donate. Because the person you donate to can get your form of leukemia as a result- in the same way YOUR cancer can go out of remission, so can the one you are giving them! "I said, 'Absolutely,'" Pace, 53, recalls. Plasma can be treated to inactivate certain viruses, but this isn’t yet possible for red blood cells or platelets. What medications will prevent you from donating blood? A simple blood donation can save the life of a child with leukemia, restore the strength of a cancer patient, or provide a critical transfusion to an accident victim. Most blood donation centers will require cancer survivors to obtain a letter from their oncologist saying that it is ok for them to give blood. Every blood donation is carefully screened for infections. Basically the only thing you can do is try to donate, but make sure they know of your former illness. Personally, I can't be a bone marrow donor, and it upsets me. Abnormal lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that fights infection, become lymphoma cells, which multiply and collect in your lymph nodes. Be treated to inactivate certain viruses, but make sure they know of former! 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