I am very disheartened to learn that I’m not supposed to donate with secondary polycythemia. My doctor my hematologist told me I could donate. I went to one blood and donated twice, but telling them I had PV. On my third donation, I was told I needed a prescription, and would have to deal with the main site versus one of the buses. It’s only now that I find out that I should not have been donating at all.

I don’t want anything that I do to hurt anyone else and I understand the need to be very careful in this situation. But it does also frustrate to know that my blood is useless to someone else. I wish there was someway they could use it.