How Can I Find Out If I Can Give Blood Again

Yes you should be able to give. A "yes" on the screening questions does not automatically make you ineligible- they just need to ask additional questions sometimes. I have been out of the country (although not for that length of time) and it has not stopped me from giving. In fact, I am actually CMV positive and they note that on my donation form and they still take my blood! I wouldn't worry. Just go in and if something happened while you were out of country that would cause you to be rejected, it will come up in the screening process and you can find out then what you would need to do to be eligible again.

There are certain things that they cannot test for when processing donor blood and for people who have visited or lived in western Europe at certain times the largest concern is BSE contamination. Even though the risk is miniscule, it is a risk that most US bloodbank are not willing to take.
I lived in Western Europe before 1995 and will never be able to donate blood or bone marrow in the US - even though the European bloodbanks will happily accept my blood. It's just one of those issues that has more to do with liability than actual scientific risk.
If you are past the mandatory waiting period you should be able to donate again.

Call the blood bank you normally go to and ask them. Some have different rules than others (maybe due to more sophisticated test equipment, I don't know). I'm not sure that you are barred indefinitely - the reason I think this is that for a time I was barred from donating blood, due to having lived in France during the mid-90's (the era of Mad Cow ;). Well, fast forward to now, I just assumed all this time that I couldn't donate blood. I happen to be on the bone marrow registry, and received a call that I am a match for someone fighting Leukemia. Now, I know that bone marrow is not the same thing as blood donation, but if anything, I think it's a little stricter. They asked me half an hour's worth of health questions, and did ask me about my time in Europe. In the end, they said it was fine and not a problem. So... I'm thinking that after this bone marrow transplant thing is done, I will go back to donating blood again! Anyway, the point is that there may be some instances where having lived in Western Europe is not a problem.

Call the blood bank. They can answer all questions.

I lived in London for almost 3.5 years (2006 to 2009) and I have given blood multiple times since coming back to the US. You shouldn't have an issue. I'm O- and CMV negative so like you, they call me to donate all the time.

Probably best to call a local blood bank & ask.
Good luck.

I would think that it isn't cost effective for them to screen for every possible contaminant. Have you called or written to them to ask if they have exceptions?

I would call your local blood bank and ask them directly

As for the wavier - Sorry but I would stick to their rules - you never know what you could have been exposed to and there maybe somethings that don't show up in the blood tests that they run until a certain points.

When it comes to blood transfusions/tissue donations/etc... I am someone who would rather be overly safe than sorry

Call the Red Cross and ask. We can give our opinions based on our experience but we cannot be accurate. Only the Red Cross will know they will accept your blood.

Go to United Blood Services (website) and either call or schedule an appontment. They will go through the series of travel questions with you. I go about every 3 months and they ask me the same questions every.single.time. And, I have only traveled out of the country once... and it was about 12 years ago... to Canada! If you are not able to donate now, find out how long you should wait before scheduling again (how many months/years).

I think - as the eligibility rules stand right now - you are permanently banned.

According to the Red Cross site:

At this time, the American Red Cross donor eligibility rules related to vCJD (Mad Cow Disease) are as follows:

You are not eligible to donate if:

From January 1, 1980, through December 31, 1996, you spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 3 months or more, in the United Kingdom (UK), or
From January 1, 1980, to present, you had a blood transfusion in any country(ies) in the (UK) or France. The UK includes any of the countries listed below.

Channel Islands
England
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar
Isle of Man
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales

http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/eligibility-r...