Plasma: Elixer of Life

Guess what?? I sold my plasma for the first time yesterday! It was definitely an interesting experience, I'll say that...I almost felt a little strange about selling a part of my body. Anyway, I went to the donation center with my ex, Karen, and a friend from my football team. Man, the first time you go there to donate is a looooooooonngg process! You have to get assessed for your HIV and blood-born illness risk, then get your weight checked, vital signs measured, and finger pricked for protein and iron levels. Then, if you pass those steps, you have to go talk to the nurse to get asked a bunch of medical questions and then get a mini-physical to check your general health and look for track marks. And sadly, after going through almost all the screening process, my football friend got denied because she has a genetic liver condition. She ended up waiting around for us for like 3 hours. =(

So after all that, they took me back onto the donation floor, where there are lots and lots of beds set up in bays with tv's on the walls. Well, they aren't exactly beds...more like a cross between a bed and an exam table. They are all ergonomically shaped for the donor's comfort. But trust me, I wasn't comfortable. The bed/table was fine, but the way I had to stretch my arm out wasn't that great. So anyway, the phlebotomist put the needle in the vein really smoothly. I was impressed. The needle stays in though, not like an I.V. which just has a little plastic thingy, so I couldn't bend or turn my arm at all.....it got all cramped up by the end, just from being in one position so long. After the needle, he attached all the tubes and bottles to the machine and started it up. Read more by clicking the little clicky-link below!

The blood goes into the machine in cycles; they don't take out more than a cup at a time. They put an inflatable cuff, like a blood pressure cuff, on your upper arm. It inflates when the blood is going out, and you have to squeeze your hand open and closed to help the blood flow. I found that the going-out part was uncomfortable, in large part due to the cuff squeezing my arm to death, which surprised me. I expected the putting-in part to hurt but it didn't at all.

So after the blood goes into the machine, it enters a chamber that spins it to seperate the blood cells from the plasma. The plasma goes down a tube into a BIG bottle (I donated 880 ml...that's almost a quart!), and then the cuff pressure releases and the blood cells get pumped back into the vein. That part is a lot better than when the blood is going out. You can't feel it going back in, and the cuff isn't all tight and stuff, so it doesn't hurt at all.

After you complete several cycles (took me four to fill up the bottle), you get a 550 ml bag of saline dripped in to replace some of the fluids in your blood, and then you're done! I was so glad to have the needle out and be able to move my arm around. Then they give you your money, and you can go on your way. The only bad part was that I felt like crap afterwards. I had eaten a meal around 2 in the afternoon, planning to go to the donation center around 5. Well, we didn't get there til after 6, and it took about two hours to do the pre-screening process, so it was about 8 pm by the time I got around to actually giving the plasma. I felt sooo weak and sick after we left, and it wasn't until after several hours went by that I felt totally fine. If you decide to give plasma, definitely eat closer to when you go in, and bring water or gatorade or something in with you. The more hydrated you are, the faster your donation goes.

I plan on going back and doing it again, for sure. You can do it twice a week, and hey, money is money. So that was my exciting plasma experience!