better late than never.......i think.

a short intro to the bolg i intended to create six months ago.

at the begining of last semester my curiosity, and lack of cash flow, motivated me to investigate this whole "donating" plasma business. and when i say business i mean just that. i had heard of people doing this as a part time job. so i said, what the heck, i will too.

i should have began documenting my experiences immediately after each visit (shoulda woulda coulda) but i didn't. so here i am now telling you that i'm playing catch up and am planning on getting back on board the plasma giving train!

vocabulary:

run: the process of your whole blood going from your vein to the machine

red right: only your right arm may be used to draw from; the left vein is inadequit

donating plasma.....can you even call it donating whey you get paid?

why donate:

~you are providing much needed plasma to those who need it

~time to catch up on studying

~make some extra $$$


what you need your first time in:

~3 hours
~well hydrated (start drinking water a couple days before)
~full meal before hand
~ID, SS card, proof of residence (e.g. energy bill)
~good veins
~a tolerance to blood, needles and strange people
~lots of homework


my first time:

adam couldn't stay with me since he had no SS card (you can get proof of your SS# from KSU, they will accept this). so here i am, just sitting, football game on the TV and a buncha speechless boys. periodically names were yelled from unseen places with no faces to match the sound with. pretty stright forward form here- waiting.....name called, waiting.....name called, waiting.....name called, get a basic physical including many verbose questions, wait some more, call your name, go into a little booth, get weighed, ask 10 bagillion more quesitons @ 100 wps (words per second ;) take your temperature and blood pressure, poke your finger to test for iron and albumin levels, wait some more...ohp, when you hear your named yelled from the opposite side of the building that's a good sign.

so it's time to actually donate. you head over to the other side of the mysterious divide and come up on 4 sections; 8 beds and 2 tv's per section. i am a red right (meaning my left vein isn't big enough to run) sot hey take me to a "right bed". i continue to read my homework as they prep my arm. the boy who is doing it asks me if i'm a kinesiology major, says he's had classes with me. i am thinking to myself, "and you are poking my arm why?" come to find out that anyone can get a job at the plasma place and eventually you work up to the point where you are sticking people....AHHHH! he this boy continues on as i read and he's stickign the needle into my vein SPLASH! blood goes every where (i still have the book to prove it). luckily i don't really care and this lad come over and tells him he's bruised my vein and i'm not going to be able to run so....I GET TO LEAVE, YAY! the best part- i still got the $40 start up pay :)