I started with it last year and it is not so bad as many people say. I have to admit that I was really worried about it at first, before I finally decided to go and do it. So I searched the net for some further information about it - the good and bad things about "Plasma Donation".
Plasma is a liquid that is in human blood. If we make a comparison we could say that blood makes 100% (this is just opinion) blood with all that is in it, then plasma would make up around 70% of the centrifuged blood. So you know what I mean?
The procedure is quite simple and sometimes the whole process seems to be frightening for many new people. If the donator comes to the donation center for the first time, then the person must fill out a questionnaire that contains question about his/her health condition and then goes to the doctor which is in a separate room, to get a check-up. After the check-up a little blood sample will be taken from the donator vein to test it for aids. This is the first step. The only thing that the donator has to do is to wait for a week until the doctor gets the okay from the lab and then he or she can start to donate plasma.
My First Time
I was so excited but worried at the same time. I imagined myself to feel dizzy afterwards, or some weird scenario of blood dripping all over the place.
After a week or so I came to the donation center and I didn't have to go to the doctor if I want to donate plasma, this was required only to those who come for the first time but if someone comes very often then you can go to any of the staff who's also doing this little check-up of one's temperature and weight and if everything is okay you can donate straight away. This is just this little standard procedure which you get usually used to it after a couple of donations.
When I was finally laying on that bed a women came and explained everything to me - each step of the donation and the machine that will help me doing it. You get two liquids - one is NaCl (common salt) if you know what I mean and the other is sugar water which helps the body to reproduce the missing plasma. Anyway, I was okay but when I saw the big thick needle I was a bit afraid. The needle wasn't the sort of you might see when you get a vaccination. This one was much bigger. When she was about to “sting” the needle into my vein I turned away. It hurt slightly as I wasn't used to it - it was my very first time doing this donation. I couldn't see it but even now and then after so many donations I can finally look while she's doing it. However, everything goes very fast and within seconds the needle is in my hand and I felt less tensed. The whole procedure lasted for about 45 minutes.
