On Mon, 4 Feb 2008 09:27:00 +0000 (UTC), goldfarb@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(David Goldfarb) wrote:
>When I gave blood last December, I was asked if I'd consider doing
>platelet and serum donation on an apheresis machine. I agreed to
>this, so they took an extra vial at the time so my platelet count
>could be *****sed.
Over the last couple years I've given what Wikipedia calls "Automated
Red Cell Collection (2RBC)" and what SoCal Red Cross calls "ALEX" (I
have no idea what the acronym stands for and neither does Acronym
Finder) a few times. They use a machine which takes my whole blood,
separates out the red cells and puts everything else back ultimately
taking two "pints" of red cells, alternating between taking blood and
pumping the remainder back through the same needle. The preliminaries
are identical to for whole blood, and the only difference in the
follow up is that I have to wait 16 instead of 8 weeks before donating
again. They warned me that I might get slightly chilled when the
plasma was pumped back in, but I'm always slightly cold except when
standing directly in front of a heater or in direct sunlight on a warm
day, and I didn't notice any difference.
BTW I have a fear of needles such that I have to see the needle
inserted (a fact I've finally convinced my dentist of, so she doesn't
hide the Novocain needle from me).
--
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America,
and to the republic which it established, one nation, from many peoples,
promising liberty and justice for all.
Feel free to use the above variant pledge in your own postings.
Tim Merrigan
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