[Sca-cooks] medical plus part two

[Kirsten Houseknecht]

i was put on the bone marrow registry (with my consent, of course) after
donating platelets by pheresis at the red cross.


a pheresis donation is easier on the body than a whole blood donation. i got
my gallon pin donating pheresis.....(yes the building is still standing, i
am phobic, not superman!)

in platelet , or pheresis donation they take out a small amount of blood,
spin it to extract platelets (or whatever they need) and return the rest....
continue until you have enough.
from one pheresis donor they can get platelets that would take 6 whole blood
donations.
and since you dont lose much fluid.. you recover faster.

you may donate whole blood only every 56 days?  but pheresis donation can be
repeated every couple of WEEKS... not months.
(you can donate whole blood within about three weeks? two? of pheresis, but
after whole blood you must wait the full 56 to donate anything.....)

people with good veins (not me) can use the two arm machine, which is
marginally faster...... it circulates blood out one arm and back in the
other...... the other option is the one arm machine, which has to stop to
return fluid.. then draw.. then return.. and takes a touch longer
mind you, some of us only have one good arm for this <shrug>

another benefit is that the pheresis needle people are usually DARN good
sticks......much better overall than the regular folks, although *some* of
them are very good also.

since they use a minor blood thinner (to avoid any clots) you cannot take
any ibuprofen or aspirin for three days prior... this is not as important
with whole blood donation where the restriction is usually that day only.
Also, some people get nauseaous from it.. or have acid reflux.. calcium
helps immensely, the nurses have Tums on hand, if you get at all ill chew on
one!
you may need a blanket, the blood is getting colder from being out of you.
they have blankets.  i always get one because i cant cope with the sight of
an IV anyway.

the first time you do Pheresis, you will likely be asked if you are willing
to be put on the bone marrow donor registry.  that is because they have to
do the preliminary HLA  (Human Leukocyte Antigen..  a very basic genetic
matching test)  typing for some platelet uses anyway....
Since you are more likely to get a good match within your own ethnic group,
ALL ethnicities are needed in the registry.

yes i have a needle phobia... yes i still have shaking fits going into the
red cross.... yes i have my gallon pin.. three or so pints of whole blood,
and the rest by pheresis.

Kirsten Houseknecht

Platelet and whole blood levels are critically low in many areas, please
donate now!

Fabric Dragon
kirsten at fabricdragon.com
www.fabricdragon.com
Philadelphia, PA     USA
Trims, Amber, Jet, Jewelry, and more...

I worry about you, wear a reflective sweater...