I finally gave blood again after skipping the last several drives. The Red Cross is almost like the telemarketers - once they have you, they keep pestering you to give, give, give. The last time I gave, they had trouble finding my vein and it was not a pleasant experience. They were digging around my arm with the needle and I ended up pretty bruised. They even cut me with the needle as they were pulling it out. Needless to say, I wasn't too keen on going through that again so I begged out of the last several drives.
They called again recently and I figured it was time to try again so I headed over there on Monday. When I got there, they asked me if I wanted to do "Double Reds". This is where they hook you up to a machine that runs your blood through a centrifuge that separates the red cells from the plasma. They keep the red cells and pump the plasma back into you. Since they give you back the plasma, they can take two pints worth of red cells and not leave you dehydrated, hence the term "Double Reds".
Things didn't start off very well. They again had a hard time finding my vein. The first two ladies couldn't do it but the third one got things going. It wasn't nearly as bad as the previous time but still somewhat irksome. Another benefit of the Double Reds procedure is they use a smaller needle which is more comfortable. I guess.
So they got the blood flowing and the machine started working. I watched the blood being pumped through all kinds of tubes and circular pumping wheels. After a while fluid that looked like beer started filling up a bag hanging on the front of the machine. It acutally had a foamy head on it! The nurse said that was my plasma and would get pumped back into me after they got the first pint separated. Just behind the "beer bag" I could see another bag filling up with blood - presumably the extra rich red cells.
They mix the plasma with some saline which is at room temperature - meaning cold - so when they started pumping it back in, my arm started getting very chilly. I could see the plasma bag draining as my little micro-brew was injected back into my arm. My arm was a little cold but I soon started feeling my lips tingle. I wondered if my core temperature was being lowered and making me shiver in a weird way. I also started feeling kind of tingly in my chest. I asked the nurse about it and she said it was from the citrate they add to the saline (not sure why they add that).
After the plasma bag empties, they pump out another pint of blood, separate it out, and pump the plasma back in for round two. After it was all done, I was still a bit tingly but I didn't have to sit at the "Canteen" table since I hadn't really lost any fluid. I felt pretty good but decided not to go to Deb's Aerobic class that evening. Tonight though (Wednesday), I went to another aerobics class and basically couldn't keep up. I guess it will take a while to regenerate those cells and be back to full aerobic capacity.
No comments:
Post a Comment