So I donated plasma for the very first time today. It was really cool to do, but I was there forever. I got to the plasma center at about 1:15 pm, and I didn't leave the plasma center until about 6:15 or 6:30 pm. One reason why it took so long was that I was a new donor, so I had to go through all the questions and I had to get a quick physical done to make sure I was healthy. Before I got to the physical, I probably waited for a good hour and a half. Then when I finally got to the room where they pull the plasma out, I had to wait another 20 minutes. They liked to make you wait there.
When I was finally told it was my turn, I was like "sheesh, finally", in my head of course. So they hooked me up, put the needle in and explained everything to me and told me that if I needed help, to just call and one of the 5 people working there would be there immediately. So I was doing great, I got in a session of pumping, relaxing, and pumping again before I started to feel sick.
Now, I hadn't eaten since 12 or 12:30, and by the time they put the needle in me, it was 4:15. Now one of the questions that they ask is if you had eaten within the last four hours, when I had answered that question, it was 2, so I was like, "yeah, i'm going to be fine". Not exactly.
After that last session of pumping, I started to feel light-headed. I soon started to see little white dots everywhere and I was losing feeling to my hand that had been pumping. I immediately knew that if I didn't get help, I was going to pass out. So I tried to say "excuse me", but my throat was too dry and the guy next to me didn't even hear me. So I wet my throat with my spit and called out again. By this time, I was having a hard time seeing anything because of all the white dots. The guy next to me heard me and looked over, I saw him looking and told him that I needed help. He immediately called out and someone came over quickly.
The guy that first got to me asked if I was ok, I said "no" because I wasn't. I told him that I was really light-headed and kinda dizzy and that I was really hot. He had one of his coworkers grab an arm rest and they put it under my legs to elevate them. Someone grabbed me an icepack and they put that on my stomach, because that is where I wanted it so I wouldn't feel like throwing up. By this time, I was feeling better because of them elevating my legs. They gave me water once they found out that I wasn't nauseous anymore. I sat there for about 5-10 minutes before I continued.
Now this whole time, the workers there told me that this was a normal occurence. Especially since this was my first time and because I am so little. It also didn't help that it had been awhile since I had eaten. After I calmed down, I guess that's what I will call it, about every two minutes, I had somebody coming over to make sure that I was still ok.
Once I felt better, I told them that I was ready to go on. I got in another pumping session, but by the end of it, my hand was all tingly and I was having a had time pumping because I couldn't feel my hand anymore. I also started to feel really hot again. The guy that had first gotten to me the first time came over to see how I was doing and I told him that I was having problems feeling my hand and that I was really hot again. He paused the machine, maybe (I don't know what he really did) and he got me another icepack for the back of my neck.
By this time, the supervisors were brought over and they debated stopping the machine altogether, which they ended up doing. It was ok though because my bottle that I was filling up with plasma was basically full. The head supervisor, came over and told me that they were going to give me some saline (I think that's how you spell it) to help me feel better faster. So they put me on that, and it was really cold. It felt really weird. When they first put me on it, it felt really good, and it made me feel better a lot faster. But by the end, I was feeling really cold, like I had started to shiver.
After everything was done, and they filled out their "incidence report", they gave me some cookies and a capri-sun to give me some sugar. After they were sure that I was ok, they brought me to the front desk and paid me my $30. They told me that next time I donated, I wouldn't have the same problems and that it would be much faster, which I was glad to hear. I left and went to KFC and got a snacker to help me feel a little better. When I got home, I had an apple and a glass of orange juice.
When I was finally told it was my turn, I was like "sheesh, finally", in my head of course. So they hooked me up, put the needle in and explained everything to me and told me that if I needed help, to just call and one of the 5 people working there would be there immediately. So I was doing great, I got in a session of pumping, relaxing, and pumping again before I started to feel sick.
Now, I hadn't eaten since 12 or 12:30, and by the time they put the needle in me, it was 4:15. Now one of the questions that they ask is if you had eaten within the last four hours, when I had answered that question, it was 2, so I was like, "yeah, i'm going to be fine". Not exactly.
After that last session of pumping, I started to feel light-headed. I soon started to see little white dots everywhere and I was losing feeling to my hand that had been pumping. I immediately knew that if I didn't get help, I was going to pass out. So I tried to say "excuse me", but my throat was too dry and the guy next to me didn't even hear me. So I wet my throat with my spit and called out again. By this time, I was having a hard time seeing anything because of all the white dots. The guy next to me heard me and looked over, I saw him looking and told him that I needed help. He immediately called out and someone came over quickly.
The guy that first got to me asked if I was ok, I said "no" because I wasn't. I told him that I was really light-headed and kinda dizzy and that I was really hot. He had one of his coworkers grab an arm rest and they put it under my legs to elevate them. Someone grabbed me an icepack and they put that on my stomach, because that is where I wanted it so I wouldn't feel like throwing up. By this time, I was feeling better because of them elevating my legs. They gave me water once they found out that I wasn't nauseous anymore. I sat there for about 5-10 minutes before I continued.
Now this whole time, the workers there told me that this was a normal occurence. Especially since this was my first time and because I am so little. It also didn't help that it had been awhile since I had eaten. After I calmed down, I guess that's what I will call it, about every two minutes, I had somebody coming over to make sure that I was still ok.
Once I felt better, I told them that I was ready to go on. I got in another pumping session, but by the end of it, my hand was all tingly and I was having a had time pumping because I couldn't feel my hand anymore. I also started to feel really hot again. The guy that had first gotten to me the first time came over to see how I was doing and I told him that I was having problems feeling my hand and that I was really hot again. He paused the machine, maybe (I don't know what he really did) and he got me another icepack for the back of my neck.
By this time, the supervisors were brought over and they debated stopping the machine altogether, which they ended up doing. It was ok though because my bottle that I was filling up with plasma was basically full. The head supervisor, came over and told me that they were going to give me some saline (I think that's how you spell it) to help me feel better faster. So they put me on that, and it was really cold. It felt really weird. When they first put me on it, it felt really good, and it made me feel better a lot faster. But by the end, I was feeling really cold, like I had started to shiver.
After everything was done, and they filled out their "incidence report", they gave me some cookies and a capri-sun to give me some sugar. After they were sure that I was ok, they brought me to the front desk and paid me my $30. They told me that next time I donated, I wouldn't have the same problems and that it would be much faster, which I was glad to hear. I left and went to KFC and got a snacker to help me feel a little better. When I got home, I had an apple and a glass of orange juice.
