Blood
I used to be a regular blood donor.
By used to, I mean I hit the 20-gallon donation plateau, and donated regularly for years via apheresis. Apheresis is the process by which your blood is removed, spun through a centrifuge, and separated into its component parts. Because of this, a single donation can help as many as four people instead of just one. Apheresis is a more time-consuming process than regular blood donation, so fewer people are willing to do it. Plus, you have needles in both arms -- one of the draw side, and the other the return side. After the most useful components are removed, the red blood cells are returned to the donor's body. One side effect of this is that apheresis donors can donate much more often than every eight weeks. I used to go every month when I was donating regularly, though I could have gone more frequently.
I got involved because one of the local...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/09/16/blood/
By used to, I mean I hit the 20-gallon donation plateau, and donated regularly for years via apheresis. Apheresis is the process by which your blood is removed, spun through a centrifuge, and separated into its component parts. Because of this, a single donation can help as many as four people instead of just one. Apheresis is a more time-consuming process than regular blood donation, so fewer people are willing to do it. Plus, you have needles in both arms -- one of the draw side, and the other the return side. After the most useful components are removed, the red blood cells are returned to the donor's body. One side effect of this is that apheresis donors can donate much more often than every eight weeks. I used to go every month when I was donating regularly, though I could have gone more frequently.
I got involved because one of the local...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/09/16/blood/
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