I confess. I donate plasma. Twice a week. I've been doing it for about a year and a half now. And I enjoy it. It's a chance to be still for an hour or so, put on some headphones, listen to tunes and read a good book, all for the $20 to $40 per visit. I clock my time in and out and generally average at least $15 per hour. I make more money hourly than I do at my regular job. And I'm certain they make a boatload of money off of my plasma. My wife and I jokingly say that I am going to "bend over and grab my ankles" (after all, this truly is blood for oil).
It's quite relaxing, the phelobotomists are all sweet and the atmosphere and conversations are truly stimulating. You've got regulars, often the same days and times as you, depending on how regular you are. Considering that I lived downtown for a few years and worked as an outreach worker with the homeless for a few years, I feel quite comfortable in this environment. On some level it was karmic, I willed it to be.
When I lived downtown, I lived in a loft apartment in the warehouse right next door to the donation center. The warehouse has since burned down. It was my favorite apartment I've lived in, free to roam, climb on the roof on those clear, bright nights with the full moon, roll up a J and chill. But I digress...
So I knew of it but knew nothing about it. When I began working with the homeless I became familiar with it. It held a fascination. Eventually, I was drawn in.
You don't see many professionals coming down (and it's always "down" isn't it?) to donate. I doubt many suburbanites even know what it is. College students and those on the lower rungs, for whatever reason, of the socioeconomic ladder make up the mainstays. It tends to be a rough crowd, though there is a high degree of respect, especially for those who come regularly, for those who work there.
The first time, however, is quite intimidating, most likely, in my case, due to the biases I held toward doing such a thing. I can't say it violated any religious principle (I am not a Jehovah's Witness, obviously) I held though I did question that. Am I selling my soul along with my plasma? I think it violated some other caste type structure I held in my brain, that I was somehow above it or that doing that was stooping beneath what I am capable of doing.
But there is this part of me that is curious (and needed the money) and one Saturday morning I decided to go for it. I've been doing it ever since.
Why do I write this today? Because I was almost PR'd, i.e. placed on permanent restriction. Forever. Each time you come in to donate you are asked a series of health related questions (which the employees rattle off from rote memorization and the donors respond in like fashion, 12 No's and 1 Yes) and a series of basic health measurements are taken, including blood pressure, pulse rate, temperature and, more importantly, the protein content and liquidity of the plasma.
My plasma is frequently on the low end of the spectrum as I don't eat red meat and chicken and fish are not cheap sources of good protein. Every four months, a draw is taken and sent out to a lab for testing. It must meet minimum levels in order for the donor to continue. If it fails to do so, you can no longer donate until a redraw is done and is approved by the testing lab. I failed once in the past, two times in a row. Fortunately, I passed, barely, on the third redraw. Had I failed a third time, I faced PR.
This time around I wasn't so fortunate. I failed three times. This, of course, got me questioning, and researching, and looking online and high and low for answers. My overall protein level was ok. It was my gamma level that was low. What is gamma? I had no clue. The only clues I was given were on a sheet at the donation site that mentioned drugs, alcohol or infection. The nurse who informed me of this put out the comment "you know what it is" to which I replied: "I have no idea. I haven't done drugs or had a drink of alcohol in over ten years." I was no longer one of "them" and she changed her demeanor and took me a bit more seriously.
I still don't have an answer but by going online and doing search engines I found low gamma levels in various rare, untreatable or terminal diseases such as renal failure, leukemia, and immunodeficincies of various kinds. So of course I got a bit nervous. It's always been low and my gamma globulin level has always been right on the border.
Years ago I would have been banned outright. But a new procedure had been instituted where I had the option of going to see a doctor and getting tested and having his signature on some photocopied form providing my records, his awareness of my donating and the cause of the low protein. So I went to the doctor.
Keep in mind, it has now been several months. My gas money is now coming right out of my paycheck and my bills are suffering. Actually, our food consumption is suffering. Which, of course, affects my protein content in a continuing spiral downward. It was an experience in honesty informing my doctor that I donate plasma for gas money. I got a rather bizarre sense of satisfaction out of saying it.
The tests came back normal and my protein was good. I have no health history to speak of so there was no clear reason for the low protein/low gamma. So back to the donation site I trapsed and had a very nice chat, for the second time, with one of the nurses. I asked her how many people have been PR'd for this reason and she answered "none." That's not the kind of unique I wished to be at that moment.
In the meantime, I had begun to exercise, a pull up bar in the basement my motivation (see my P90X post here) . Add more protein to the diet, including protein powder, a little exercise and on the fourth redraw I passed. The elation was nothing short of ecstasy.
To a large extent, donating has been a little hideaway from the world, my time, a place where everybody knows your name.
3 comments:
Any tips on passing the protein blood test? My husband has been donating plasma for years now. But lately he keeps failing the plasma test. The first time we upped his protein by having him drink protein shakes the day of donating which helped him pass. Now he's failed 2x and he can't understand why. We can't find anything on search engines to figure out what he needs to eat or do to help raise those levels and resolve this problem.
Check and see if anything has changed in his diet. I would say he'd have to up his protein intake at every meal, every day, not just the day of donation.
I tried eating lots of tuna and eggs and other high protein foods but think that over time my body just didn't produce it fast enough to make up for how often I was donating.
The biggest problem I had was staying properly hydrated. I drink a lot of caffeine and found that whenever I ingested large amounts of caffeine (frequently in the form of energy drinks) if I didn't fail the protein screen, it would be a difficult draw.
When my arm got jacked up, I had ingested a Monster energy drink right before donating so I didn't fall asleep.
Not sure if there is a connection between hydration and protein but it may be something else to look at.
Hello,
myself have faild 2x on the draw that do every 3-4 months they send out. It's come back as an alpha2 as reading high...no one has a clue why or how to prevent this for future readings. With nothing I do differently the follow up one is done and comes back in the normal range. It does seem although to always be at the time of a higher incentive pay period...could just be coinsidental..
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