The "booboos" on my arms were gone, so I was able to donate platelets last Saturday.
As I said before, if you have podcasts and dress as though you are going to play in the snow, you will do fine! Ask for a blanket or two and it will be an enjoyable experience.
Donating platelets, believe it or not, is like getting a break for me. I get to help two or three patients by donating my platelets, so it is a win-win for all.
My arms are red again. I assume it is simply because the needles were in for about 95 minutes. There is no infection or pain. So I am not worried. I will hold my horses and go again, as soon as my arms allow!
Have I mentioned lately how happy I am that I can do this?! I have, I know!
Off to bed now, for real. I'll enjoy some sleep before the little guest shows up and climbs into bed with us! I want a king-size bed!
Showing posts with label platelet donation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label platelet donation. Show all posts
Monday, September 21, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Night-Weaning: Night Eight
Last night went well.
Ari was excited about her new bed. She enjoyed checking it out, jumping on it, etc., before bed time.
At bedtime, I nursed her, gave her a chance to have some milk (aside from mama milk), walked her, sang the song, and gave her a backrub, as I do every night. Ari took a while to fall asleep, but there was no crying, no trying to nurse. She put her hand on my chest and went to sleep, after tossing and turning for a while.
Ari slept for five hours before she woke up! At that time, I went in her room and sat next to her, until she fell asleep. I was in there for about half an hour. It took me a long time to fall asleep after that. That was the only bad thing about last night. So nothing to complain about.
The next time Ari woke up it was 5:30, so I told her she could nurse and brought her to bed with us. I was too tired to sit next to her for another half hour or so. I felt like I had just fallen asleep. The stupid toothache is not letting me sleep very well.
On a different note, I tried to donate platelets today, but I got a temporary deferral because of some tiny red bumps on my arms. Basically, there are red marks from where the needles had been. The nurses were fairly certain that there is no infection as there is no pain or swelling. But they could not take a chance and more needles would not help my arms right now. I was told I could go in again when the redness goes away. I guess my body is complaining about the facts that there have been needles in my arms three times in just over three weeks!
When the redness goes away, I will try again and hopefully I can donate every other week.
I learned that my last platelet count was 290. My count keeps going up! The higher it is, the more platelets I can donate. Last time I gave enough for two infusions. I am told I will probably be giving enough for three infusions soon.
Ari was excited about her new bed. She enjoyed checking it out, jumping on it, etc., before bed time.
At bedtime, I nursed her, gave her a chance to have some milk (aside from mama milk), walked her, sang the song, and gave her a backrub, as I do every night. Ari took a while to fall asleep, but there was no crying, no trying to nurse. She put her hand on my chest and went to sleep, after tossing and turning for a while.
Ari slept for five hours before she woke up! At that time, I went in her room and sat next to her, until she fell asleep. I was in there for about half an hour. It took me a long time to fall asleep after that. That was the only bad thing about last night. So nothing to complain about.
The next time Ari woke up it was 5:30, so I told her she could nurse and brought her to bed with us. I was too tired to sit next to her for another half hour or so. I felt like I had just fallen asleep. The stupid toothache is not letting me sleep very well.
On a different note, I tried to donate platelets today, but I got a temporary deferral because of some tiny red bumps on my arms. Basically, there are red marks from where the needles had been. The nurses were fairly certain that there is no infection as there is no pain or swelling. But they could not take a chance and more needles would not help my arms right now. I was told I could go in again when the redness goes away. I guess my body is complaining about the facts that there have been needles in my arms three times in just over three weeks!
When the redness goes away, I will try again and hopefully I can donate every other week.
I learned that my last platelet count was 290. My count keeps going up! The higher it is, the more platelets I can donate. Last time I gave enough for two infusions. I am told I will probably be giving enough for three infusions soon.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Donating Platelets: My First Time
Today I gave platelets for the first time.
The bad news:
I ended up spending three hours there.
I wish they were a bit more efficient. I waited for quite a while.
Because I was a first-timer and they did not know how my body would react to the procedure,, my machine was set to one of the slower settings. Therefore, the actual donating platelets process took two hours. Add another 20 minutes or so to answer the 50 questions they ask you, the iron test, checking the vital signs, etc.…
One of my arms is a little sore.
I was unable to move and had nothing to do for two hours. I sincerely believe that I am an undiagnosed ADD case and I tend to get anxious when I must sit still and do nothing for a prolonged period of time. I must get podcasts, music, something… and put them on my mp3 player next time. Lesson learned, fur sure!
At one point, I was tired of being there, getting anxious, cold, sore back, mildly light-headed, tummy feeling weird, and whatever else that I cannot recall now… I started wondering what the hell I got myself into! “You should have known,” I told myself. “How the hell did you think you could sit completely still for hours?”
But, then… The good news:
I gave enough platelets for three platelet infusions!
That is an efficient use of my time, to say the least. I am lucky that I am healthy and I can help those who are not, and, for that, I am very grateful.
I feel that donating platelets is like being birth, in a sense: it is hard on you, but it is so worth it in the end.
For the record, don’t take the analogy very seriously. Giving platelets was a piece of cake when compared to giving birth!
Yes, it was time-consuming and there were times when I could not wait to be done. Yes, I feel tired, sort of drained, sort of like you feel after a long walk and inadequate hydration. But, yes, I will do it again, most definitely. In fact, tomorrow I will schedule my next appointment. My goal is to do this every two weeks.
The bad news:
I ended up spending three hours there.
I wish they were a bit more efficient. I waited for quite a while.
Because I was a first-timer and they did not know how my body would react to the procedure,, my machine was set to one of the slower settings. Therefore, the actual donating platelets process took two hours. Add another 20 minutes or so to answer the 50 questions they ask you, the iron test, checking the vital signs, etc.…
One of my arms is a little sore.
I was unable to move and had nothing to do for two hours. I sincerely believe that I am an undiagnosed ADD case and I tend to get anxious when I must sit still and do nothing for a prolonged period of time. I must get podcasts, music, something… and put them on my mp3 player next time. Lesson learned, fur sure!
At one point, I was tired of being there, getting anxious, cold, sore back, mildly light-headed, tummy feeling weird, and whatever else that I cannot recall now… I started wondering what the hell I got myself into! “You should have known,” I told myself. “How the hell did you think you could sit completely still for hours?”
But, then… The good news:
I gave enough platelets for three platelet infusions!
That is an efficient use of my time, to say the least. I am lucky that I am healthy and I can help those who are not, and, for that, I am very grateful.
I feel that donating platelets is like being birth, in a sense: it is hard on you, but it is so worth it in the end.
For the record, don’t take the analogy very seriously. Giving platelets was a piece of cake when compared to giving birth!
Yes, it was time-consuming and there were times when I could not wait to be done. Yes, I feel tired, sort of drained, sort of like you feel after a long walk and inadequate hydration. But, yes, I will do it again, most definitely. In fact, tomorrow I will schedule my next appointment. My goal is to do this every two weeks.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
News from Red Cross
I just got a letter saying that my platelet count is higher than the average count and that I could donate platelets up to 24 times a year. The process is time-consuming, 2 hours. I want to and will make it work, though. I can't wait! I could potentially give platelets every two weeks. How cool is that?! Oh, I can continue donating whole blood too. So, if I get my way, I will donate blood every three months (I always need the extra 4 weeks for my iron level to be high enough) and platelets every two weeks or so.
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