I was researching additional ways to make money when I came across info on plasma donation. I'd been turned down for blood donation twice in high school due to low iron, although I'd been taking iron supplements at the time, so I wasn't sure how that might affect my likelihood to have acceptable plasma now but we figured we'd try anyway. Not knowing there was a plasma donation center just down the street from our house on Tropicana and Pecos, as we were later told, Sean and I drove down to:
Octapharma Plasma Inc
1732 Fremont St
Las Vegas, NV 89101
(702) 385-7337
It was around 10am when we arrived. The place was in the middle of the ghetto and full of scrubby people incessantly trying to hit me (as well as probably on every other girl they saw) with little to no regard for the fact that Sean was standing right next to me.
We were sent to the new donor area at the back of the office to get additional information on what plasma donation entailed as well as the rules and guidelines for donating both nationwide and at this particular office. Before we could really get started though, we were told we needed ID, proof of address, and our social security cards. Since our IDs had our current address on them, that was sufficient. I happened to have my social security card on me (not generally recommended) but Sean doesn't yet have a social security number and didn't have the paper he was issued with his ITIN on it present. Accordingly, we had to drive all the way home to get the paper and it was after 11:30am by the time we made it back.
After looking over our identification and having us read through a binder of information about the donation, they had us watch a video that basically restated the things we'd just read about in the binder.
A long wait later, they finally called me into an office where they took a photo of my face, a thumb print, and detailed information on every tattoo, piercing, and significant scar on my body. They also asked me a bunch of personal questions to assure there wasn't anything obvious that might disqualify me from donation and then moved me out of the room to a kiosk at the front of the building where I answered a long, more in depth series of questions about my background, health, etc. I didn't see Sean for awhile as he wasn't called in til awhile after I was but he later told me that his experience was pretty much the same.
Once I was done at the kiosk, I was told to go to the front of the line of returning donors to wait my turn for some other screening type of thing. When it was my turn to go inside one of the screening booths, they took a blood sample, weighed me, looked over my arms for pre-existing needle marks, checked my nails to be sure I hadn't donating at any other clinics recently, and marked my nail with some type of temporary paint that lasts about a week and can only be seen in black light for the purpose of indicating that I'd donated at this particular clinic recently. They also asked me a few more questions and then allowed me to proceed back to the seats near the new donor area which, apparently, was also the waiting area for the next step in the process: the physical.
Just before I headed to the waiting area, Sean caught back up with me and we chatted a bit about the place, our experiences so far, etc. Then it was his turn for the screening thing and I got called in for my physical.
In a private office room, similar to a one you might visit for a regular check up, I was asked a few more questions regarding some of my answers given on the kiosk. One of these questions was regarding my stay in the UK during various visits. I didn't know at the time but apparently the clinic has no way to test for Mad Cow Disease and anyone who's spent more than three consecutive months in the UK (and France too, I believe) is considered to be at higher risk of having contracted the disease and therefore permanent lyrics ineligible to donate blood or plasma in the United States. :(
Once the questions were completed, the woman questioning me had me take off my shoes, socks, and jacket and checked me over for various things such as needle marks and bruising. She checked my stomach as well but I didn't have to take off any additional clothing or undress. Then she gave me a prepaid card in an envelope with activation instructions and told me that's how I'd be receiving compensation for my donation once it was completed.
Finally, I was off to donate! As I went up to the donation area, I saw Sean waiting for his physical. I blew him a kiss, entered the donation room, and was shocked to see that it kind of looked like a strange kind of human farn where people were being milked for their plasma! Anyway, I got myself "plugged in" myself and was given a set of instructions to follow so that they'd efficiently be able to take my blood, separate out the plasma, and return the rest back to my body. As I sat there waiting to see Sean join me in the room, the doctors working there tried to flirt with me in a somewhat lame but almost cute and funny kind of way. They were almost as bad as the guys donating!
I think over half an hour passed and I didn't see Sean. I was getting pretty lonely and tried looking around to see if maybe he was in another section of the room but I couldn't move around much with the needle in my arm so I got a but stressed. Finally, he walked over to me with his big, cute smile and explained that when he went in for his physical and they went over the 3 months in the UK thing we hadn't previously known about he was deemed ineligible to donate EVER. He'd spent the remaining 25 minutes or so conversing with the doctor doing his physical about life in the UK. Lol
A few minutes later, I was finally done with my donation and the $30 I'd earned was loaded onto my new prepaid debit card. The process hadn't hurt much at all or affected the rest of my body but my left arm, which I'd chosen to have the needle put in, was feeling pretty weak and tired.
The whole process had taken us about 3.5 hours (only including the time since we'd gotten back to the office with the ITIN paper) and it was now 3pm. We were told that the process only takes about 90 minutes each time you return to donate afterward though. It was really too bad Sean wasn't able to donate because we were told that the compensation a donor received depending on his or her body weight. A person, like me, weighing under 150lbs gets paid $30 for the first two visits and $15 for each visit after that but a person, like Sean, weighing more than 150 is paid $50 the first five visits (not sure how much after that)!!! Oh well.
So after the procedure was complete, I met back up with Sean in the waiting area and smothered him with hugs and kisses. Though we'd only spent a couple of hours apart in total, I'm used to spending most of of my waking moments with him so I'd missed him so much! In fact, knowing that he won't be able to join me during any future donations and given the low compensation I'd receive each time after my second donation, I'm not certain I'll donate more than once more at most. Still, I'm glad I was able to experience it all and that maybe I'll be able to help out a bit by doing so. I should have the results regarding whether my plasma is of high enough quality and disease free (I'm sure it is) so that I can donate again soon and might go back in for my second and probably final time just after that.
Also a fun note: on our way out, Sean and I ran into my friend "Batman" who I haven't seen in the longest time! I finally got to introduce him and Sean and I gave him our number so we might get in touch and hang out with him again sometime. :)
