Our first week donating plasma!

For the first time, we donated our plasma! We went to Talecris Plasma Resources at 3615 New Bern Ave, Raleigh, NC 27610. They are a branch of Grifols plasma. We decided on this location because it's so close to NC State, and they had good reviews online. It was a fun and interesting experience, and we are definitely going to continue donating. 

Mitch Kottkamp: We donated for the first time on February 26th, 2018. I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous when we rolled up to a plasma facility in a pretty sketchy area. We walked in and waited in the lobby, and they had us sign an agreement and fill out some questionnaires. Next they gave us a big STD booklet to look through. After a bit of a wait, they called me back for a physical. It was fairly straightforward, although there was a quiz on the STD information that had been in the booklet. After that, I had to pee in a cup so they can check different health aspects of your urine, I think to see if you have any STDs. After this they had me walk over to a kiosk with a computer, where I answered 65 questions regarding health in my life. They want to determine if there is any reason that you cannot donate your plasma, so the questions go like "Have you ever been paid money or drugs for sexual activities." Thankfully I have not, so I got through the questions pretty easily. Next they called me up to the counter, where they pricked my finger and tested my blood pressure and hydration among other things. All of my levels were good, so they showed me over to the chairs to donate plasma. The chairs are super comfortable and they were playing Tyler Perry Madea movies so it was pretty chill. The worst part is definitely when they put the needle in your arm because its pretty big, but once you can get past that you get to just sit back and relax for about 45 minutes. All in all it probably took about 3 hours, but the first time you donate will always take extra long. Afterwards I was a little bit out of it as you normally are after donating blood or plasma. I walked outside the plasma center and heard some yelling. When I looked up I saw that a girl that was working at the Papa Johns next door was screaming at her boyfriend because he cheated on her. She started punching his car, until the manager walked outside and asked her to come back in to work. The boyfriend then sped out of the parking lot going about 60. It was an interesting scene to say the least.

Next we donated on Friday March 2nd, 2018. We had tried to go in the day before, but discovered that we would need proof of residency from the school since we both live in dorm rooms. Friday morning we went to the registration office and had them print off a letter that confirmed our residency, and we were good to go. We breezed through the wait this time and went straight to the kiosk for the questionnaires. Its pretty repetitive to answer the same questions every time, but if you time it up right you can complete the questions in under 5 minutes. After that was the finger prick again, and again I tested out normally. I went back to the table and got through the needle once again. This time they were playing the original Spiderman movie which was pretty lit. Tory Lanez also came out with his album Memories Don't Die that day, so I listened to that while I was waiting (it's really good). This time it probably only took us 90 minutes total.

All in all the plasma donation was a major success. They showed us a video of the people who receive the donations, and they talked about how much it helps them out. It is really cool when you can do something that easy that will genuinely benefit people who need help. Even if you are not interested in helping others, there is compensation for donating. In the two days that we donated, we made a total of $120 each. This is loaded onto a gift card that they give you during the first visit. If you do the math, that turns out to be over $25 an hour. Donating plasma certainly provides an adequate reward for aiding those in need.