Apheresis, also known as platelets

I have close to a dozen different ideas for posts. They have been planned out to varying degrees in my mind. I will start with one from today.

For the last five months, I have been donating platelets through the Red Cross. My blood type of A is the universal platelet donor so the people at the donation center talked me into trying platelets, also called an apheresis donation.

Today was one of my biweekly appointments. Donating platelets is similar to donating blood. Both start out with the same set of questions asked and blood pressure, pulse, and iron levels checked. For the actual procedure two needles are used, one in each arm. Through one side blood is taken out and sent to a machine. This separates the platelets which are collected from the plasma and other blood components which are then returned to the donor through the other arm. The processing can take between 70 - 100 minutes of being hooked up to the machine. Since it takes a while, you can select a movie to watch while it is happening.

The numbers for today are:
Blood pressure: 120/70
Movie: Fast & Furious
Time: 99 minutes

Update: I almost forgot, while I was in the cantata after the donation I looked at a couple of old National Geographics. The pictures, advertisements, and so many things were straight out of the 80s. The cover story of the October 1982 issue was about "The Chip." It talked about transistors on a chip that were becoming part of people's lives in many ways. The story even had a glossary to explain terms like bytes and RAM. There was even an ad for a Ford car (Escort I think) that had an EPG estimated 33 MPG.

Twenty-seven years from now someone will pick up a magazine from 2009. I want to tell that person I helped realize the exciting possibilities that were only imagined on those pages.