I donated platelets and plasma today. As you can tell from this handy chart given the fact the my blood type is A+, these are the preferred donations for me.

I'd never done this before, and it was a pretty neat process. Instead of just a needle hooked to a bag, which I'm used to from whole blood donation, you're set up with a huge machine for 1-2 hours. The machine takes blood from you, spins it, keeps what it wants and gives the rest back in very short intervals of maybe a minute or less. You almost can't tell whether it's drawing or returning, but there's a computer screen that tells you everything that's going on if you're interested. I had kind of pictured it as a process where they took a bunch of blood off to a back room somewhere, sorted it out, and then brought some back, but it's all going on at the same time.

Benefits: You feel good about what you're doing, because you really are potentially making the difference between life or death for someone. You get to watch TV in peace for however long it takes. Everyone is really nice to you. :-) They even gave me a scarf! Since they give back all of your red blood cells, you don't feel "low" afterwards like you do with whole blood donation.

Drawbacks: The needle looked to be about the same gauge as the nozzle of a gas pump, although I must say it wasn't a bad stick at all. Once you're hooked up, you're stuck, ie no potty breaks! The anti-coagulant binds with the calcium in your blood so you feel sort of tingly and odd after a while. They give you TUMS to counteract this, so it's really not too bad. The worst part was the lack of potty breaks, you forget how often you pee when you're home all day...

So, if you're interested, make an appointment, empty out your bladder, and head down to one of these donation centers. And then empty out your bladder again at the last minute, trust me on this one!