when the what spelled by whom

Today was my 118th donation visit of any form of blood products having done whole blood donations, apheresis donations and plasma donations. To get to the Hema Quebec permanent site in Kirkland I take the 485 bus at 6h53 which gets me there at 7h14; my scheduled appointment is 7h30 but they always take me more or less when I arrive since I am the first one in.

When I get on the bus it is usually full of people. About half appear to be people who are coming off of a night shift and are returning home after having worked. The other half are students who are going to the Centre de formation professionnelle des Métiers de la Santé which is adjacent to the Hema Quebec site.

The vast majority of these people are black with most of the night shift ending people male and almost all of the students female. A few stops after I get on, most of the night shift people get off together - they all seem to live in the same neighbourhood. As the bus progresses, more students board replacing the night shift workers that exited, filling up the bus again.

When I arrive at the Hema Quebec site I am asked a few COVID related questions that will eventually no longer be asked; things like have I been in contact with anyone who's tested positive. Then they ask to confirm my DOB, phone number and address for dual purposes, to properly identify me and to make sure my file with them is up to date.

If I was a much newer donator I'd be reading a pamphlet that hasn't changed content in years describing the process, what is done with the blood, possible issues with the donation and so on. Since I crossed 110 donations they don't bother having me read this any longer and today, as an example, I was brought immediately into a small room to fill out the questionnaire.

Before this was automated a nurse had to read through a list of ~25 risk factor questions at least some of them of a sexual nature due to the potential passing of STDs. I expect the nurses became inured about this experience and probably relieved when it became automated. Now there is a touch-screen to which I scan the bar code given to me at the start that identifies me, I answer a bunch of questions, and then once the nurse comes in she can see all of the answers. Apart from 'Are you feeling well today' with a 'Yes' answer, every other question I answer 'No' as the risk factor doesn't apply to me.

Next they prick one of my fingers to get a small blood sample to measure my hemoglobin. Using a small disposable plastic item with the slightest of gaps, the blood from this pricked hole is drawn into the plastic item and then that item is inserted into a machine that within a few seconds gives the hemoglobin count. With too low a count this would stop my donation. Normally my count is between 14 and 16 where I believe 10 or 11 is the minimum.

Before COVID they would also take my pulse and measure my blood pressure. This was very handy in terms of have a regular verification of these items the latter of which is not easy for me to tell. Since COVID they no longer do this.

Next they take my weight which is used to calculate how much plasma will be extracted from me and then I am to digitally sign a consent form that shows I understand the risks. Today I was to donate 856ml of plasma.

They ask me what arm I want to have my donation taken from and today I indicated to try my right arm as I had used the left last time, two weeks ago. They put me in a chair where the machine is to my right so that the connection between my right arm and the machine is at its closest. It takes the nurse perhaps four minutes to setup the machine and prepare it for my donation and very near the end a second nurse is asked to come in and verify everything is set up as it should be. This is good QA.

In today's experience the nurse had difficulty in getting the tip of the needle within my arm to tap the median cubital vein in a way that the blood flowed easily. She inserted further or moved it oppositely, or changed the angle in a number of different directions, effectively digging for the right spot. I found it uncomfortable, yes, but not painful and certainly not painful enough in a way that I would ask them to stop immediately. As she couldn't get it to work, she stopped the process and switched over to my left arm.

Generally there are four cycles in a plasma donation. In the first one, enough blood is drawn out of me to produce about 200ml of plasma and then, that cycle, everything else that had been drawn from me is slowly and safely pumped back into me. It is this apheresis type of donation that permits me to give a donation on a more frequent basis compared to a whole blood donation where I need to wait 56 days. The second and third cycles are generally identical to the first, while the last is the same process but much shorter since it is only a quarter of a cycle that is required to get the remaining plasma.

Today after the first cycle had been pumped back into me, the amount of pressure that my heart was pumping through the vein, through the needle, through the tubes and into the machine was insufficient and so the nurse fiddled with the needle again. In the end they gave up and I only donated one cycle's worth of plasma today. I do not know if they discard that sample or if, even if it is small, they still use it. I would hope the latter, but I would guess the former.

After the donation I need to hold down a small square medical cloth on the spot in my arm where the needle had been so as to help seal up that hole and prevent any infection. They have me do this for a timed five minute period and then they tape over it to hold it in place; I am to keep it for six hours. I am provided a drink and a snack on my way out. Outside of COVID times I would sit and take it easy to drink the drink and eat the snack in the Hema Quebec site; I expect we'll return to that soon. Today I had to exit more or less immediately.

From the Hema Quebec site I walk over to where the 201 bus stop is to take me home. If the visit is short enough, which today it certainly was, when I flash my transit card over the reader in the bus it tells me this is a transfer rather then a new ride. This is good as it means it doesn't cost me an extra fare to get home.

Normally I get home at around 10h or 10h15, today I got home at 9h35.