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 So my concern of higher blood pressure as indicated in this post were perhaps overrated. Two weeks ago my blood pressure measured 142/88. Here was my most recent reading:

They were short staffed that evening for nurses, so there were some interruptions in getting me hooked up at appropriate times during the hook-up procedure. Sitting and donating directly across from me was a woman who started after me and her donation ended before mine. This speaks to rate of flow our heart pumps out as well as the 'bandwidth' of our veins to allow the flow through. There is a visible guide on the machine that is doing the work of extracting the plasma that shows what the flow rate is in three basic settings, low, normal and good. My flow is always in the normal range but this lady's flow was in the good range meaning her blood flows faster and her donation time is reduced.

This lady was very gregarious and so I found out that she also donates every two weeks on Thursday evenings (the same schedule I have) so likely I will be seeing her again.