A first-time plasma donor tells it like it is
Sure, you can take it from us that donating blood will make you feel ten different kinds of incredible, but if you still need more convincing, take it from Mayank, who recently donated plasma for the first time.
Mayank is a Canberra-based PhD graduate, who finished university in 2016 after writing his thesis about artificial intelligence. In addition to saving lives through plasma donation, he’s training for a half marathon in May.
Although he initially booked in to donate whole blood, when we called him ahead of his appointment to chat about the importance of donating plasma, Mayank was happy to put his feet up for a little bit longer in order to donate his plasma.
Mayank told us he initially made his appointment when work colleagues were rallying for donors to join them in their Lifeblood Team. “Someone from Lifeblood called me and gave me more information about plasma and the importance of it as well as how high the demand is. I decided it could go further and I opted for that,” said Mayank.
We asked Mayank about his first time donating.
How did you feel after you donated plasma?
I felt fine. I felt a bit more tired at the end of the day and slept very well, but that might’ve just been a bit of a placebo effect. I went back to work.
What would you say to someone who is considering donating blood or plasma for the first time?
I guess just that it helps a lot of people. It certainly didn’t leave me in any discomfort in any way. If you have as smooth an experience as I did, it’s just a bit of time that it costs you.
When you donate plasma, we separate your red and white cells and your platelets from the plasma (the liquid portion of your blood), before cycling them back to you. Because your body is so quick to replenish the donated plasma, and because you lose less iron than in a whole blood donation, you can donate plasma as often as once a fortnight.
You can donate plasma at most Donor Centres around Australia. Each year we need more plasma donors to help us meet increasing demand, in fact plasma is on track to become Australia's most-needed blood component in the coming few years. So why not unlock your blood’s full potential, and make an appointment to donate plasma?
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