> > I think you misunderstood me. They pay for plasma donations, and NOT for whole blood donations. I think they'll pay you $20 every time you come in, and you can go in something like once a week. So the "professional plasma donor" can make something like $80 a month.

I did misunderstand. That is VERY odd...


> One of my old roommates used to donate platelets every couple of months. Being the non-science person that I am, I'm not sure if that's the same thing as a plasma donation. I don't remember hearing that she got paid for it, but she might have. I do know that she was occasionally rejected because her iron count was too low.

If I remember correctly, platelet donations are only done when there is a specific need (a dying hemophiliac or some such), although that may only apply to Canada. But it is different from donating plasma, by quite a bit. Platelets are what makes your blood clot when you bleed, while plasma is the mainly liquid portion of the blood.

> c) I almost did give blood one time because they were giving out free oil changes to donors, but my mom freaked me out by telling me that she couldn't watch while my blood oozed into a clear bag next to me. Ewwww!!! No thanks.

As Beasty said, you usually don't see your blood going into the bag. You can (I have) but there's not much to see. When the blood is first coming up the tube, you can see motion, but once it's started, you can't visibly see any movement. It doesn't even look like what you would expect blood to look like. But anyway, most of the time now I just lie on my back with my eyes closed the whole time. And like Beasty, I barely feel the needle go in and never feel it come out. The reason for this is because they know that people who volunteer to give blood aren't likely to EVER come back if they have a painful (or even uncomfortable) experience, so usually, they have only the best nurses-- people who have been doing this sort of thing so long that they just don't make mistakes... Well, that's my two bits (Okay, eight bits) worth on the subject.

Don "The Monkey'Never had a problem giving blood'man" Jackson