triple.product.

Today was a notable day. It was the first time of 57 platelet donations that I gave triple product. Generally, people give single to double product (one product is 3.2 units), and I've been stuck in the double product category for some time. I have a really high platelet count, but the anticoagulant that they send back in with your red cells makes me feel gross. Once I almost vomited and passed out, but they paused the machine before that happened. It was not pleasant. Since the volume of anticoagulant pumped in depends on the volume of platelets taken out, they have to run the machine at a slower rate so I don't get too much of the bad stuff. Over the past few months, I've tried to get a lot of extra calcium (since that reduces the effects of the anticoagulant) and eat plenty of tums while donating. They've gradually increased the flow part way through the donation. Today, I made it up to a flow rate of 10.0 (normal for me is 8.1 and for most people is 11.0), and the total collected amount was 10.1 units. Just over the 9.6 triple product amount. I was very excited, as was everyone for me. *k* said I should go out for a drink tonight to celebrate!