ExpensiveBurn

I see a lot of people talking about struggling with the SPE tests at Biolife, and this document from the FDA seems to say that some type of protein testing is required every 4 months

In addition to the quantitative total protein test performed at each donation, a serum protein electrophoresis, a quantitative immunodiffusion test, or an equivalent test shall be performed every four months. The tests are performed to assess the health of the donor to continue in the program. If the donor's test results are not within the ranges set by the laboratory the donor must be

I get that people are more likely to post when something goes wrong, but it occurred to me that if someone wandered in here because they were curious about donating plasma, they’d be hit with a wall of incredible bruises, weird deferrals, staff complaints, and folks so anxious they can’t keep their resting heart rate in the double digits.

That just isn’t the norm for me or anyone I know who donates.

Can we share some upsides? Benefits? Positive experiences? Anything that might help balance out the problems that naturally get posted here? What've you bought, accomplished, learned, or gotten out of donating plasma?

I'll leave mine in the comments.

I don't play a ton of poker, but I'm in Texas so every now and then I get out and play a little bit. I was in Vegas for the APA Championship this past weekend and I had time to get out on the strip to play some.

What a nit fest. Didn't see a single straddle. Saw multiple bomb pots waved off, and when someone finally said yeah let's play one - it was Hold 'em?! Gross.

Usually I'm the nit when I play here, but out there I was buying in for the min and was somehow able to bully most of the tables - with like 30 BB? Even online poker feels a little looser than this did.

I don't know, man. It was a weird experience. I was there a couple years ago and don't remember it being that

Curious what everyone here does with the money they get for donating plasma.

View Poll

I started going to BioLife recently after several successful months at CSL. I’ve been twice now, and both times the machines “clogged up” and took forever. The first visit was almost 90 minutes, and I got a lecture about dairy and fried foods. The second visit I did everything right (maybe a slice of cheese on a sandwich at worst) and still ended up around 1:15.

By the end of a BioLife donation, they’re only pulling like 50–100 mL per cycle, and the return takes forever. And it’s not just me - probably half the room is beeping nonstop past 500 mL, with staff running around like crazy tapping screens. The last time, I saw two other people across from me having the exact same experience, c

There can't be that many people running Vigilance, can there?

I'm trying to chip away at the "finishing moves while disguised by sleeper agent" calling card, and it's almost comical. I put on Sleeper Agent and the next person I see kills me, every single time. I get more use out of it just sitting back and listening to their coms.