Donating Blood

I donated blood yesterday. It is not pleasant, but I know it is worthwhile.

I gave a "double red cell" donation using this machine. It removes two unites of blood, keeps the red cells, and returns the remaining components. This takes longer and doubles the period for which I am ineligible to donate blood. The donation staff have always been glad when I choose this procedure, and I am happy to wait twice as long before getting stuck with the needle again. It's a win-win scenario!

The blood is red when leaving my body, as usual.

However, since the red cells have been removed, the remaining components are a faint yellow when they are returned to me.

After I finished donating, I had to hurry back to the physics building in time for my research group's weekly pizza lunch.