In the arm, that is. As the holiday season rolls around, I’m once again realizing that as much as the leadership of our country claims to appreciate us military families, that appreciation has failed to manifest itself in our paychecks. With three kids, and myself being full time in school, the annual search for creative sources of income has commenced.
I’ve heard quite a bit about plasma selling, that it can be quite a tidy little extra income if done frequently. I’m not squeamish about such things at all, and would happily extend my arm for profit as much as they would let me, if only I could find a place to do it.
I’ve done extensive internet and phone book searching, and the closest I’ve found is a place in Virginia, which is too far to go on a regular basis. So, anyone out there know of a place in Maryland that I can go to bleed (sort of) for fun and profit? I’d really appreciate any info anybody has. Thanks!
Haven’t seen you in forever, Lucretia - how have you been?
More to the point of the OP - my aunt and uncle:( used the plasma method to finance their visit to me in Hawaii - $20 a pop for twice a week for two people adds up fast.
It’s really not bad at all, for someone who’s not squeamish about needles. Basically, you get an 18 GA line in each arm and hang out for a couple hours. I found the 20 bucks a pop not to be worth the 3 hours I spent at the clinic, not to mention the painful-as-all-hell fingersticks. Hell, if you’re going to throw away three hours, go do some yard work or wash some cars. I’m sure you could get more dinero for your time that way. Better yet, get a paper route. Spend an hour or two in the morning for a couple hundred a month. Not sure what’s involved with that now, since it’s been 14 years since I had a paper route…
Hi chique! waves back I’ve been good, just really busy.
Cyndar, I’d be more than thrilled to sell whatever body fluids anyone wanted, but my understanding is that plasma is the only one anyone will actually pay for, which is my goal at the moment.
Democritus, I’m glad to hear from someone that’s actually done it. One of the reasons I’m looking into this cash-raising route is that I really don’t have any spare hours to do any of the usual odd jobs. This sounded appealling because I could combine it with study time, and do it whenever I could fit it in, instead of being any kind of fixed schedule.
Anyway, thanks for chiming in, guys! So, anyone out there know of any places in Maryland that buy plasma? Anybody?
Sorry, I don’t know, but isn’t it a crying shame that they don’t pay us enough to live decently on? Esp. the families in the DC area, I feel for you Luc, and trust me, I understand. I’m very lucky that I’ve had no problem finding odd jobs to do, otherwise there probably wouldn’t be any of these fun extras for the Tot family.
Grrrrr…we all ought to C&P this thread and send it to our Congress People. Sorry for the hijack, this is something I feel very strongly about…when I go to the commissary and they are collecting food donations, not for Bosnians or Ethiopians, but for American Service families, it makes my blood boil.
I donate plasma on a fairly regular basis(for free-to the red cross). If you’re looking for income, try the want ad’s for a part-time job, because were not talking about a lot of money.
The pain involved here is not with the tempature of the incoming fluid. The pain is with the tech trying to find a suitable vein, which they seldom do on the first try. They use a vein in my hand for outbound blood. And if a vein should happen to collapse, which is fairly common, now there’s some pain for ya.
Wish I could help you out, Lucretia, but I’m still new enough to this area that stuff like that has eluded my notice so far.
Might ask the VA place where places like theirs are listed - how you’d find a place like theirs in a different area.
Military’s one of a number of fields where the pay is appallingly low. Having been in such a career until recently, I know about the gap between what we say we value, and where we’re willing to put our bucks.
Thanks tater. It’s nice to know someone knows where I’m coming from, anyway.
And thanks to you, too, RT. I did ask the VA place if they had any branches here, and for names of other companies that buy plasma, but they didn’t have one, and I couldn’t find any of the other places they named to me. I’m beginning to think that either it’s illegal to buy plasma in MD, or that companies just don’t have any buying facilities here.
spooje, actually, the point is that I don’t have time for a part-time job, unless I can find one that lets me come in whenever I feel like it and then spend all my time studying.
(And hey, if anyone knows of any jobs like that, feel free to let me know as well)
