I thought I would write a step by step process of having plamapheresis. I found the experience rather overwhelming and wished I had been able to find this information. I just want to remind everyone I was a patient so this is my point of view as a patient, and I am not a medical professional in any way. I hope this is helpful to someone.

First you get the pheresis catheter inserted into your neck. They take you into the angio lab, after you change into a gown. All the doctors and assistants are in scrubs and hair nets as well. I had to lay on a big flat table,
they had a table beside me laid out with lots of tools and blue drapes. They informed me at the time that they would give me a pain med, something to relax me, and a local anestetic. They were going to give me phentenyl,
versaid, and lidocaine. I did not get versaid or the phentenyl because the doctor was unaware I had MG and did not know what kind of meds I could not have. I could not be sure these were not on the list at the time so I opted to only have the local. The doctors insisted many people did this and got through it fine. Wish I had known the meds were safe.

Then they clean the area, and have you turn your head all the way to the opposite side they are going to insert the catheter. Then they put the blue drapes around the area, honestly the drape somewhat covers your mouth and nose. It will probably not bother someone who has had the other meds. They then have a big machine that goes over you to map
your veins and arteries. Then they begin to insert the needle into the vein or artery they want until they can see it. Then they replace the needle with small tubes down to where it is supposed to be, typically 6 inches in. They then put dialators in, which is the most uncomfortable part. It kinda feels like someone is trying to shove something into your neck. Which is of course what they are doing. There were a couple of times that they had to give me more lidocaine because I started to feel sharp pains. You then have two tubes or lines sticking out of your neck that they stitch into place. Your neck will feel very very uncomfortable for several days. And then after a few days or more it will not feel so uncomfortable and you should not need nearly as much pain meds to tolerate it.

I then went to the Apheresis Unit to receive my treatment. They hook you up to a somewhat large machine, and replace your blood with a liquid that your body thinks is blood. Or so they told me. On average it takes an hour
and a half for the whole process. They said that some people feel the liquid is too warm. I felt it when they ran the blood back in, it felt cold. They said that is usually the case. Usually you need 3-5 treatments over a period
of 5-7 days or more. I received 3 treatments, one every other day. Personally I felt quite drained the day of the treatments, but amazing the day after. I was glad to have the catheter out a week later. They simply remove the stitches and pull out the lines. You then have to lay relatively
flat for 20-30 minutes. I hope this is an adequate description to be of some help. Any questions or if anyone wants to add on that would be much appreciated. Hope this helps someone!