The Blood-Giving Saga
The tale of how I went from feeling like a good person to a loser in about 10 minutes.
So, I was in the Union attempting to buy stamps when I noticed signs saying there was a blood drive on the 3rd floor. Cool, I've always wanted to give blood! Needles and blood have never bothered me, I get vials of blood taken at the doctor all the time, I'd like to find out what my blood type is anyway, and hey, it's a nice thing to do! So I trekked up the stairs, waited in line, filled out loads of paperwork about not having lived in Africa and other such things, had my blood pressure taken, had my finger pricked for an iron count (which was above average and "very good for a girl!")... so on and so forth. Finally I get into the chair thing, chit-chat with the nurse about how her daughter's name is Gina as she hooks me up to the tubes, then sit back and squeeze my rubber ball, watch "Anchorman", and occasionally glance over at the blood gurgling into the plastic bag next to me.
La tee da. All is going well, except that my hand is starting to get too weak to squeeze the rubber ball anymore. But it's the jazz flute scene in "Anchorman," so it's okay! Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I knew that in a matter of seconds I was going to be sick. I asked the nurse for a cup of water (why, I don't know), but I must've looked pretty bad, because as soon as she came over to me she tipped me back in my chair as about 5 nurses started swarming around. I'm sure the chair tipping was in my best interest, but as soon as I went back, I passed out. Awesome. It was just for a second, but still, not pleasant. The nurses kept telling me to cough because it would force blood back into my head. I told them that if I coughed, I would throw up. They assured me I wouldn't. I insisted I would, but they kept pressing the issue, so I coughed. And started to throw up. I told them so!
In the end, I ended up lying in the reclining plastic chair with my feet up in the air, covered in cold wet towels, and holding a cup of water with a sippy straw. Oh, there was also a garbage can strategically positioned next to me. All this in the middle of the Illini Room with several other donors staring as they calmly squeezed their rubber balls. I'm not usually one to feel pathetic, but... this was pathetic. About 15 mins later when I was finally told that I had color back in my face, they made some nurse walk me over to the snack table and made sure I ate something before I was allowed to leave.
So. That's the tale about how I go from being a good little blood donor to a towel-covered loser in the course of 10 minutes. :) Luckily though I was about 80% done when this whole ordeal began, so they said the donation was still usable. So it wasn't a total loss!
So, I was in the Union attempting to buy stamps when I noticed signs saying there was a blood drive on the 3rd floor. Cool, I've always wanted to give blood! Needles and blood have never bothered me, I get vials of blood taken at the doctor all the time, I'd like to find out what my blood type is anyway, and hey, it's a nice thing to do! So I trekked up the stairs, waited in line, filled out loads of paperwork about not having lived in Africa and other such things, had my blood pressure taken, had my finger pricked for an iron count (which was above average and "very good for a girl!")... so on and so forth. Finally I get into the chair thing, chit-chat with the nurse about how her daughter's name is Gina as she hooks me up to the tubes, then sit back and squeeze my rubber ball, watch "Anchorman", and occasionally glance over at the blood gurgling into the plastic bag next to me.
La tee da. All is going well, except that my hand is starting to get too weak to squeeze the rubber ball anymore. But it's the jazz flute scene in "Anchorman," so it's okay! Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I knew that in a matter of seconds I was going to be sick. I asked the nurse for a cup of water (why, I don't know), but I must've looked pretty bad, because as soon as she came over to me she tipped me back in my chair as about 5 nurses started swarming around. I'm sure the chair tipping was in my best interest, but as soon as I went back, I passed out. Awesome. It was just for a second, but still, not pleasant. The nurses kept telling me to cough because it would force blood back into my head. I told them that if I coughed, I would throw up. They assured me I wouldn't. I insisted I would, but they kept pressing the issue, so I coughed. And started to throw up. I told them so!
In the end, I ended up lying in the reclining plastic chair with my feet up in the air, covered in cold wet towels, and holding a cup of water with a sippy straw. Oh, there was also a garbage can strategically positioned next to me. All this in the middle of the Illini Room with several other donors staring as they calmly squeezed their rubber balls. I'm not usually one to feel pathetic, but... this was pathetic. About 15 mins later when I was finally told that I had color back in my face, they made some nurse walk me over to the snack table and made sure I ate something before I was allowed to leave.
So. That's the tale about how I go from being a good little blood donor to a towel-covered loser in the course of 10 minutes. :) Luckily though I was about 80% done when this whole ordeal began, so they said the donation was still usable. So it wasn't a total loss!