First Time Donor
There is a reason why I have had six or seven years of blood donating elligibility and have never given. It goes back to high school, when Dr. Randle suspected that I had mono. Of course, to be sure, he had to do blood work. I wasn't particularly nervous, so I let the nurse go about her business. All was going well, then midway through the process I completely passed out. The worse thing is that (according to my mother and the nurse) my body started twitching as soon as I passed out. TWITCHING! How embarrassing! From this point on, I knew that I could never give blood for fear of passing out and twitching in public.
Monday evening, however, I decided to give - first time donor. Under normal circumstances, I would have never given, but this was a special case. The blood drive was for a 6-year-old girl named Dana who has cancer. Even so, I was very nervous. The wait was long, but my time finally came. Kyle, Dana's uncle, let me borrow his ipod so I could just zone out and not have to think about what all was going on. I was listening to Wilco's A Ghost Is Born, and by the time I was through "Hell is Chrome" I was finished and good to go. I sat up slowly and the nurse asked me how I was feeling.
"Just fine," I told her.
"Um, I think we'll have someone walk with you over to the table."
"I'm really okay. I'll be fine."
But she insisted that Keith, the annoying Red Cross blood donating cheerleader, assist me over to the table. I got to the table and sat down. Alex brought me a Coke. I took two sips. The last thing I remember is saying, "I'm feeling really light headed."
I woke up, completely disoriented with Keith in my face. I was zoning in and out, and somehow I got on this stretcher. Keith made me drink a whole bottle of Gatorade. He made me cough. He asked me if I had ever heard of Jane Fonda, and then made me do leg excerises. It was freezing, and he would not let me put on a jacket. He made me eat Fig Newtons.
So I will probably never give blood again, unless Dana or someone like her really needs it.
Monday evening, however, I decided to give - first time donor. Under normal circumstances, I would have never given, but this was a special case. The blood drive was for a 6-year-old girl named Dana who has cancer. Even so, I was very nervous. The wait was long, but my time finally came. Kyle, Dana's uncle, let me borrow his ipod so I could just zone out and not have to think about what all was going on. I was listening to Wilco's A Ghost Is Born, and by the time I was through "Hell is Chrome" I was finished and good to go. I sat up slowly and the nurse asked me how I was feeling.
"Just fine," I told her.
"Um, I think we'll have someone walk with you over to the table."
"I'm really okay. I'll be fine."
But she insisted that Keith, the annoying Red Cross blood donating cheerleader, assist me over to the table. I got to the table and sat down. Alex brought me a Coke. I took two sips. The last thing I remember is saying, "I'm feeling really light headed."
I woke up, completely disoriented with Keith in my face. I was zoning in and out, and somehow I got on this stretcher. Keith made me drink a whole bottle of Gatorade. He made me cough. He asked me if I had ever heard of Jane Fonda, and then made me do leg excerises. It was freezing, and he would not let me put on a jacket. He made me eat Fig Newtons.
So I will probably never give blood again, unless Dana or someone like her really needs it.
posted by Alex & Laura Beth @ 10:33 AM
4 Comments:
At 12:34 PM,
Adrian Blackney said…
When I worked at Briggs & Stratton in Auburn I would do anything to get it out of work, including give blood. So the bloodmobile came and I hadn't eaten all day but they didn't seem to mind. They hooked me up and I was squeezing that little rubber ball like it was my job. Oh, and I have huge veins. So Blood was leaving my body rather rapidly, faster than normal. "Adrian are you okay?" "Um, I really can't see you anymore." Pull the plug, feet in the air, washcloth on the head. "There, there. Here's a cookie and some gatorade." At anyrate, I think I almost died that day and that Bloodmobile lady saved my life. Not the one that didn't care that I hadn't eaten, the one that said "there, there."
At 1:57 PM,
Choral Advocate said…
I gave blood at Ole Miss one time and I passed out for about 15 seconds...the weird part was that I had a mild seizure so I can only give blood in extreme emergencies...so dont get sick on me anytime...latuh
At 3:05 PM,
Alex & Laura Beth said…
Nick, although I appear to be so computer savvy with this new, hip blog, I am not real up and up on the lingo (ref: latuh). Please explain to me what this means before you use it again. And thanks for reading!
Adrian, great story. Now that you mention it, I remember that Keith was placing cold, wet paper towels on my head and neck as well.
Travis, you're being watched.
At 6:08 PM,
Choral Advocate said…
Laura, I hope I did not alarm you with my "latuh" its not really blog talk...it is my ghetto way of saying "later" or "ciao"...but its great that you have a blog so I can see whats goin on...by the way I have an .mp3 of us singing "Abide with Me" on my blog...check it out...talk soon...peace
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