Give 'Til it Hurts

I just had to go do it. Had something to prove, I guess. Well, after I'd bitched to the Lab Director about the Red Cross blood collection drives never being scheduled at times even remotely convenient to third shifters, I figured I'd better go when they actually had one late at night. Then after dealing with some very bad patients all this week and seeing how many blood components that got used, I figured they really need every donor they can get. And knowing full well summertime is the usual crisis time for blood need...it was the perfect storm of obligation.

I did it again. I thought I wouldn't this time. I so hoped I wouldn't this time. I passed out lying flat on my back on the table. This makes three out of five donations I've pulled that stunt. Not just getting dizzy, I'm talking a million miles away out. I warned the nurses well beforehand I had a tendency to pass out. So they gave me a pop to sip while I was filling the bag. Everything was okay and dandy until right up to before she took out the needle. I felt that floaty sensation, and I had just enough time to tell her I felt light-headed and that I was going. Well, I went. Not sure where, but they said it was only for about 10 seconds. Each time it's like I've had 6 hours of sleep compacted into a few seconds and I wake up wondering what the hell all these people are doing standing around my bed, holding my legs up. It's a real trip. Almost refreshing. I vaguely remember dreaming about smiling faces and brilliantly colored flowers, so it was almost a drag to come back.

Unfortunately after all the time I had to spend there sitting/laying and waiting to feel normal again, it left no time for my coworker to donate. It took a long time. Everyone kept asking me if I had eaten, and the answer to that question at any given time is nearly always 'Yes'. So it seems the wuss factor strikes again. Because everything else was normal.

On the plus side, I did fill that entire unit, and I got to sit there and eat Oreos and drink fruit punch and talk to people AND get paid for it.

I think I am convinced I should give up donating. I just don't take to it well. I still feel sort of drained. I think I'm going to sit around and do a whole lot of nothing this weekend.

Having said that, I would encourage anyone else who is in good health and who doesn't have tendencies to faint to donate. When you work in a hospital, you really see how much of a need there is every day. Yes, it takes a little time (sheesh, the paperwork and questionnaire took nearly as long as the actual donation...that has certainly changed in the last few years), and there is a tiny bit of pain. Just a tiny bit.

And you get cookies!