Yesterday I gave a pint of blood. And in return, the Red Cross gave me 3 small cans of apple juice, 2 bottles of water, a snack bag of pretzels, 2 chocolate chip cookies, a red fleece blanket and a pair of oven mitts.
No, it wasn't an all-you-can-eat buffet (pronounced: boo-fett), but I guess I am just one of those people who are really FUN when they give blood. Meaning, I almost passed out. Again. It happens every time. I thought I'd prepared myself adequately by making sure I ate tons of dark greens the night before and lots of water the day of. But after spending some serious quality time with the nurses and volunteers (they made me stay there for-ev-er), next time I'm going to try some new tactics that I picked up from loitering so long.
1) eat a cheeseburger twenty minutes before I go
2) right before I sit down, chug a bottle of warm water
3) actually listen to my headphones
4) don't try to read anything, including cell phone, which was what I was doing when I got extremely dizzy
It was amazing to be around such nice, good people. From the staff, the volunteers, to the people who were actually donating. You never run into nice people at the DMV, but if you want nice people, head to your nearest Red Cross donation center. When I finally went home, I was in such a good mood, and wouldn't you know it? I slept like a freaking rock. Best night of sleep in a long, long time.
And I feel completely fine today. So I guess the moral of the story is that maybe donating blood shouldn't be easy for me...oh, how I wish I could be one of those people who got up afterwards, drank some juice, and walked out completely fine. But maybe the fact that donating blood is a little harder for me made it more real. Reminded me that hey, yeah, I'm a little uncomfortable right now. But guess what? That's why I was doing it in the first place. To help someone else. To step outside of the selfish fog so many people my age (myself included) live in from day-to-day. Hanging around in that donation center, I was able to watch good people rush in after work to donate blood, platelets, and then go on with their days. A little bit of awareness like that is a good thing from time to time.
The best part is that yesterday's experience did not deter me from trying again after 56 days.
It did, however, teach me that if I'm ever in a knife fight and start to bleed out, I've only got about ten minutes before I lose consciousness. Guess I need to find a new hobby. :)
4 comments:
Glad you made it through...and got some oven mitts out of the deal!
Good for you! I tried to last year, but my time in germany still restricts me. I remember donating with you our summer at DIS. :)
I'm very proud of you! Go Stacy!
Mitts? Fleece? Woah, baby! There is a blood drive tomorrow at school and I plan to stop by and give, thanks for the inspiration. And no, it's not because of all the swag you got :) But I guess that wouldn't hurt.
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