My arm SUCKS! I failed failed failed to donate blood. I've always had this weird issue where my blood is super slow. Which I guess is a good thing if I ever cut off my arm...maybe I won't bleed to death? But it makes for a frustrating donation process. I mean you read all the materials that you've read 8432349 times before, you fill out the survey, you answer the technicians questions, they test your temperature, your blood pressure, your iron count. And then they get you all prepared and slather on the iodine, stick you with the big needle, only to (in my case) dig around in there for ten minutes trying to get your blood to pour out faster, only to finally get that fateful look on the technician's face: "It doesn't look like you're going to make it in time". (For those of you have never donated before, they only allow you 15 minutes in which to donate your blood, for fear of it clotting.) Sigh. Oddly enough, however, over the past ten years, I guess I've donated some 30 times and honestly I've been given the heave 'slow' less than a dozen, maybe even only half a dozen times. So that's not too bad really, in the grand scheme of things. Awhile back, however, maybe four years ago, I really got discouraged and stopped donating all together! Now, of course, my List binds me to keep donating, but what happens after the list? As I sat in that vinyl chair last night, I watched a woman who had been pierced some 5-10 minutes AFTER me finish her pint in less than five minutes. So discouraging. See, practically everyone I know won't donate because they're afraid of needles or blood. And here I am totally willing to put myself through the slight pain (especially all the digging they have to do in my arm) and the inconvenience of driving to the burbs, only to be sent home sans donation. And PS what do they do with my blood if I don't make the whole pint? They throw it out :( WHY?!! Well, after some googling I discovered that the following could be a good reason:
"The collection bags have a certain amount of anti-coagulant in them to keep the blood from clotting while it’s being collected (the bag is rocked back and forth on a machine, to help with this as well.) The amount of anti-coagulant is based on the volume of blood the bag can hold (these ones expect a donation of ~400- 450 mL). If there is not enough blood in the bag, the ratio of anti-coagulant to blood will be off, which will somehow render the blood unusable for donation purposes" - Fellow Blogger
In my google frenzy, I did find a lot of other people who have this problem and started to feel a little more comforted. Perhaps a combination of my low blood pressure (last night 104/60, normal is 120/80; according to this chart I'm on the border of "low normal" and hypotension!) and a slight dehydration (instead camel'ing up the day before, I should pound the H20 a week or more ahead of time, although that didn't even work for my fellow mud-blood, David).
At the end of the day it's easy to feel discouraged, but even with the trek to the burbs, the questionaires, the tests, and the vein digging, it really is the easiest thing in the world to donate blood (barring any severe phobia). And it really is no skin off my back if they end up throwing away my half filled bag. At least I'm giving it the ol' Harvard try. So I'll try once again come May 20th or so. After that I'll donate twice in the summer (July 20thish and Sept 20thish) to try to make up for my lack of a donation in the winter. If I get another heave 'slow' I'll make up for it in some other way...maybe donate money to the Blood Center of WI or something.
Moving along here, and to conclude this post with something that has nothing at all to do with blood, I have to write about how I sort of reinvented a "healthy" Big Mac! With the help of my sister's Boca Burger suggestion (I used the "flame grilled" kind), I mixed together some relish/ketchup/light miracle whip, topped with lettuce and provolone, slapped it all between two pieces of Natural Ovens Healthy Beginnings Honey Wheat and grilled to melt the cheese. Obviously it really is nothing like an ACTUAL Big Mac, but honestly tastes just as good! The Boca Burgers are DELISH (I'm such a late bandwagon jumper) and like three grams of fat. The white cheese and light whip really don't add too much more fat to it.
Yum.
The Faux Mac.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I started getting light headed, wincing and my arm was throbbing while reading your blood donating story. Whew!!! I suck! I would totally be a donor if I didn't sweat profusely and black out every time I've had even just a little blood drawn!!!!
If my dad were still alive, you guys could be blood donor friends! He like won an award for donating so much - type O-negative!
Awww poor Katesi!! That is beyond annoying. But I'm still really proud of you for constantly trying and never giving up. I would have totatlly bailed by now out of pure frustration. I think your plan sounds good. You never know, maybe it's just a situational thing and next time will be better. I'm sure you're at least scoring points with the Big Man upstairs! :)
And YAY for Faux Macs!!!
BLOOD BUDDIES! That's what they'll call us! Well, maybe things will pick up. I just have to remember to drink more water. Some people say it really makes a difference.
And don't worry about not donating Monicat...you're helping KITTIES instead!! And some just really have that phobia...I wouldn't want you to pass out and vom everywhere...they probably wouldn't be able to take you're blood anyway ;) ha!
Well trying is all a person can really do Zeetlebug :) Plus I guess it's nice keeping a mental record of one's BP/pulse...that way if one day it's way off the average, maybe it'll be a good way of being able to catch something wrong early? Hopefully that won't ever happen though!
Yup! the one time in HS I tried to donate I was severly flipping out the whole time, couldn't handle squeezing my fist so it took forever, and yea - they threw out my blood. So then in college I felt bad not wanting to donate so instead I volunteered at a blood drive. I was supposed to keep the donors company -just chit chat to distract them, but well, I saw the needle go in and the blood bag fill up...I started seeing dots, got dizzy, blacked out (but still conscious!) and ended up laying on the ground until someone had to help me walk over to the snack area before I could see again. Yea, worst volunteer EVER!!!
But yay kitties! I do NOT faint at the site of kitty poo!
Oh man that SUCKS! I'm pretty fascinated with watching them put the needle in and seeing the blood drain out...but I'll stop there because you're probably seeing stars and spots at your desk at this point!!!
Being a kitty volunteer is just as important! They need love too, especially the shy misunderstood ones!!
Hey Katie, since you've done so much research on blood donation, have you ever heard anything about people who have had severe mono and donating? I couldn't in high school because I had really horrible mono for like a month and i guess my blood was tainted with disease! I'm not sure if I can donate or not(?) It's such an awesome thing to do though, keep up the good work! Monica, you volunteer with Kitties!? So cool. The best volunteer experience I had was Josh and I used to help mentally disabled people in an arts and crafts class back at UWO. They had such a great time working with all the materials AND were so appreciative just to have someone sit and talk with them.
Don't give up because you have slow blood Kitty! The good thing is that you are healthy enough to donate and you don't have any issues with seeing blood. If I can give blood (?) I will totally do it sometime, maybe we can go together. I don't get woozy from blood either.
PS. Boca Burgers ROCK! Love them! I totally used to eat them back in college when i ate much healthier! I need to start again now that we have to be all skinny for Chelsea's wedding. I just load mine up with veggies and it's awesome! I wonder if the portabella mushroom bun would be yummy with a veggie burger?
I think you're in the clear Tina! I read that after six months, you should be fine to donate again after having mono :) The new facility on Edgerton and 77th (near you of course!) is awesome!!! It's much better than their old facility over on Grange. I checked into the bone marrow donation drives going on and supposedly the downtown Blood Center is having a drive Apr 1st, so hopefully I can get registered then. The odds of being a marrow donor are pretty slim, but I think it would be SUCH a cool experience!!!
John taught art class for mentally disabled people after college! He said it was fun, but sometimes the students would get violent...one even choked him!!
Portobello mushroom bun my FAVORITE!! Especially with some kind of brie cheese or something? I'm definitely going to have to try that with the Boca burgers!
Post a Comment