Trauma at the Blood Center
Dec. 7th, 2004 04:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
Yesterday, I received a call from someone at our local blood bank, asking people who have given blood before (or in my case, attempted to) to do so now, since it was the holiday season and we have to make sure all the drunk drivers who will be hurting themselves and others have enough blood or whatever. So since I had attempted to donate blood a couple of months back but the timing didn't work, I figured this was a sign for me to attempt it again.
The first time I ever tried to give blood was in college. My blood was too thick or something, so the flow wasn't good, and a nurse had to sit with me and massage my arm to try and get the blood flowing. And even though I had filled most of a bag, it was in danger of clotting or whatever, so they had to finally give up. The experience put me off donating blood for a really long time (this year, in fact), because not only am I not a big fan of needles, but it was uncomfortable and I had a giant bruise at the site of where the needle went in for weeks and it was all for nothing. The discomfort of the experience would have been worth it if I could have at least made a contribution, but they couldn't even use the blood that was collected. I was afraid that it wasn't just a one-time thing, and I didn't want to go through it again if it was all going to be for naught, so I didn't do it for a long, long time.
I remembered that in order to help thin the blood, I should drink a lot of water. Only, apparently I had forgotten when I was supposed to do that, because you're actually supposed to do it the day before, not the day of. But I hoped for the best, and they went through the procedure again of trying to get blood out of me. Apparently, however, it was not unlike trying to get blood out of a stone. I had nearly filled a bag, when the blood simply stopped flowing. I don't even know how that is possible. The needle's in my vein, the vein is responsible for carrying blood, so whereTF was it???
So the long and the short of it is, THE SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN. They had to stop it (but not until after countless minutes of probing and readjusting the needle and tightening the tourniquet and what not) and all the blood I'd given just went to waste. Argh!! They said I had "problem veins," and I should totally drink water the day before. I'm like, I don't have problem veins. I have veins that are like, "OMG SHE'S BLEEDING. STOP RIGHT NOW." So really? I think they're good veins. :-l But now my arm aches and feels weak and it was again all for nothing. Wah.
I have decided that I will give it one more chance. I would really, really like to be able to donate blood, but I'm not going to do it if it's a waste every single time. Next time I give it a shot, I'll drink gallons of water the day before. And if the same thing happens again, that's it. No more donating blood for me. Three strikes and I'm outta there.
I wonder if I will have a spectacular bruise again this time around. If I do, I will take a picture of it and share with all of you. It's so fascinating and disgusting.
On a completely unrelated tangent, you know that song "Give You Back" by Vertical Horizon? For the longest time, I thought the lyric was "give you a path." And you know, it makes so much more sense. The next line is "somewhere out of here." So wouldn't it make sense to give someone a path somewhere out of wherever? Not back. Back where, anyway? And sometimes, it totally doesn't even sound like he's saying "back." In fact, if the song title wasn't "Give You Back," I would argue for the "path" lyric. Hmph.
The first time I ever tried to give blood was in college. My blood was too thick or something, so the flow wasn't good, and a nurse had to sit with me and massage my arm to try and get the blood flowing. And even though I had filled most of a bag, it was in danger of clotting or whatever, so they had to finally give up. The experience put me off donating blood for a really long time (this year, in fact), because not only am I not a big fan of needles, but it was uncomfortable and I had a giant bruise at the site of where the needle went in for weeks and it was all for nothing. The discomfort of the experience would have been worth it if I could have at least made a contribution, but they couldn't even use the blood that was collected. I was afraid that it wasn't just a one-time thing, and I didn't want to go through it again if it was all going to be for naught, so I didn't do it for a long, long time.
I remembered that in order to help thin the blood, I should drink a lot of water. Only, apparently I had forgotten when I was supposed to do that, because you're actually supposed to do it the day before, not the day of. But I hoped for the best, and they went through the procedure again of trying to get blood out of me. Apparently, however, it was not unlike trying to get blood out of a stone. I had nearly filled a bag, when the blood simply stopped flowing. I don't even know how that is possible. The needle's in my vein, the vein is responsible for carrying blood, so whereTF was it???
So the long and the short of it is, THE SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN. They had to stop it (but not until after countless minutes of probing and readjusting the needle and tightening the tourniquet and what not) and all the blood I'd given just went to waste. Argh!! They said I had "problem veins," and I should totally drink water the day before. I'm like, I don't have problem veins. I have veins that are like, "OMG SHE'S BLEEDING. STOP RIGHT NOW." So really? I think they're good veins. :-l But now my arm aches and feels weak and it was again all for nothing. Wah.
I have decided that I will give it one more chance. I would really, really like to be able to donate blood, but I'm not going to do it if it's a waste every single time. Next time I give it a shot, I'll drink gallons of water the day before. And if the same thing happens again, that's it. No more donating blood for me. Three strikes and I'm outta there.
I wonder if I will have a spectacular bruise again this time around. If I do, I will take a picture of it and share with all of you. It's so fascinating and disgusting.
On a completely unrelated tangent, you know that song "Give You Back" by Vertical Horizon? For the longest time, I thought the lyric was "give you a path." And you know, it makes so much more sense. The next line is "somewhere out of here." So wouldn't it make sense to give someone a path somewhere out of wherever? Not back. Back where, anyway? And sometimes, it totally doesn't even sound like he's saying "back." In fact, if the song title wasn't "Give You Back," I would argue for the "path" lyric. Hmph.
