Most Epic Blood Donation Fail Ever

So I  like to donate platelets. It takes about 90 minutes, and the collection center by me gives you a DVD player to sit with during and watch any movie (that they provide) that you want. Snacks galore, free. All you have to do is give them your arm and squeeze a squeegee every 10 seconds.

So here I am, trying to donate. The nurse I had that stuck me was new (i think) and didn't get a great vein. The machine kept beeping and they couldn't get it to flow (I also have weird veins). They called over their more expert nurses to try and get it to work and no one could. So, they said the words I thought they would never say- "We can't use you today."  I thought.....aren't they desperate for blood? Didn't they- CALL ME- Asking if I can *please* donate my blood type? And now they're giving up?

I asked them, well- "Can't we try the other arm?"

Nurse: "No."

Me: "Why not?"

Nurse: "because we can't."

Me: "Okay. Well can I still try and donate whole blood, then?"

Nurse: "No."

Me: "Why not?"

Nurse: "because its our policy. We tried you once already today we can't keep trying."

Me: "Okay. Fine...."


So I closed my nifty DVD player, and off I went.

Nurse: "Oh, but m'am- we still ask that you sit in our little snack area- being that we did take some blood out of you."

Me: "-_-"  (facial expression)



So if you ever have donated blood, you know that the snack area is usually composed of elderly volunteers that like to talk your ear off and get you snacks. You are given a slip after you donate that marks the time you finish, and the time you can leave- So they can make sure nothing happens to you. They still gave me the full time to sit and wait, even though I donated an 1/8 of the regular donation. But the little elderlies don't know this, nor did I feel like explaining it so I could ditch early.


Volunteer: "What can I get you to drink?"

Me: "Oh, nothing- I brought ProPel to drink from home."

Volunteer: "Oh. Well I'm supposed to offer you something.....Soda? Chocolate Milk? Coffee?"

Now, I can't drink any of those, being that I'm allergic to everything. So I take a look at their fridge, their contents open for everyone to see because it had a clear door, like a vending machine.

Me: "Um.....Okay.....Can I have some orange juice then?"

Volunteer: "Oh, no. We're not allowed to give out the orange juice."

Now, here I thought she was kidding- being that she was already giving me a hard time about picking a beverage out. But she wasn't.

Me: "Um...?"

Volunteer: "Its a new policy they made the other day. See, it says so right up there (in fine print), that they did a study out in TimBuckToo that says orange juice after blood donations causes upset stomach.


THis is where Volunteer #2 steps in: "Well, if we can't offer it then why is it visible? I think if it should be visible then I can't possibly say no. Thats a tease. We should give it away. We can't throw it away."

Volunteer #1 (says to me): "Do you want to take home the orange juice?"

Me: "Um..."

Volunteer #2: "You can't ask her if she wants the orange juice after you just said she couldn't have it!"

Here pipes in another prisoner waiting at the table, "Um....I had the orange juice From Volunteer #2, and my stomach is fine."

Me: "Yeah, actually I barely got to donate- So I think I'll be fine."

Volunteer: "Okay fine, but I'm giving you a little. And if you get a stomach ache, I warned you."

Me: "Got it, thanks."

So here is where I pull out my allergen free cookies from home to munch on. I bring these because I can never usually eat the junk food they offer to replenish sugar levels after donating.

Volunteer: "Oh, you brought your own cookies?"

Me: ".....yes."


Volunteer: "Oh. Are they sugar free?"

Me: "No. Dairy free."

Volunteer #2: "oH, are you a diabetic?! I am too."

Me: "um....No. The cookies have plenty of sugar I'm sure. I am not a diabetic. They have no milk...because I am lactose intolerant.

Volunteer: "Oh.....my cousin's aunt's brother's friend is lactose intolerant. He has a terrible time with it."

Me: "Yeah......."


Volunteer #2:  "Oh!!!! We have these cookies over here that are GLUTEN-FREE! Do you want THEM?!"

Me: "Um, no thank you. I can eat gluten."




And that is how you make friends.





 ~WNB


.

Oh, I Didn't Check the Blood Calendar...

Miller Keystone Blood Bank calls me. (This is a first).


me: hello?

MKBB: Hello! We are in an extreme shortage of your  blood type. Would you be able to come in soon to donate?

Me: Um.....yeah, how about tomorrow?

MKBB: Great!! Is whole blood okay?

Me: Yeah...I can also donate platelets too, if you need. Whichever you need more, I don't mind either.

MKBB: *pause* Well, we don't need platelets tomorrow. We're going to have a shortage of platelets on....Wednesday.

Me: Wednesday?

MKBB: Wednesday.

Me: But not tomorrow?

MKBB: Nope. We have enough platelets for tomorrow. Can you come in Wednesday?

Me: No. I'm busy.

MKBB: Okay, so whole blood it is, tomorrow.


Me: Okay then......



Does *anyone* else see that as weird, or am I just going crazy??




~WNB

How You Can Save a Life...

....AND save your own!



I am registered with Miller-Keystone Blood Center  to help donate blood in times of need. A couple days ago I got an email that they were in an extreme shortage of blood due to a recent high occurrence of trauma and illness. So right away I made an appointment. Since I have donated before and have been screened, I am a candidate to donate platelets. I also have O+ which is the universal donor- So to me, I feel guilty not donating. I feel like I have been blessed with givable blood- I should give it if I don't need it at that present moment. Plus, you might need it again one day.

Its sort of ironic that the universal donors, the givers in the blood community, are the ones that can only take that one blood type back in. Meaning if you're in your own case of trauma and need blood quickly, they can't just give you any blood. They have to make sure you get O + back.


I love to donate, really. As a nurse, I can save lives every day on the medical floors or on the field. But there is something really cool in knowing that just by sitting there for up to an hour squeezing a ball, I might have just saved three peoples life. While I watched a movie and ate cookies. And anyone can do it, not just nurses, thats the beautiful part. Doctors, firefighters, teachers, businessmen, mechanics, waitresses, painters, you get the idea.

But there is something eerie about it, too. Your blood that ran through your body, got pumped by your heart, filtered by your liver, is now in someone else, running through their system. Part of you is inside someone else. Someone you bump into in the grocery store or drive by, maybe. How crazy weird is that? And whats more weird, what about getting a blood transfusion? I haven't received blood since I was a wee baby and needed it to save my life, but I can imagine it must be weird. Someone elses blood running through my veins? Weird!

I hold blood all the time in the hospital when I go to pick up blood bags from the lab, ready for infusion to the patient. Its weird, holding it, just looking at it. A bag of blood that was in someone's body- is now freezing cold and in your hands, in a bag, ready to go into another body.
Isn't it fascinating how the world works that way? How we figured out once upon a time that we could do that?

In the army medical bases, where blood supplies are limited at times due to very high trauma, they already have all acceptable donors in service on call and their blood types. In an extreme shortage, everyone is called to donate to help save the very people that are fighting alongside of them. How fascinating is that? That, to me, puts a whole new meaning into brotherhood. Everyone, working collectively together, to help save those beside them. Donating your blood so it can go into your friend in need in a few minutes...I would love to see that comradery and be in that environment. Maybe one day.



Ta ta for now, off to work in the hospital for the rest of the night....woo!



PS- Yesterday, I donated. And all day I felt more awake and less-tired than I have in a long time. How does that work? Isn't that the exact opposite of what is supposed to happen? Sometimes I swear my body does the exact opposite of what its supposed to, most days.



PSS- Sign up to donate today. It doesn't hurt (much). You get cookies after. And sometimes Ritas. And juice. and get to watch movies. And they spoil you. :)  Save a life. Save your own.