12 October 2021

Talk About It Tuesday - Blood Donation


 

When I was in high school, I tried to donate blood.  At the time, my iron was low and nothing I did was fixing it.  That finger prick HURTS when they are trying to test your iron!  I tried a couple times, but always the same thing.  I gave up until after I moved to Nashville.  Then I gave one time when a local radio station had the Bloodmobile out.  A few years later, I donated at the Bloodmobile at our church.  Then nothing until this past December.


A friend of ours passed away from cancer not too long ago and her husband set up a yearly blood drive in her name (he started it even before she passed because she needed blood so badly).  I'm not sure what caused me to sign up that time - maybe it was COVID and the fact that I'd spent almost a year seeing no one outside my own home, maybe I was feeling guilty about not doing my part - but sign up I did.  And then and there made a promise to myself to donate at least 3 times a year.


I am a universal donor, O-, so the Red Cross is always looking for my blood.  Sometimes I get calls before I can even donate again.  COVID has made the need for blood even more important, which makes me feel even more like I need to give.  The problem is giving blood is ROUGH for me.  Let me take you through a typical timeline of giving blood for me.


I make an appointment through the Red Cross app to donate at Vanderbilt.  I'm familiar with the place and, if the timing is right, Rich is working on site and I can get lunch with him.  I get there the day of my appointment, having taken a spoonful of molasses the night before to get my iron up, having my water bottle with me to hydrate.  I get myself all checked in, having answered the multitude of questions through the RapidPass.  They prick my finger.  Test it.  More often than not, it's too low so I need to leave and reschedule.  But occasionally, the molasses works and I'm able to get on the gurney for them to start the blood draw.


My veins are deep and they like to roll out of the way.  I don't have a usual "good" vein that they can shoot for every time.  So each time I'm there, I will regularly have 2 to 3 people around me, trying to find my veins.  They'll discuss which one is best and finally agree to try for a vein.  They try.  3 times out of four, it moves away from them or they get too deep.  Something goes wrong.  So they move to the other arm and find one there.  More often  than not, they find a vein on the second arm and manage to get a decent stick on that one.  Thankfully, when they finally do find a vein, my blood flows fairly freely and it doesn't take long until I've filled everything up.  But most attempts at giving blood take 3 trips and an hour on the gurney.


Why am I bringing this up now?  Because I gave blood yesterday.  The last try was in August when my iron was really low.  That's when I decided to take iron pills with my morning meds.  They seem to have done the job and they were able to get me right in.  I'm planning on continuing to take the iron, so that won't be a problem in the future.  The actually drawing of blood was as difficult as always.  For some reason, my skin hurt more than it usually did.  Each stick, each movement of the needle as they tried to get the vein.  After the first arm failed, my phlebotomist had to get a new set of bags and set that all up.  As I lay there waiting, I thought about telling him, "Never mind!" I thought about no longer giving blood.  I thought that I shouldn't be putting myself through this.


But then my little voice reminded me that my blood is pretty special.  It's one that can help anyone, regardless of blood type.  And even though it's a discomfort for me to give it, and more trouble than it is for anyone else in there, my blood could make the difference between life and death for someone else.  And that's far more important than any amount of discomfort.  It's one way I can give back to my community.


So please, if you are able, consider giving blood.  I know that it is difficult or impossible for a lot of people - either they have real problems with needles or lifestyle/travel have made their blood undesirable (which, with all the testing they do on blood, shouldn't really be a thing anymore, but I digress) - but if you can, it can help.  You can go to the Red Cross' Blood Donation site and see where and when you can donate in your area.  





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