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.  

There's a first time for everything

And today was the first time I ever gave blood.

I had tried back in High School when the Bloodmobile came to my school, but my blood pressure was always too low.  I tried a couple times with the same results each time.  And then... I just gave up.  And I didn't see much sense in trying over the years, since my blood pressure remained pretty much the same.

Cut to more recent years.  As I've gotten older, heavier and the mom of two kids, my blood pressure has finally hit the normal range.  And, as our local radio station Jack FMwas doing a Halloween Blood Drive, I thought "Now's the time."  I'll readily admit that along with the good feeling of giving blood and having blood points was the swag that Jack was giving away to those who attempted to donate.

The fact that I'm O- was something that I should have thought about before, as I know it's a fairly sought after type (any RH negative is, from my understanding).  So that made me feel even better about it.

I asked Rich to come with me for moral support.  I was very nervous about the whole blood-giving thing.  Part of it is that I'm a REALLY tough stick.  My veins are tiny and deep and it will sometimes take a couple sticks to find a vein that likes to give blood.  Luckily, though, once they find a vein that is cooperative, the blood flows like Spice.

When I got there, the people from Jack and the Red Cross were really happy to see me.  I don't know if I would have seen happier smiles on vampires.  They pointed the way for me to go inside, though because of the smallness of the Blood Mobile, Rich needed to wait outside.

As often happens when I'm nervous, I got very chatty.  Unfortunately, none of the phlebotomists felt very chatty back.  So I ended up feeling pretty foolish as I talked.  The questions were a breeze, with only two that raised possible red flags - Had I come into contact with anyone else's blood in the last twelve months (being the Mom of two boys, that was a definite yes) and do you have any heart or lung problems (again, asthmatic).  But since both were easily explained and I wasn't having breathing problems at the moment, they handed me a bag, tubing and a folder and let me go lie down.

It took a minute or two for them to find my vein and yes, it hurt.  I was trying really hard not to move because I didn't want to pull out the needle.  But once they got it in, things were ok.  They had me squeeze a stress ball every five to ten seconds, though I'm convinced I was squeezing it about every two seconds. Nerves, I know.

At one point, I looked up to find Rich at the exit to the Blood Mobile.  They'd let him in because he said he'd never seen the inside of one.  He couldn't come in the entrance - patient confidentiality.  But there was plenty of room for him to sit at the exit and he was reading a magazine while he waited.

My pint was over before I knew it.  On my way out, I grabbed an orange juice (best thing after any blood draw, in my opinion) and went out to get my swag.  They had donuts from Krispy Creme (NOT my favorite, but beggers can't be choosers) so I took one of those.  I also go coupons for bowling and a free Thickburger at Hardees.  They gave me a baseball cap and a bright orange shirt with "Worst Halloween Costume Ever" written on it.  Then I was able to go get Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream.  Yummmmy.  Rich got a few of the same swag, just for being support.  (Actually, the only thing he didn't get was the baseball cap...)  So that was how I spent my lunch hour.

All in all, it wasn't a bad experience.  And I found out something else interesting while I was there.  Being both RH negative and having been pregnant twice, I am eligible to give plasma at Southern Blood Services.  Having needed to take RhoGAM for both my pregnancies, I know the importance of having the antibodies that help keep RH positive babies safe in RH negative moms.  And, to help a bit more, they offer compensation.  The website doesn't say how much, but since I could give plasma up to twice a week (and blood only every 56 days - I'm next eligible on Christmas Eve), it seems like a good thing for me to look into. And later next week, I think I will.  (With this next week being a bit crazy.)

All this means I'm feeling pretty good about myself.  And that is a good thing.