Before I get to my adventurous day today, I’ve gotta stop and point out how important stuff like blood donations, organ donations, and plasma donations are. My family has a few members who aren’t in peak condition, and generally spend a lot of time at doctor’s offices being poked and prodded with needles and whatever. People who donate parts of themselves (whether for money or not) are really incredible because they make it possible for others, like some of my family, to live fairly normal lives. Which I am and will be eternally grateful for.
Now, that being said, I have a mighty fear of needles. Mighty fear. Borderline irrational I’ve decided after yesterday.
It all started about two weeks ago. One of my friends had brought up how he was going to do plasma donations to get a little extra money to help pay for groceries. I thought that’d be cool, and that’s a really good idea, but I’ll just get a job. Fast forward to the next week, we had decided to both head down to the plasma donation center and donate together. I’m crazy, I swear.
So last Thursday we go up to the front desk and schedule an appointment for the following Tuesday. At this point, I’m not putting a lot of thought into it, you know? It’s like four days away, It’s not a big deal. Tuesday I was mildly nervous, but as we went into the center, we were told that we apparently hadn’t eaten enough that day, and so they’d have to reschedule us. Okay, that’s fine. Whatever. Rescheduled the appointments to Thursday at noon. Cool.
Wednesday goes by and I get assignments turned in, go to classes. My friend and I were hanging out that night and planning the next day, right? He knows I’ve got a fear of needles, I know he doesn’t, we talk about food plans, needles, and then go home.
Thursday morning, (yesterday) we meet at the campus cafeteria and grab a pretty fantastic meal. Meat, potatoes, gravy, I picked up some peanut m&m’s and my friend grabbed a banana. So we go and we eat, and I get full and put the m&m’s in my bag, and then we leave.
We get to the donation center, check in, and then sit down. We’re just hanging out when they call us and we start going through the paperwork and everything. That’s cool. Easy stuff, although I did have some trouble remembering exactly what my address was, but overall it was just writing my name. Finished that and went to sit in a different part of the waiting room. My friend and I read through the paperwork stating the HIV/AIDS risks and everything, then we start watching Flyboys on the TV. (The one in World War One with James Franco in France as a fighter pilot.)
Then they called us back separately and asked some more questions, and pricked my finger to get some blood. I forgot why they needed a blood sample, but they did, and they put it in a centrifuge thing, and that was all cool to watch. I was apparently super tired, because I kept yawning.
And then everything was black for a second.
The next thing I remember is waking up on the ground. Apparently I passed out. The nurse said he caught me on the way down and helped me down, so I didn’t hit anything. I was also only out for about 20-30 seconds. Another nurse came in and had me sit up against the wall and drink some Powerade they brought into me. After a couple questions I was moved to another room with a bed so I could lie down. I spent about 0.2 seconds on my back before deciding I would sit up. We checked vitals for a bit, the nurse checked my eyes, my neck, my head. I was basically treated for shock and concussion. He then handed me my backpack that I brought in so I could get my almonds out and munch on those. Somewhere during all of this, I felt dizzy and went back onto my back.
My friend was brought in so we could figure out what to do. I didn’t really want to walk home by myself, because even though it was only like a 5-10 minute walk, I wasn’t entirely sure I wouldn’t faint again. After talking to him and a couple other nurses, we agreed that I could just sit out in the waiting room while my friend finished the donation process. After reassuring him that I was okay, he left and I continued to sit there. The nurse that was assigned to monitor me was super nice and I enjoyed chatting with him, we did the whole small talk thing while he took my vitals every couple of minutes, and just waited for probably and hour or more.
Sometime around two I was deemed fit to sit out in the waiting room. My friend was out there shortly after I got out, and I explained exactly what I had been told had happened. He sort of said I told you so. (Him and one of my roommates were totally convinced I would pass out, I was totally convinced I wouldn’t. You can see how well that worked out for me.) Then the movie RED came on, and we watched that for a bit before he was called back. Somewhere during the movie I felt really tired, so I did that sort of sleep you do when you’re in a crowd of people but can’t keep your head up. So I heard a bunch of the movie, and then woke up to all of them being in a cabin in the middle of nowhere and a mild confusion as to how the characters got there from the mansion place they seemed to have just been at. The rest of the movie was pretty cool though. I plan on going back and rewatching it so I can see everything I missed while I slept.
My friend finished right about that time and so we left the center and grabbed food at a Thai food place only a block away. After that, we decided the next big goal was to get me back to my apartment without me passing out again. I said I would warn him if I started to feel like I was going to faint again, and we set off. Luckily, I didn’t faint and I made it home safely.
The whole day sort of ended up being a huge bust, because they didn’t really pay me for fainting, and I’m just as broke as before. I didn’t even get to the needles before fainting. Also, somewhere in my fainting, I hit my sternum and now have a huge bruise that covers a good portion of my rib cage. They said I probably hit myself on the counter as I fell, but I’m thoroughly convinced my bra got caught and the underwire caused this wicked bruise. I’ve spent most of the day trying not to stretch wrong or breathe too deep or laugh too hard because of it. I’m hoping it’ll be better by the end of the month.
Cool stuff is, we found out that the Thai food place in town has some pretty fantastic food, and we’ll probably go there again. My mom and I also got a chance to work on my resume some more, so I can actually get a job soon to help me pay for the next semester of college.
blindunderground 