Blood Part 2
Jul. 22nd, 2005 11:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lumy12First of all, I will just say this has been the week from hell work-wise. Too many changes happening at once and not working correctly. Many long hours. If it weren't for my accidental 3-hour nap this evening I definitely wouldn't have the energy to post right now.
The Red Cross was at my work again today for a blood drive. Actually, they were at the much larger company next door. I decided I would do it as long as I got payroll finished on time. I strolled over there with another guy who donates every time, an old pro. They took him first because he had an appointment; I had to wait. I wasn't nervous at all this time though. I felt like an old pro myself, having been through it once and not having a hard time at all. My vital signs checked out okay, though my temperature was almost too high to allow me to donate (99.3, and their limit is 99.5) - she said it's probably due to the weather or drinking coffee or something. (I had finished my coffee like, 4 hours earlier, though) My pulse was good, iron levels good, blood pressure good.
So as I'm sitting there squeezing the little ball as the blood drains out my arm, chatting away with the girl who stuck me, I start to feel kind of tingly. She cheerily informs me I'm over halfway done, I say wow, it's going fast, blah blah. Then I feel more tingly. I stop talking. I think, if I just concentrate, this dizzy feeling will go away in a minute, it has to. But like 30 seconds later, it's worse, I feel my forehead beading up with sweat, and suddenly people sound like they're far away, in a fog... the girl asks if I'm okay and I say "well I'm feeling pretty dizzy..." - they immediately recline my chair, put cold compresses on my forehead and neck, and tell me to pedal my feet as if I'm on a bicycle. They disconnect me (cuz it's time, not cuz I'm a wuss :) and give me some juice. In another minute I feel pretty much back to normal. It was pretty trippy. I guess I almost passed out but they "caught me in time." I've never passed out in my life (unless you count drug-induced times, like before surgery? but I don't remember how it feels when it's happening) so I don't know what it feels like.
The girl in our office who had let us know about it didn't send out any information about eating well before you go, but I remember being told that last time.... the thing is, M. was bringing homemade brownies, and I knew this, and I skipped breakfast so I could fully enjoy the brownies before they disappeared. I also drank roughly 4 cups of coffee, but several hours before donating.... I also was pretty tired, having worked 16 hours the day before and having come in at 3:45am this morning.... plus it's so darn hot.... the girl said all these things could have affected me. I just didn't think it would matter THAT much - I'm really not a wuss! Of course J. had to tease me, cuz he saw them putting the washcloths on me as he was sitting in the snack area getting ready to leave. When I got back to the office everyone was like "Are you okay???" Yes of course, no big deal... I quipped "I guess 4 cups of coffee and a brownie doesn't constitute a low-fat, healthy breakfast!" Well I know better next time.
Will I donate again? Of course! They will be back in October and supposedly we will have more notice and be able to sign up online, instead of signing up in our office and having the sheet sit around, not making it over to the blood people... and I will remember the importance of eating well beforehand.
I'm going to sleep now, hopefully - I think the nap may have caused me to NOT be able to fall asleep right away, but that's usually not an issue for me. I have soooooooooooooo much to do tomorrow, I may not even be online :( even though I want to catch up on stuff on here too.... THERE AREN'T ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY!!!!!! Thank God it's the weekend
The Red Cross was at my work again today for a blood drive. Actually, they were at the much larger company next door. I decided I would do it as long as I got payroll finished on time. I strolled over there with another guy who donates every time, an old pro. They took him first because he had an appointment; I had to wait. I wasn't nervous at all this time though. I felt like an old pro myself, having been through it once and not having a hard time at all. My vital signs checked out okay, though my temperature was almost too high to allow me to donate (99.3, and their limit is 99.5) - she said it's probably due to the weather or drinking coffee or something. (I had finished my coffee like, 4 hours earlier, though) My pulse was good, iron levels good, blood pressure good.
So as I'm sitting there squeezing the little ball as the blood drains out my arm, chatting away with the girl who stuck me, I start to feel kind of tingly. She cheerily informs me I'm over halfway done, I say wow, it's going fast, blah blah. Then I feel more tingly. I stop talking. I think, if I just concentrate, this dizzy feeling will go away in a minute, it has to. But like 30 seconds later, it's worse, I feel my forehead beading up with sweat, and suddenly people sound like they're far away, in a fog... the girl asks if I'm okay and I say "well I'm feeling pretty dizzy..." - they immediately recline my chair, put cold compresses on my forehead and neck, and tell me to pedal my feet as if I'm on a bicycle. They disconnect me (cuz it's time, not cuz I'm a wuss :) and give me some juice. In another minute I feel pretty much back to normal. It was pretty trippy. I guess I almost passed out but they "caught me in time." I've never passed out in my life (unless you count drug-induced times, like before surgery? but I don't remember how it feels when it's happening) so I don't know what it feels like.
The girl in our office who had let us know about it didn't send out any information about eating well before you go, but I remember being told that last time.... the thing is, M. was bringing homemade brownies, and I knew this, and I skipped breakfast so I could fully enjoy the brownies before they disappeared. I also drank roughly 4 cups of coffee, but several hours before donating.... I also was pretty tired, having worked 16 hours the day before and having come in at 3:45am this morning.... plus it's so darn hot.... the girl said all these things could have affected me. I just didn't think it would matter THAT much - I'm really not a wuss! Of course J. had to tease me, cuz he saw them putting the washcloths on me as he was sitting in the snack area getting ready to leave. When I got back to the office everyone was like "Are you okay???" Yes of course, no big deal... I quipped "I guess 4 cups of coffee and a brownie doesn't constitute a low-fat, healthy breakfast!" Well I know better next time.
Will I donate again? Of course! They will be back in October and supposedly we will have more notice and be able to sign up online, instead of signing up in our office and having the sheet sit around, not making it over to the blood people... and I will remember the importance of eating well beforehand.
I'm going to sleep now, hopefully - I think the nap may have caused me to NOT be able to fall asleep right away, but that's usually not an issue for me. I have soooooooooooooo much to do tomorrow, I may not even be online :( even though I want to catch up on stuff on here too.... THERE AREN'T ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY!!!!!! Thank God it's the weekend
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Blood is simple
Date: 2005-07-23 04:13 am (UTC)You silly Stad, you should've remembered from my two experiences about the meal part. But I guess it didn't stick in your head.
I got light-headed the same way both times I donated. The first time I really hadn't eaten enough beforehand - I was working at the hospital and had a snack beforehand, an apple or something, but I hadn't gone to lunch yet.
The second time I knew better. But I guess it was still too much later in the day. I was working at the Metris office then, and had my lunch around 1 or 1:30, and I donated around 3:30 - 4:00 after having to wait for a station for awhile (lots of good peoples donating). You would think that would have been close enough, but it probably doesn't help to be so thin either.
And you should drink plenty of WATER, not coffee, beforehand silly Stad. That should help it flow faster, or something.
I'd do it again too - I haven't been good enough to actually go out on my own and go to an office to do it though, I've just been like you, donating at drives at work. And they haven't had any at my current work, so oh well. Maybe someday I'll be a good doobie and go on a day off.
Oh yeah, and about the fainting - it doesn't FEEL like anything different than that light-headed feeling. You just keep feeling that dizziness coming on, then you blackout, then you wakeup. That's all. I remember fainting as a kid when I walked all the way to a cardshop on McDowell in the heat - stupid me. I also fainted on an engineering trip to the dam (Hoover Dam, maybe? I can't remember, I am stupid now) cuz I hadn't eaten breakfast and we were standing out in the heat awhile. That time, they had me sit in a car for awhile and drink plenty after that and I was fine.
The cardshop people didn't even notice, or didn't want to! Whatever, I just headed over to McD's and got just a large Sprite (not a kitten, a frikkin drink) to regain my wellbeing.
-Stad
Re: Blood is simple
Date: 2005-07-23 09:10 am (UTC)I don't remember you saying you felt faint cuz of not eating - I should have, but then, I didn't really have access to anything healthy cuz I was so rushed to get payroll done.... I guess a breakfast bar would have been healthy? I don't know. I've gotten really bad headaches from being in the heat too long but never had a fainting experience like you either... you know it's dangerous though when you hear about people dropping dead out here every day from the heat (poor homeless people!)
If we get enough advance notice next time you should come donate with me, it's only like 5-7 minutes from my house - they will be back in October, I believe it will be the 14th, it's usually on a Friday.... they always do it from 8am - 12:30pm.
You can donate every 56 days (I think it's funny that it's not like, 2 months.... it's "exactly 56 days") but they come to work only quarterly, which means you're not donating as much as you could but still, 4 times a year is pretty good. I like feeling like my meaningless "life of insignificance" (ha ha, have to keep up with SW references, even if I tweak the words.... like "you OVERestimate my power" ha ha) is at least of SOME use to humanity. And since animals are better than people, I like to donate to my animal charities too, esp. cat-oriented ones... but you can't donate blood to a cat!
no subject
Date: 2008-07-23 03:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-23 05:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-24 02:42 am (UTC)Yeah, waking up on the bathroom floor wasn't fun.