My Blood Story

How’s that for a title to grab your attention? I’m laughing at myself (shaking my head in wonder) and thought maybe I could bring you a smile too. This really did happen. It happened June 2006, and this is the note I wrote to my friends that day.  Enjoy!


I gave blood today…lots of it. I know -- some of you who know me best just got very worried. No, I didn’t make any trips to the hospital and my skin is still intact. I actually donated my blood. It’s been a long time since I have done this. In fact, I had no idea that I was going to do this when I woke up in the morning. The Red Cross was at the place where I work and some happy voice over the intercom suggested we go give blood if we were able. Hmmm, time away from my computer and a chance to be social - sounds like a great idea. So you might think that I feel excited now to have been able to help out; proud, generous, happy, patriotic, etc… I have none of that. There are four words that keep going through my head – WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?  When I picked up my kids after work, I described the procedure to my kids like this, “See this hole in Mommy’s arm. This is where blood came out. Then they filled a bag, kinda like a Ziploc bag but bigger, with my blood.” (I even raised my hand and wiggled a pretend blood-filled Ziploc bag for effect.) “Ehhh,” said my children. Yep. (I think I forgot to tell them about the needle and the tube. I can only imagine the picture in their heads.)

I’m not trying to convince anyone to run away from giving blood. I’m just challenging the wisdom of ME giving blood.  I am also 20 years older than the last time I gave blood.  I’m not sure how such a renegade thought made it to the action part of my brain – “go, give blood, what’s it gonna hurt?” I tried to encourage a friend to come give with me. He was smart – he didn’t come. He admitted he was too scared. Even my own blood pressure tried to change my mind – sitting at an uncommonly high 140 over 96 (and this without being nervous). But no…I was ready. I’ve never fainted during blood donations to the Red Cross….only to blood donations to my doctor’s office…and that was just once after very little sleep and no food. Oh, hmmm. I only had 5 hours of sleep last night and a small breakfast several hours ago. No problem!

So how did I do, you ask? I did very well sitting in the waiting area for 45 minutes. My only nervousness was about how long I was away from my desk. I knew some of the guys around me and it was funny to watch how nervous they were. Some shook their feet, some shook their whole leg, some tapped their fingers and one guy could not stop talking. For most of them, this was their first time. They had heard horror stories of people feeling nauseas and fainting. Thank goodness these guys were in front of me in line! I didn’t end up being the best poster child for blood donating. During the fact-finding stage (full of questions), the nurse tried to find me in the computer system. Did they have computer records 20 years ago? While looking for me, I had them check for me under my maiden name. They couldn’t find me; therefore, they keyed me in as a new victim (patient). Somehow through all of this, I was registered as Jennifer Diller (my maiden name). It took them what seemed like forever to try to change my last name. At this point I didn’t care – just take my blood! The guys that I knew in line got further ahead of me…thankfully. This way they were done and gone before my performance. When it was my turn to join the circle of blood givers, I hopped into my chair with confidence. My only problem was that after an hour and fifteen minutes of waiting, I really needed to use the bathroom. But of course, I decided it could wait. (And no, this story does not end with me soiling anything!) The nurse shoved the needle in my arm (yes, it hurt) and let the blood start flowing through the tube into the “Ziploc Bag”. (No, I did not look. That would have guaranteed fainting.) I had my choice of orange juice, Pepsi, or tomato juice. Tomato Juice? Now, why would you want to drink anything thick and red while giving blood?? Seriously! I sipped my Pepsi and watched the other four contestants (including one cute guy across the way) give their blood.

My bag was almost full when my body decided I had given enough. By now it had been almost five hours since I had eaten. The nurse was actually relieving me of my needle when things started to go wrong. I felt icky, and I tried to tell myself it was all in my head. I believe I moaned out loud. That’s when I was asked if I wanted my chair to lie back and if I wanted another Pepsi. Sure. I hoped that the Pepsi would fix everything. But as I started to feel hopeful, I watched in agony as the Red Cross volunteer (the only one with a walker) tried to carry my open cup of Pepsi in one hand and slowly push her walker with the other. (No kidding.) I also knew there was a thick power cord between her and me that she would have to maneuver around. I think I moaned again. Then that fainting feeling started closing in. That’s a horrible feeling. I just wanted to lie down, and I told the nurse as much. Next thing I know, they are bringing “the chair”. They moved me from the blood donating chair to a huge, orange, we-now-have-everyone’s-attention-including-the-cute-guy-across-the-way chair. This chair was actually a padded version of a utility dolly. I was tipped backward and rolled to a cot. Once on the cot with a fan blowing directly on me, I started to feel better. At this point, I really just wanted to take a long nap. They stationed a nurse beside me armed with more Pepsi and a couple cookies. It took some time before I could sit up and some more before I knew my legs would hold me. My urgency in trying to get better was increasing…the almost fainting did nothing to relieve my earlier bladder pressure. A trip to the bathroom finally won over the fear of fainting once I left the room, and I was off.

The “I must be minutes from a heart attack” feeling never went away today. I used the elevator at work for the very first time since I started…used it twice. I did go up the stairs once and thought I was going to have to curl up under my desk for a few minutes. The guys who were in the waiting area with me never knew that although I was braver than them before the task, I had such an event afterwards. The friend that I tried to convince to give blood with me asked through an interoffice online chat message how it went. “Peachy,” I said. He’s never given blood before, and I didn’t want to scare him anymore than he already was.

There you have it! Will I ever give blood again? Not unless it is VERY important. I’ll leave that job for those in their 20s! I hope you had as much fun reading about my adventure as I had recalling it.

Share