a weird fact

You know those silly questionnaires that ask you to list 25 things about yourself that others wouldn't know? I've done a couple but one fact I've always left off because I didn't want to seem weird or like a goody two shoes...or a weird little goody two shoes.

I like donating blood.

It started my junior year of high school at a blood drive in our drama class. I felt like I had made a difference and I decided that whenever asked, I would donate blood. So senior year and throughout college I faithfully gave at blood drives. I started donating post college too & continued pretty faithfully until this last year.

After I moved about 30 minutes north of where I donated, things got hectic and I dropped the donating ball until this past Saturday.

Well another thing on my list that I haven't shared is that I'm always a problem when I donate. It's never an intentional problem but always a problem. I have a tendency to scare the technicians with each donation.

In an effort to be proactive, I did everything right prior to donating. I stopped caffeine for a day and a half (if you know me, you know this is a huge deal since I live off of caffeine and sugar). I ate plenty of iron rich foods prior to donating. I felt confident this time I would not be a problem.

My iron levels were well above the limit. My blood pressure was commendable. My pulse a healthy, active rate. Yes, this time donating would be different!

As I sat down to donate, I had a little conversation to prepare the technician for what was going to happy...after all, I'm a donating pro.

me: So Janette, let me tell you what happens when I give blood. I give really fast--always under 8 minutes. I do just fine until the very end. The color leaves my face and I've heard it's pretty scary. Just get me some juice & I'll be fine in no time.
Janette the technician: Um...ok? I think it's because you think it's going to happen. I want you to think about some place you want to visit, not about the blood, ok?
me: ok!

So for the next 7 minutes Janette and I visit about her family. I felt very comfortable with her. Then She took the needle out of my arm & it started. I got very hot. I told Janette. As she walked over to turn the fan towards me, tunnel vision and muffled hearing hit me like a ton of bricks. The next thing I know I have a couple of ice packs on me and a swarm of technicians around me. One tried to give me juice but I couldn't grab it for a minute or so.

Once I had my juice, the tunnel vision subsided and I could hear clearly, I apologized. I told them I tried so hard to not be a bother in all aspects of life but the one thing I was always difficult with was donating blood.

How weird is that? I seriously thought I was a medical oddity. I called Nurse Cheryl & told her about it. She came up with several reasons why that happens each time I donate. None of those reason have anything to do with being a medical oddity. :-)

So that's my weird fact: I love to donate blood but probably shouldn't be a donor.