Folks, give blood. I can't stress this enough. It's been said that only five percent of the eligible population does, and hospitals around the country have acute shortages every year. It's quick and relatively painless for most folks, and it saves lives. The anecdote I'm going to relate here is just amusing to me and should not discourage any healthy adult from giving.
You see, I have an unlucky history with blood donation. Never stops me from coming back, but still. For one thing, I'm almost perpetually iron-deficient despite a reasonable diet and regular vitamins. The week before a blood drive, I have to really make sure to take those multivitamins with extra iron AND a separate iron supplement, eat my red meat, drink plenty of water....and it's often still close to the cutoff. For another, my veins are apparently situated more sideways than most. Good to know for future reference, but until one good phlebotomist recently figured this out and told me, every blood drive meant getting stuck repeatedly because they'd feel the vein there, stick the needle in at a nearly parallel angle, and get nothing. The vast majority of donors sweep in and out of the center without a hitch while this goes down.
So I'm feeling good about my odds today. I let the girl know about my previous difficulties and the angle of my veins. She nods, and after applying the cuff and feeling around a bit, is confident that she's found a nice big vein. She traces it on my arm with a purple marker, and it's in the same spot I'd seen the other person mark. I settle in.
She sticks the needle in...and seemingly misses the vein. So she pulls the needle back without withdrawing completely and pushes it forward again, and again, trying to get the blood flowing. This really hurts. And every time I suck in my breath or grip the armrest the technician pauses uncertainly and says, "Are you O.K.?" Lady, this isn't a danger to my health it just hurts so yes I'm okay and I know my blood is important and I will clench my teeth and clutch the chair but QUIT STOPPING TO ASK IF I'M OKAY AND FINISH IT. She gets another phlebotomist, who also pulls the needle back and forth a couple times before calling over a third. The third one, bless her, tries once and then says to the first, "You've got a skin plug."
The first girl stares back just as blankly as I do. Apparently a tiny piece of skin broke off when she stuck me and it plugged up the needle. They could have moved that needle all afternoon and never gotten it going. So they have to take the needle completely out and start over. At this point my arm is way too tender so I get it bandaged and offer up my other one. The girl clearly feels SO bad about this that it is impossible to be mad at her. She even offers to replace herself, but in over a decade of donations I've never had a 'skin plug' occur and I really don't chalk it up to any ineptitude on her part. She marks my other arm and places the needle expertly on the first try, the bag fills quickly, and I am chomping down cookies in no time.
So now here I sit, both arms wrapped in cheerfully colored self-stick gauze and one arm definitely more tender than the other, but still very glad that I did my part today. And as my husband pointed out...with both arms bandaged, I look like I donated the hell out of my blood today. Hardcore, man.
You see, I have an unlucky history with blood donation. Never stops me from coming back, but still. For one thing, I'm almost perpetually iron-deficient despite a reasonable diet and regular vitamins. The week before a blood drive, I have to really make sure to take those multivitamins with extra iron AND a separate iron supplement, eat my red meat, drink plenty of water....and it's often still close to the cutoff. For another, my veins are apparently situated more sideways than most. Good to know for future reference, but until one good phlebotomist recently figured this out and told me, every blood drive meant getting stuck repeatedly because they'd feel the vein there, stick the needle in at a nearly parallel angle, and get nothing. The vast majority of donors sweep in and out of the center without a hitch while this goes down.
So I'm feeling good about my odds today. I let the girl know about my previous difficulties and the angle of my veins. She nods, and after applying the cuff and feeling around a bit, is confident that she's found a nice big vein. She traces it on my arm with a purple marker, and it's in the same spot I'd seen the other person mark. I settle in.
She sticks the needle in...and seemingly misses the vein. So she pulls the needle back without withdrawing completely and pushes it forward again, and again, trying to get the blood flowing. This really hurts. And every time I suck in my breath or grip the armrest the technician pauses uncertainly and says, "Are you O.K.?" Lady, this isn't a danger to my health it just hurts so yes I'm okay and I know my blood is important and I will clench my teeth and clutch the chair but QUIT STOPPING TO ASK IF I'M OKAY AND FINISH IT. She gets another phlebotomist, who also pulls the needle back and forth a couple times before calling over a third. The third one, bless her, tries once and then says to the first, "You've got a skin plug."
The first girl stares back just as blankly as I do. Apparently a tiny piece of skin broke off when she stuck me and it plugged up the needle. They could have moved that needle all afternoon and never gotten it going. So they have to take the needle completely out and start over. At this point my arm is way too tender so I get it bandaged and offer up my other one. The girl clearly feels SO bad about this that it is impossible to be mad at her. She even offers to replace herself, but in over a decade of donations I've never had a 'skin plug' occur and I really don't chalk it up to any ineptitude on her part. She marks my other arm and places the needle expertly on the first try, the bag fills quickly, and I am chomping down cookies in no time.
So now here I sit, both arms wrapped in cheerfully colored self-stick gauze and one arm definitely more tender than the other, but still very glad that I did my part today. And as my husband pointed out...with both arms bandaged, I look like I donated the hell out of my blood today. Hardcore, man.
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