Visiting the Vampires

Manic Mom recently posted about how she donated blood and encouraged others to go do the same. January is Donate your Blood month.

I have not given blood in quite some time. I used to do it at school blood drives, but now I'm not at school. (I realize that's an excuse). I feel motivated to do it now thanks to Manic, but I make no promises. Even though I eat very healthy, sometimes my iron is too low and they won't let me. Now its story time.

The first or maybe it was the second time I gave blood. I did it at school. Spanish class got canceled so I had some extra time before I had to go to work. We were having a blood drive, so I signed up. When they finally called my name I went and laid down in the chair. They put the needle in, which is my least favorite part. I'm not scared of needles in general, but something about this one grosses me out. I sat in the chair leaking out into that bag for-ev-er. I must not have the veins and blood flow of some people.

When I finally finished, it was getting kind of late and I still had to get to work. Against the advise of the nurse, I grabbed some pretzels and a juice and left. I made it to work on time barely after stopping on the way to do an errand. I sat down at my desk and was fine for a while.

A couple hours later I started feeling sick. The smell of the iodine they used to clean my arm, was making me nauseous. I walked down the short hall to the ladies room to wash my arm. Cleaning it only helped a little. I started feeling super dizzy and light headed. I decided that fainting in the ladies room was not very wise. I worked in a FBO and at that time of the day, it was me and the line service guys. They would never find me. I tried to make it to the hallway, but no luck. I woke up right next to the door with a throbbing. Note: bathroom tiles are hard.

I got up, walked quickly to my desk and sat down afraid to move much more than that. A while later the line service manager came in. One look at me and he knew something was wrong. I told him what happened. He carried me to the lobby with the soft leather couches. They gave me food and ice for the bump on my head. I was treated like a princess for the rest of the day.