I Dropped the Ball on This One

So, this past Wednesday/Thursday at Ouachita, Red Cross came to campus for a blood drive.  As I tried to think of an excuse to get out of giving blood, I kept thinking that maybe this time I shouldn't look for an excuse.  After a good pep talk from my boss and from several students (who probably thought I was such a baby), I decided that I would finally give blood for the first time.

Yes, this would be the first time that I would give blood, but it was not my first attempt.  I had tried to give blood 4 times before this:

1) Taking an antibiotic - NO BLOOD FOR YOU
2) Out of the country too close to blood time - NO BLOOD FOR YOU
3) Anemic (not enough iron) - NO BLOOD FOR YOU
4) Anemic (again) - NO BLOOD FOR YOU

So this time, after I secured a blood buddy (a veteran donor too) who would go with me, I finally mustered up the courage to sign my name on the "give blood" list (I don't think that's what they call it though).  I got my "I made a difference sticker" and read the literature on giving blood.  Now, this sticker they gave me, is bright green, not red like my blood buddy's.  Green means first timer...so it's like a warning to all the Red Cross people..."beware, she's new at this...she'll probably freak out."

I walk into the room, and there's no wait, so I head straight to the finger-pricking chair.  Here they ask me all sorts of questions about my sexual history, and if I had ever had sexual relations with a prostitute in Africa since the year 1970.  Now I know why they don't like to read these out loud.  Finger prick...check...anemic...nope...here we go!

I get settled in my chair, after a not so reassuring vein check on both my arms, and after finally finding one that will work, we get to work.  As nervous as I was, once they got the needle in, I felt great!  I couldn't believe I had made such a big deal about giving blood.  So I'm rolling around the stress ball they gave me (my only instructions), and I'm chatting it up with my blood buddy.  We even pause to take a picture together!  We'll call this the "before picture" (a little blurry)...I should warn you, we didn't get an after picture.

I started to feel a bit light headed and dizzy, so I told the lady who was helping me, and the next thing I remember was another Red Cross helper clapping his hands and saying "Erin, we need you to wake up...Erin, you passed out on us!"

Yeah...I passed out!  My blood buddy says that the last thing I said before I passed out was "oh no!"  I finally woke up, sweating bad, so they put an ice pack on my back.  Then, I was so nauseous, so they brought over a bright red BIO-HAZARD bag for me to "get sick" in if I needed to (the girl behind me in the picture has one too...in case you were curious as to what I am talking about).  I will say that the red bag and the green sticker made a lovely holiday combination, but not exactly the kind of attention I wanted while other students were preparing to give blood themselves.  Once I realized that I would get sick, or maybe even pass out again if they didn't get that needle out of me, I had to quit.  I asked if what I had given could still make a difference, and I got a reassuring "you know...we'll send it in a see what they can do with it!" BOO!  All that for probably nothing!

Oh yeah, you want to know the first thing I thought when I came to?  "The ball...where is it, I must have dropped it!"  That's right, I dropped the ball...literally and physically.  Oh well, maybe next time...and then, my sticker and BIO-HAZARD bag will match!