Friday Bloody Friday

Today I am donating blood for the first time in many years. I'm slightly nervous, only because the last time I gave blood (during college) I didn't fill up a bag in the maximum allowed bleeding time, so they had to throw my blood away. I've never really understood that--isn't half a pint better than nothing at all? Maybe today when I'm donating I'll find out the reasoning behind that rule.

The first and only other time I gave blood was in high school. I think it's kind of a funny story, which means I've probably shared it with most of my friends, so please feel free to skip today's post if you've heard this one. :)

Every year the Student Council at our high school sponsored a blood drive, and as a StuCo member, I volunteered to help out my sophomore year. Not only did I sign up to give blood, I also signed up to help at the canteen, where my job was to serve food and drinks to the students so that they could replenish their fluids and regain their strength after they donated. However, I decided to give blood right before my shift at the canteen, which would later prove to be a scheduling error on my part.

The actual blood donation went just fine. Although I was a slow bleeder, I finished within my allotted 20 minutes or so, then went to the canteen to sit and have snacks. The Red Cross people suggest that you drink water and juice and eat pizza, but since I was a typical 15-year-old who was obsessed with her weight, I forewent the pizza and just had some fluids for a few minutes while I waited for my canteen shift to start.

I felt fine, so after a few minutes I jumped up and started going to and from the kitchen to load up the canteen guests with pizza. Ironically, I distinctly remember Chad and our friend Dart sitting at the snack table, loving the fact that they could boss me around (and not be in class), saying, "Hey Almquist, go get us some more pizza!" It's pretty safe to say that at that point, I never in a million years would have believed Chad was my future husband!

Regardless, I continued to rush back and forth doing my duties, but after a few minutes, a sudden wave of nausea came over me. My friends said I looked a little pale, so I sat down with the patrons having snacks and waited for the feeling to pass. It didn't. I remember saying, "I'm going to throw up," and then jumping up to run for the nearest bathroom. Unfortunately, the nearest exit also happened to be the entrance to the cafeteria, where what seemed like hundreds of students were standing in line, waiting for their turn to donate. I guess the good news is that I didn't vomit in front of them, which truly would have been the worst thing that could have happened to an insecure 15-year-old girl. Instead, I passed out before I made it out of the cafeteria, and when I woke up, there was a nursing hovering over me, pumping my legs, trying to get my blood flowing. I was absolutely horrified at all the eyes staring at me, and I pleaded for her to let me up, but she made me lay there on my back in front of everyone for several minutes until my blood pressure rose. I don't remember exactly what happened after that, but I think I probably relaxed for a while and ate some pizza!

I guess I wasn't scarred for life, because here I am preparing to give blood once again. I'm drinking lots of water so that I'll be well hydrated, and I'm planning to run the stairs for a few minutes beforehand to make sure my blood is pumping nice and hard. Here's hoping the 3rd time will be a charm!