Be Nice to Me: Part III (Bonus: I got a good cookie)

I previously blogged Be Nice to Me parts one and two.  And on Wednesday I finally made time to donate blood again.  It's been waaaaay too long.  I'm still struggling to get on a schedule to donate.  The challenge is usually my training schedule.  It's hard to donate while training for a race because I end up feeling run down for a couple days.   But despite having the Columbus Marathon coming up in just over a week (I'm coaching), I had some time to kill before a meeting so I stopped into the local Red Cross.

Normally it's a really quick process.  You answer the questions, they poke you, drain you, feed you a cookie and you are off.  Normally I'm in an out in less than 45 minutes.  Which is why I figured I could easily pop in, donate and get to my meeting with plenty of time to spare.

I warned the nurse that my veins are tricky to find and pointed right to where they were able to find one at my last donation.  She went right for it...got in and then nothing.  It wouldn't bleed.  She called over another person to help.  And then they called the charge nurse over.  I don't know why I don't just ask for the charge nurse from the start but anyways.  She told me it wasn't cooperating and ask if I wanted to try the other arm.  Sure.  I was already there and still had plenty of time.  Besides, it really doesn't hurt that much for those weenies out there who are cringing right now just reading this. ;)

The charge nurse was finally able to find one on the side/top (?) of my elbow on the other arm.  She stuck me quick but then that poor vein didn't want to give it up either.  They re-positioned my arm and got it going but it took forever.  Normally it's a matter of minutes to fill up the bag but I think this was one drip at a time!

While I waited, the charge nurse told me this incredibly bizarre story about how her family rescues possums. For real.  They usually nurse them to health and release them but they actually have one as a pet.  It lives in the house, wanders around.  It's house broken apparently.  I'm an animal lover but I tend to draw the line with rodent-type pets.  She was a really sweet woman.  You can definitely tell she has a big heart for animals...of all kinds.  They have a goat, lots of cats, dogs, a hedge hog and "whatever else the kids drag home."  :)

By the time I gave my pint and they were patching me up, I was running really tight on time to get to my meeting.  Usually I feel fine right after I donate.  I sit in the canteen, have some water and it the road.  Well because they had so much trouble, they wanted me to sit a little longer and ice my arm.  Crap!  I did as I was told though and enjoyed my free cookies.  (It turned out that was my dinner.  Sigh.)

Waiting....

When I absolutely had no time to spare, I thanked the volunteer in the canteen (it was the same old lady who was there the first time I blogged about the donation) and bolted.  But not before collecting my free t-shirt.

I don't really need to be bribed to donate blood but I can always use an extra t-shirt.  They also do raffles each month.  When you donate, you are entered into the monthly raffle.  I actually won once!  I got a free Kindle last year.  Unfortunately I already have a Nook and didn't really need a Kindle also.  But fortunately I was able to donate it to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to raffle off.  Hopefully that was legal.  One blood related organization donating to another, right??

The sticker says "I Gave Blood Today....and I got a good cookie."  :)

Warning.....generally light-hearted blog post is about to take a serious turn.

Recently a friend from college had a very premature baby (somewhere around the 26 week mark I think) and posted a thank you on FB to those who donate blood because it had saved her little girl several times over already.  There are a lot of situations in life when I feel like I am at a loss of what to say or do.  This was one of those times.  Same as earlier in the week when I was at calling hours for a friend's dad who lost his battle with a blood cancer.  There isn't much I can say or do directly to help my friends through what they are going through.  What I can do though is donate blood.  I can donate time/money to organizations that are making strides towards finding cures for cancer.  And you can too.  Don't just sit there and let it happen.  DO SOMETHING.