I’m such a baby… (and if you are too, you might not want to read this post).

*** This post is not for the faint of heart ***

I was supposed to give blood today, going to cross number 5 off my list.  I didn’t… but not because I won’t.  More because there’s a giant snow storm kicking New England’s butt.

Yeah, kind of like that.

 

In order to really appreciate why giving blood is on my list of 30 Things, you need a little back story… you need the history of my blood-giving, if you will.  I turned 17 in January of my Junior year in high school and the Red Cross was having a blood drive that March and since my weight was never what kept me from giving blood (I am still fascinated that there are people over the age of 17 that don’t weigh more than 110 pounds) I decided, why not?  I marched down to the gym with a gaggle of my friends, passed the iron test and history with flying colors and jumped up onto the table, dumped a pint of blood into my little baggy and was on my way (not all of my friends had it so smooth sailing and one even passed out… cold).   So, when the time came the following year for the Red Cross to return to good ol’ MHS, I didn’t hesitate to give again!

 

I’m guessing you know where this is going.

 

This time, things weren’t as easy – I’m going to spare you all the details but let’s just say, half-way through filling my baggy, my vein seized up like a CT driver in the above-mentioned snow storm.  To put it bluntly, I stopped bleeding, which I didn’t notice, but the four staff members who quickly surrounded me and proceeded to check my stats and wiggle the needle around certainly made it pretty clear that something wasn’t right.  After the needle was accidentally tugged out of my arm, the nausea set in and, although I didn’t pass out, I kind of yearned for the cold floor against my cheek.  Needless to say, it was a traumatizing experience – one I decided that I would never repeat.

 

Fast forward a few years, and my mom gets a job as a charge nurse with the Red Cross.  She became my own personal nightmare.  She also convinced me to give blood again (funny because I wasn’t exactly always willing to do what my mom told me to).  So I decided to go to work with her and donate with the promise (read: bribe) of a great dinner out afterward.

 

This was not exactly the kind of  pint I was thinking about draining… but I was promised MY kind of pint if I did.

 

Well wouldn’t you know, it happened again.  And as that tiny tear slipped down the side of my cheek while they poked and prodded and tried to get the needle in the right spot (because pleaseGodyouarenotgoingtowastethispintI’vealreadygiven) I wondered why I was doing this in the first place.

Oh right… because it really DOES make a difference.

 

The thing is?  Whoever is getting my A+ blood (that’s the type, not the quality although I’m sure it’s fabulous), is going through a LOT more pain and trauma than I am.  Who am I to say, “no, I’m not willing to go through a (somewhat agonizing) 30 minute ordeal to “drain a pint” and save three lives.  THREE LIVES.  That’s incredible!  So although I didn’t give blood again right away, I did take the opportunity to try, try again at my workplace when they scheduled a Blood Drive back in the fall.  And my vein blew out, leaving a giant bruise before we even got started.  Are you serious?  Deep breaths… people need blood… hurts more for them… saving three lives… don’t cry at work… play on your iPhone to stay distracted… colleague who’s getting me juice so I don’t pass out is a saint… oh, I stopped bleeding halfway through?  Surprise. Surprise… Yes I want you to do whatever you can to get the blood flowing again… I will not waste this pain and the blood you’ve already sucked from my anxiety-ridden body… I look pale???  Am I going to pass out???  God I hope I don’t pass out… that would be hella-embarrassing… at work… in front of college students… some of which might have just squeaked past that 110 pound mark and are doing just fine… oh, it’s working?  I filled the bag?  I’m done???  Thank you thank you thank you… I’ll have another juice box please… and maybe some cookies… and my dignity back thankyouverymuch.

 

So this all brings me to this list and why donating blood is on here at #5.  I’ve already done it and isn’t this list supposed to be about doing things I’ve always wanted to do but haven’t yet?   Clearly, donating blood is a challenge for me – something I don’t just jump up and say, “gee, I really want to do this today!”  I’ve added it to my list because then it’s there… as a task… something I WILL accomplish even if it terrifies me.  Maybe not today at the 3:00pm appointment that I had scheduled with the very nice (yet somewhat over-eager) Red Cross rep that called me at 8:30 at night a few months ago who sounded a touch apprehensive when I told her I’d like to request their best phlebotomist because I have a hard time donating.  I told her, don’t worry – I don’t pass out or seize or anything – my veins are just small and people usually have a tough time with them (I did not tell her that it generally burns the entire time that the needle is in my arm, something I’ve found is not actually that common) and she said she’d put a note next to my appointment.  And I hoped that she actually did it.

 

Today was the day.  My little reminder card AND voicemail message reminded me that I had an appointment at 3:00pm on February 1, 2011.  And I chickened out… sort of.  In case you hadn’t heard (what, are you living under a rock?) we’ve got a little (HUGE) storm barreling towards New England and I decided to work from home today and prep (and I quite honestly thought they were going to let us out early – they didn’t).  But what that really means is, I will have to reschedule my donation appointment which I’m really OK with.  I will definitely do it but I really need to be in the right mindset and worrying about driving home in icy/snowy conditions with a bunch of CT drivers that don’t know how to drive in them (see vein metaphor above) was not that mindset.

 

Besides, I still have 338 days till 30 (ohmygod,338daysuntilI’m30?).

 

Really, this is my kind of marketing strategy.  Although I don’t watch Vampire Diaries, I do have an affinity for a certain sparkly vampire… and when I Google Image searched “donate blood,” I wasn’t overly surprised by the number of vampire photos that popped up.

 

If you’re interested in donating blood (which I hope you still are even after reading this post), visit http://www.redcrossblood.org/home2 to find a local Blood Drive.  Just think, you’re bound to have a better experience than I usually do and if I can do it, YOU can do it too.

 

Expect the follow-up post because it will be done.  You know why?  Read these quick facts and then ask yourself, why not?

 

Facts about blood needs*

• Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood.
• More than 38,000 blood donations are needed every day.
• A total of 30 million blood components are transfused each year in the U.S. (2006).
• The average red blood cell transfusion is approximately 3 pints.
• The blood type most often requested by hospitals is Type O.
• The blood used in an emergency is already on the shelves before the event occurs.
• Sickle cell disease affects more than 80,000 people in the U.S., 98 percent of whom are African American. Sickle cell patients can require frequent blood transfusions throughout their lives.
• More than 1 million new people are diagnosed with cancer each year. Many of them will need blood, sometimes daily, during their chemotherapy treatment.
• A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 pints of blood.

*http://www.redcrossblood.org/learn-about-blood/blood-facts-and-statistics#blood-needs

 

Act as if what you do makes a difference.  It does.  ~William James