I tried, I really tried.
I went yesterday to donate blood again. I'm O negative, and that is a useful blood type, so I try to donate regularly. The last three times I have tried, I was just slightly too anemic to donate. I've been taking iron supplements so that I could donate. So when I went in yesterday, I was still under the count the first time they checked it. But another nurse came in and tried again on a different finger, and I was OK.
Unfortunately, when I laid in the chair to donate, they couldn't get the needle in the right place. They kept moving it around and pulling it in and out. Finally they gave up and tried the other arm, which isn't as good as the first one. I was a brave trooper, and told them to keep trying.
They finally got the needle in, and it looked OK, but the blood wasn't coming out at a fast enough flow. After 10 minutes, they only had 200 units, and it had slowed to a trickle. So they pulled it out and we gave up for this time. The worst thing is that they can't use it if it is less than 650 units, so the whole thing was a waste of time and energy.
As they were poking around, I kept thinking about Gail and all the people on dialysis and how my momentary pain was so miniscule compared to what they go through day after day. I was still very disappointed that none of it worked.
Wait till next time!!
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