Vampires in Earnest
Thursday, November 4, 2010 at 11:53AMGiving blood isn’t really something that has occurred to me much before, aside from the compulsory physical exam coupled with ‘blood work,’ it really was a form of charity that was ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ Until….. my office building threw a ‘give blood,’ party, slight exaggeration, but still effective. They organized a week’s long event for anyone, not just building worker bees to schedule an appointment or just casually walk in.
After pandering proved useless (my fellow male coworkers are just too brave) I set an appointment and more or less forgot about it, until the email reminder popped up. I’ll admit it, I was looking for any excuse to ‘weasel out’ of it, as most people make every effort to avoid pain, perceived or real. I needed my personal nurse, a.k.a. “Mom,” to either provide me with encouragement or to tell me to forgo it. After her support, I decided I wouldn’t stray and I would “bite the bullet,” and go.
Low and behold, what an interesting, fulfilling experience it was. However minute. The volunteers, staff and phlebotomist’s were as sharp as their needles. Quite knowledgeable and happy to indulge my curiosities. “So, where does this blood go after my ‘donation?” “What’s the lifespan of the blood?” Question after question. You tend to feel quite protective and perhaps even territorial about your blood I learned as the pint moved from my vein to a sterilized IV-ish looking bag. One such story really hit home of how desperately unyielding the need for blood truly is. My phlebotomist, a young mother and medical assistant, mentioned that a police officer who had been seriously shot in Oakland needed over 50 ‘units’ of blood to stabilize alone. I was giving only one ‘unit’ of blood today and it really dawned on me then how crucial the Red Cross and other blood brokers really are, not only for our hospitals, but also for our society as a whole.
Overall, the experience was very interesting as a ‘new bee’ and minimally uncomfortable. Plus, I even managed to get treated to frozen yogurt that night as my reward and replenishment. For those seasoned givers, more power to you! For us amateurs, I was pleasantly surprised by the experience and humbled at the enduring need.