Saving a Life by Giving Blood

This is a late posting, I'm sorry, but I got busy and forgot to post this up. Enjoy!

I forgot to mentioned that I gave blood on Feb. 18, 2010. I gave blood at 9:30 AM, the first donor. Wohoo! :) I was excited about that but I was kind of scared that I may faint like the last time I gave blood, which was not my first time giving. I went to the Red Cross on 30th-ish and something to give blood. I thought I ate well before I left my house to give blood and stayed after at Red Cross to eat after giving blood, but apparently I was not.

I had night class, Human Geography, that day, so I went to the UNO Bookstore to get my book for the class. Suddenly during the process of buying my book and writing a check to purchase it, I started to feel faint. Although at the time, I did not know what was going on. I thought it was the light or something else. I had never fainted so I didn't recognize the symptoms so readily. As I exited the store, I had only walked a few feet from the store when the book in my hand just slipped out of my grasp. What the heck? I thought. I didn't understand why I couldn't hold on tight to the book; my motor skills began to weaken, even my walk. It was at this point, I think, that I realized that I was not feeling well and that I could be experiencing symptoms of faint or something from giving blood. I wasn't scared yet. I only thought of how could I help myself to feel better. I remember from the Red Cross handout that I should drink fluids, like water, and rest and raise my legs up, if I felt faint, which I did a little. I could tell, because my vision was darkening. It was not the light messing with me, but my own vision. Everything around me seemed so quiet, which it was, but it seemed quieter to me than usual, and everything seemed slow and out my reach.

I finally made it to the couch. I laid down on it, the couch closest to the vending machine. I raised my legs on the couch's arm to rest and supposedly to make me feel better, which I did a little. I'm not sure how long I laid on the couch, but probably for a few minutes, and then I got up to get money for the vending machine so that I could buy a 20 oz. water bottle, Aquafina, to drink. When I got my money out, $1.25, I slowly got up from the couch and stood up as well as I could to put the money in the machine. First, I put in the quarter, and then I tried to put in the dollar . . . .

I woke up on the floor. I felt disoriented and could not understand what I was doing on the floor. But I soon realized that I had fainted when my memory came back to me when I looked at my surroundings and the vending machine. I slowly got up and found the dollar laying beside me. Good it is still there. I guess I wasn't out too long. I can't believe this just happened. I need water. Quickly. I need to hurry! I thought. I picked up the dollar as I leaned across the machine to stand up straight. I put the dollar in, but the machine spit the dollar right back out. What the hell? Why won't you go in? I need water now! I thought myself. I became angrier and using more energy to stand up, to make the dollar free of wrinkles, and to make the machine accept my dollar. But it was all failing and I could not understand why my dollar would not go in. All I remember was trying to make the machine eat my dollar, and then . . . .

I woke up on the floor again. Why does this keep happening to me? Why is nothing going right for me today? Why must I suffer? I realized this time when I woke up I felt wetness under me, and it was not from sweating from the warm summer heat from outside. It was me. I was wet, because I wet my pants. Ah! What the hell? This day just keeps getting worst. I guess people who do faint do experience that like in the Sister in the Traveling Pants. I got up with as much energy I could muster up. For some reason I gave up on the machine and my forgotten dollar, which I can't remember if the machine ate it or not, and remembered there were drinking fountains near the bookstore, so I decided to go there to get water into me as soon as possible. I moved as quickly as I could but it was so hard. My body felt heavy and lethargic and my motor skills were not at top-notch. On my way there, I felt something pulling at me, maybe my body's energy, leaking out of me.

I heard someone's voice, a female. I couldn't understand what she was saying, it was all too faint for me and mumbled in my mind. Seconds to a minute, my eyes and ears became focused and I could see and hear her. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Did you hurt your head?" she said. I answered, "Yeah, I . . . don't know." I felt my head, but it didn't seem to really hurt bad or anything, at least at the time I felt no pain. "My head doesn't hurt much, I think," I said. "Did you faint?" she asked. "Ye-ah, I did. I gave . . . blood to-today," I answered. She helped me up to a sitting up position and legs against my chest, where I laid my head on my knees. She went to get me something to drink, because I told her something about my dollar in the machine. She got me a bottle of Pepsi to drink. I drink it as well as I can, slowly. Yes, I finally get some liquid in my body. I was so happy that someone finally found me and helped me in my situation. She told me she would go to find help for me.

She returned with help. A security guard and another person, maybe another security guard, I'm not sure. I only remembered the young security man helping me into the wheel chair and rolling me to the nurses' office.

**Well, it doesn't really end right there, but I will stop there. If you want to know what happened to me or what else happened let me know and I'll continue with my story. I'll let you know one thing, though, it doesn't get any better for me after I am saved.**

So on Feb. 18th, I did not faint. I made it through the entire process very well. I made sure of it. The night before, I made sure to eat a full meal, and then the day of, I ate a full breakfast meal, and I drank a lot of fluids - water, milk, and juice. I was prepared this time. Giving blood was not going to beat me down, but me. I was going to beat it, which I did. I made sure to stay and eat a few snacks and drink some juice before I left to go to my next class. The whole day went well and smoothly. I was so proud of myself. I was able to help save a life in the future with my blood without shaming myself.