I did something tonight... something I swore to myself I would never do again...
I donated blood.
Okay, I know, I know-- what's the big deal, right? Well please allow me to take you on a trip down memory lane. This is a long story, but I can't spare any details at the risk of making it seem any less dramatic/traumatic than it actually was!
My first week back at school, sophomore year, Utah State University. I'm walking through the student center and see this big, red, felt/cotton blend, blood-drop-resembling mascot dancing around. So, I get all excited. You see, I came across this drop of blood the year before as a young 17-year-old freshman, and even though I wanted to, I couldn't participate in the "Blood Battle" between the U of U and USU because I wasn't old enough to donate. So now that I was "of age", like there was any chance I was going to pass up this opportunity! I decided to donate at the end of the week (as this was an all-week battle) so I could go at a time that fit better into my schedule.
Day of. It was a Friday and I remember it perfectly. I woke up, had a water bottle, went to my dynamic fitness lab and ran Indian Sprints, (shoot me), had another water bottle, rested, and then went to my regular classes. Now, because it was a Friday, I also had my Human Physiology lab to attend in the afternoon... No biggie. It was the first week anyway so I figured we'd be doing some short syllabus reading, maybe playing my favorite getting-to-know-you games, and then be done. I planned it all accordingly, and I got to the blood donation set-up about two hours before my Phys lab.
Upon my arrival, I drank another thing of water, answered questions about my travel/medical history, and then sat in a very long line of college kids that were about to give the gift of life along side me. So naturally as I'm sitting there they have this movie playing. Almost like the adopt-a-refugee commercials you see. "Donate a dollar a day and you will receive a picture of an orphan". Yeah.... But I was moved. Now I had a purpose (other than beating the Utah Utes)... I was about to save a child.
The took me to my chair, no big deal, needle in, blood out-- you know the drill. I felt great! I kept thinking, "Good thing I drank so much water today. I'm like the best donor ever". I grabbed my bag of oreos and a cup of juice and walked across campus to my Physiology lab, proudly sporting the hot pink medical tape wrapped in a criss cross around my olecranon process...... (Okay, I had to throw that in there just to remind you all that I did do more than just play around at college and I did learn scientific things)...... So I show up and the instructor told us "the real work would start the next week and today we're just going to watch a movie". Perfect. I get to relax after saving all those masses.
I start eating my oreos and I got this overwhelming tired feeling! We were just watching a movie, so I decided I could lay my head down. This one decision began the downward spiral of my health.
Next thing I know, I wake up with half-chewed oreos in my mouth. I was thinking, "Woah, this is weird. I should keep drinking water and keep eating". Fell asleep again. Woke up with oreos still in mouth. Repeat this process like 4 times.... Finally, we were excused and I went to leave the building but I didn't make it. Middle of the hallway in the Veterinary Science building, there I was just throwing up in the trash can. I don't usually puke in public. I'm not down with that. I knew I was in bad shape, so I went upstairs to the bathroom. Fell asleep while using the bathroom. Woke up and attempted to walk to the bus stop so I could go home. This was when I ran into my brand new neighbor, Chris. Nice guy. I had met him like 2 days before because we had all just barely moved in. He said, "Hey, are you okay?" I must've looked pretty bad.... but I told him I was fine, just not feeling well. I kept walking to the bus stop and while waiting for the shuttle, fell asleep. I woke up to Chris. He decided to ditch out on class to make sure I got home okay. Like I said, I must've looked pretty bad. So I rode the shuttle home with him. Fell asleep on his lap. Had him carry me up the stairs to my apartment. Ran to the bathroom and threw up again. With the door open. Sick..... After thanking him and apologizing a million times, I was feeling a little embarrassed. I mean, I barely knew my new roommates who all just heard me losing it, and I passed out on my neighbor boy who was practically a stranger. Anyway, I just decided to take a nap... After putting like 4 blankets on top of me because I was FREEZING, I finally fell asleep. I woke up about 3 hours later in a hot sweat. Was I menopausal? Was I suffering from something life-threatening? Because believe me, I knew it right then and there that I wasn't going to make it.
Oh yeah. During that 3 hour nap, I peed the bed. Here I was, an 18-year-old girl, almost woman, peeing the bed. Dope.
Can I just tell you that I was MISERABLE? I was miserable. And from that day forward I promised never to give blood again.
Come to find out, the red cross asked me if I had been drinking a lot of water the day before too, and I hadn't had any water for like 4 days prior to my donation. Woops. My bad.... You'll be happy to know that we beat the U that year so I guess it was all worth it. Not. I don't even care about school rivalry.
I'm not sure what inspired me to sign up for this blood drive tonight. Maybe it was something about that orientation video I saw while I was in the waiting line 3 years ago. Maybe it was because it was for church. I don't know... But I can proudly say that tonight, I DID IT!!!!!!!!
You proud of me? What can I say....
It's for the children....
