Say, has anyone seen a pint of blood?

I seem to be missing one.

And, as always, my blood donation experience was full of adventure and hilarity. I always feel faint after giving blood (and am usually feeling less than 100% for the rest of the day), so I was concerned to find out that my blood pressure was 104/60 — and, because of the fainting thing, I’m usually nervous when they do the pre-screening, so what does that imply?! I don’t think my BP has ever been measured at lower than about 110/70 before. And, sure enough, I started to brownout towards the end of my donation and they had to give me an ice pack and elevate my feet, which they probably should have done right from the start, anyway. I’ll have to request that next time.

I also was asked, for the first time ever, for my height and weight. Does that mean the nurse thought I could possibly weigh less than 110 pounds?! Of course, it’s probably more likely that they were screening for potential double-red apheresis donors, which they had the equipment set up for. I’m too short and don’t have “good veins”, which is kind of unfortunate, because losing only red cells and keeping my plasma would probably leave me feeling better.

BUT, I got free juice and cookies!

Tags: Health