Wednesday, October 15, 2008

To Give or Not To Give

First, I would like to get any tips for this blog stuff that I can get. I still really don't get it. Do I post under the "Today" or do I post under "Blair Bulletin" I don't get it.On with the "To Give or Not To Give."Now this is not to detier anyone from donating the wonderful gift of blood. But...There I was, a cold windy day. (Cold to me about 70; but the wind was blowing. For those of you who don't know the "Santa Ana Winds", it would be hard to grasp the annoyance of how windy it can get.)Our work has called the blood mobile out for a few trips for us to donate. I myself have given about 8-9 times in the past; so I know what to expect...so I thought. (I'll try to make my long story short.)Basically the girl who was taking my blood started complaining that my vein was too far off to the side and she didn't like doing those. Another girl came over, pointed out the vein immediately and offered to do it for her. She declined with the answer of, "Well I know where her vein is I just hate doing these." At this point I am repeatedly saying in my head, "Get up now! Run for your life! This won't be good." Instead I thought I would give her the benefit of the doubt, and just because her attitude stinks doesn't mean she should miss the experience of working with what she hates doing.The second she stuck the needle in I knew I was in trouble. Intense pain. I told her that something wasn't right and it hurt way more than it ever has. I apparently didn't know what I was talking about. She continued to mumble things under her breath with a "Well hang on!" The pain continued with each slide scrape and whatever she was doing. Finally she stopped for a second giving me a small window of relief when wham back at it again. The burning sensation took over my entire elbow and I had to yell at her to "STOP NOW!! IT BURNS!" Not once, but twice. Then of course, she really had an attitude and asked if I wanted her to get someone else to try my other arm. My answer..."NNNOOOO"So in the end, my diagnosis from the Blood Bank was that she hit and damaged a nerve. "This could take as much as three weeks to heal, but feel free to use whatever over-the-counter pain reliever of your choice to help with the pain." So here I am with a broke down arm, in pain. It is really crazy all the spots one little nerve can affect.

1 comment:

Mary said...

Suck it up. You'll live. Your loving mom :)
Giving blood is a wonderful gift. Thank you for trying and next time will be better. There will be someone on the other end receiving the unit of blood and being very thankful.