At 6:30pm, I left the game to head to the hospital. Josiah and Ante are joining Loyce and me for moral support and the experience. We arrive at the hospital to find a single lab tech in the lab. His name is Tobias, and you would’ve thought that he hadn’t seen a human being in years. He was overly excited to see us and incredibly welcoming. We explained that we needed to take a pint of blood from Loyce and me so that we could give BL boy a transfusion. He quickly informed us that they have a lot of blood in their fridge, to which Loyce snapped back, “Well, why don’t you just give it to us?!” (This was to be her first time giving blood and I don’t think she was totally stoked about it). He explained that since he was not a patient of the hospital that he couldn’t provide it for free; however, if we gave two units he would switch out two units; this will work. So we begin the process; and what a process it was. Tobias is obviously very good at his job and greatly enjoys it. He talked us through EVERY. SINGLE. STEP. of his job. He explained how he was going to prick my finger and remove my blood to test blood type and for HIV (no worries, I’m proudly negative). He explained to me how he could tell which type my blood was and the purpose of the control (thank you, sixth grade science). Finally we make it to the phlebotomy room and he sets me up for the donation. Now everything had been very similar to giving blood in the US minus a few technological luxuries mostly for comfort that we use in the US; that is until the needle. As usual, he was licking his chops at my nicely large, easily findable veins, when I looked up as he was about to put the needle in, and I immediately gasped: it was HUGE! Huge and metal. I guess I’m spoiled with the mini butterfly needles or whatever they’re called. I made it through the insertion, and one great thing about a huge needle is it pumps a lot of blood very quickly. I loaded up a pint bag in about 3 minutes! (My fraternity brothers and I used to race to see who could fill up a bag the fastest, and I’m pretty sure the fastest was about 5-6 minutes). Once the bag was full, needle out, and pressure applied, I rested for a few minutes.
Then I had the great idea to take a “picture with my pint,” and so got up and went to ask Tobias if I could (here I have found that they’re much less strict about privacy and certain standards that would never fly in the US). This was a mistake. I don’t know if I was still recovering from the blood loss, hadn’t had enough water, or simply got up too fast, but within about a minute of being in the main room, I started sweating badly and felt a little woozy. So, as I have done before for my parents, I announced to everyone that I was about to faint. Josiah and Ante ran to catch me as my knees collapsed, and poor Ante quickly realized that I was much heavier than I look and handed me off to Tobias. What did Ante do next? Ran to grab my camera; most would be mad at this…I was happy that I have some great documentation of the ordeal. I never passed out or lost vision or hearing, but I quickly found myself seated in a chair, Tobias and some random nurse (where she came from I have no clue) holding my legs up above my head and Tobias fanning me with a blue medical folder. Typical. I remain more or less in this position for the next 10 minutes on Tobias’ orders (as he laughs the entire time). Yes, I spent ten minutes lounged in a chair, feet propped up, and a nurse (I soon found out her name was Leonida) fanning me to keep me cool; the only thing missing was a palm leaf, which of course I asked for…she didn’t get the joke.
Meanwhile, Loyce had given her pint and was already walking around worrying about me. I felt pitiful. Even with Tobias demanding that she sit and rest, she refused, saying that women can handle blood loss a lot better than men; after all, they’re used to it from childbirth. So we end the night Loyce and I a pint of blood down, BL boy a pint up and looking much livelier. All in a day’s work.
Then I had the great idea to take a “picture with my pint,” and so got up and went to ask Tobias if I could (here I have found that they’re much less strict about privacy and certain standards that would never fly in the US). This was a mistake. I don’t know if I was still recovering from the blood loss, hadn’t had enough water, or simply got up too fast, but within about a minute of being in the main room, I started sweating badly and felt a little woozy. So, as I have done before for my parents, I announced to everyone that I was about to faint. Josiah and Ante ran to catch me as my knees collapsed, and poor Ante quickly realized that I was much heavier than I look and handed me off to Tobias. What did Ante do next? Ran to grab my camera; most would be mad at this…I was happy that I have some great documentation of the ordeal. I never passed out or lost vision or hearing, but I quickly found myself seated in a chair, Tobias and some random nurse (where she came from I have no clue) holding my legs up above my head and Tobias fanning me with a blue medical folder. Typical. I remain more or less in this position for the next 10 minutes on Tobias’ orders (as he laughs the entire time). Yes, I spent ten minutes lounged in a chair, feet propped up, and a nurse (I soon found out her name was Leonida) fanning me to keep me cool; the only thing missing was a palm leaf, which of course I asked for…she didn’t get the joke.
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| Impressive response and recovery care from almost passing out (insert palm leaf) |
Meanwhile, Loyce had given her pint and was already walking around worrying about me. I felt pitiful. Even with Tobias demanding that she sit and rest, she refused, saying that women can handle blood loss a lot better than men; after all, they’re used to it from childbirth. So we end the night Loyce and I a pint of blood down, BL boy a pint up and looking much livelier. All in a day’s work.
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| As the needle goes in...I swear, it was HUGE! |
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