Traffic

Traffic.

I could go ON and ON and ON and ON and ON and I think you get the point. Living in the suburbs of a large, metro city, I've dealt with traffic my whole life. It takes 20 minutes minimum to get anywhere. Depending on the time of day a trip that would normally take 20 minutes will take and hour and a half. It is life as I know it. Most days I deal just fine.

When I first had the idea for this post it was supposed to be about how traffic is the time I get my best ideas! How an awful, stressful time can give birth to such creativity! Blah blah blah! Well this morning I had to deal with Douchebag in black truck and Obnoxious Bitch in Mustang. I hate traffic! It makes me sweat (no air conditioning). Every radio station is awful. People are rude, inconsiderate jerks! It takes me an hour to get home. Hate!

I'm done.

I really do get an immense amount of ideas during those interminable drives. Too bad I can't do anything about them since texting is illegal. Blergh!

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.

photo credit

War Wounds

Last week I flaked out a little bit. I wrote my big, LONG, post about needles and giving blood and then never followed through with how it went! Bad Megan!

Honestly, I was so worn out that I took a few days off blogging. Luckily I had a couple scheduled posts (LOVE those) to get me through the weekend and I'm back to feeling like my old self again! However it is that she normally feels :)

All in all the blood donating was not a bad experience! I made sure to drink 3-4 bottles of water and eat breakfast AND lunch before I went down. The only problem here was that I was scheduled to go down at 1:30 and thought I'd have more time for my lunch to digest. Turns out I was needed to cover the front desk during that time! Would've been nice if someone had told me that but such is life.

I gave the phlebotomist full warning that I had bad veins. He kinda laughed it off and said he'd make sure I didn't get stuck with one of the trainees. Reeeeeal funny Dude (we'll call him Dude) but I'm serious here! If you've ever given blood you know about the chairs they make you sit in. They are really tall versions of those cheapo lawn chairs. The ones that can clickety clack up or down at either end depending on how you want to sit? Well I climb up into one and I swear I thought it was about to collapse! Luckily I didn't have a needle in my arm! I felt such vindication as Dude starts trying to find a vein and sees the error of his ways in mocking me. I was squeezing away on that stress ball they make you use to get your blood pumping, (I guess that's what it's for) and he couldn't find a vein in EITHER arm. Dude was pretty convinced I was dead. Mwhahahaha! At this point he called in the big guns. Dude #2 was able to find a vein in my arm fairly quickly. I guess my veins go in different directions then most veins? Finding a vein created a new problem since it was in my RIGHT arm and I was set up in a chair for my LEFT arm. Now I had to wait for the only right arm chair! Blergh!

There's not too much else to say about the process. Dude didn't want to stick me because he was nervous he'd miss and he had one of the other techs do it. She got the needle in in one try but did have to fiddle with it a little. I won't lie and say it was all sunshine and roses because it was extremely uncomfortable. I learned a trick when I got my tattoos...just pretend it's not happening and it makes me less awful. I kept talking to Dude and not looking as the tech fiddled with the needle. I grabbed handfuls of the blanket they gave me to keep warm. It worked. For the most part. Once the needle was in the pressure lessened and I just tried to lay back and relax. Smooth sailing commenced! Dude had to tighten the tourniquet a few times to up the flow but that was it. Overall it was a long but not entirely painful experience.

My pink arm wrap after I was all done.

Lest you think I gave blood like a champ I will tell you of my wimpyness after! A few important facts:

-I had a migraine the day before and woke up with a headache

-I'd been having varying degrees of headaches for a week

-I thought maybe it was allergies so the morning of the the donation I took 2 ibuprofen and 1 generic brand Benedryl (I knew aspirin was a no no since it thins your blood)

-I'd had a hard time sleeping all week and was already tired

By the time I got to work my head still hurt a bit and I was tired.

By the time I gave blood my head was fine but I was still very tired.

Two hours after I gave blood I almost fell asleep on the toilet and thought I might throw up at my desk!

I left work an hour early, went home and fell asleep for two hours. I woke up and ate, went back to sleep at my usual time and proceeded to sleep another 10 hours. Did I mention I took the next day off work? I figured when I woke up after my initial two hour nap and Mom commented on how bad I looked and I still felt exhausted that maybe calling in would be a good idea.

I'm happy to report that 12 hours of sleep was all I needed!

What did I get out of donating you ask?

My 'vampire bite'. This is only the beginning of the bruise!

-I found out I'm AB+! (This is exciting, trust me! I've wanted to know my blood type forever!) Turns out that with type AB blood I can receive ANY blood type! Type O is a universal donor but Type AB is a universal recipient! Also my blood can only be used for other Type AB people unlike A or B which can used on a wider variety of blood types.

-I got a sweet bruise that just kept getting bigger and bigger! I think it turned about 6 different colors and still hasn't gone away entirely. A co-worker referred to it as my war wound! People often make disgusted faces when they see it but Pants and I like it :)

-I know that I helped someone, somewhere.

I would love to give blood on a regular basis. I just feel like I might not get so lucky next time when it comes to a tech that can find a vein easily and fairly painlessly. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time and I'm proud that I sucked it up and did it. Everyone should do it at least once in your life.

Blood Drive

You know how we're all supposed to be good people? Try and do things for our fellow man and help others in need. Well I volunteered for something but I'm not so sure it's gonna be pretty.

You see, I volunteered...to give blood. Cue the mwhahahahahahas!

Seriously. I'm not excited about this. It saves lives blah, blah, blah! It's just that needles and I have a history and it's not pretty.

Like most people my age, I've had my wisdom teeth out. I think three if not ALL of the teeth were impacted which basically means they were growing in sideways. The dentist or oral surgeon or whatever said that he HIGHLY recommended I have anaesthesia. They were going to have to drill my teeth into bits to more easily remove them and according to that guy, I wouldn't want to be awake for it. I'd have to agree. So there I am, sitting in the operating chair, minding my own business, just waiting to get a needle and drip hooked to me.

I tell the nurse, "I have bad veins. Whenever I've had to give a blood sample, they can't get the veins to come up." She assures me that that won't be a problem.

"He's a professional! He always gets the vein."

He's slapping and flicking and hitting my arms. Nothing.

Prick one. Prick two. Prick three! I only wish I was talking about guys here!

"Let's switch to your other arm."

Prick four! Pricks five and six!

"I didn't want to have to do this but I'm going to try and use the vein in your wrist or hand. They are much harder to get to but nothing else is working."

At this point I'm crying or holding back tears. Mom had been called into the room to hold my hand. I'm not afraid of needles or blood but I'd been sitting in this chair for a good 30 minutes to an hour while some guy hits my arms and stabs me with a needle. Repeatedly. I'm starting to bruise. I just wanted those damn teeth out!

As you might've guessed the wrist/hand vein didn't work either. At this point I got some hilarious, (at least to me) news. He's gonna write me a prescription for a Valium. Just one. I'm to take it an hour before my new, rescheduled appointment. Apparently it helps plump up your blood vessels. I'm to wear socks and shoes. (I was in flip-flops. The easier to take off when I was drugged up and trying to go to sleep afterwards.) Warm clothes. I'll be the first appointment. They'll turn the heat up in the operating room. Whatever they can to get those blood veins plumped up!

I come back a week or so later. Valium swallowed down and sweatpants on. Prick one...it goes in! It hurts though, it's very uncomfortable. Actually, it really hurts.

"Ok we'll try again!"

Prick two in the other arm. Success! Thank Jesus because I was seriously about to start crying again!

The story pretty much ends there. I had my teeth out, slept for hours on end intermittently being woken up by my mother to take my pain pills. (I had Vicodin that time! I have a story about that too ;).)

My long and winding and winded point is: my veins hate needles. And I'm giving blood tomorrow afternoon.

I just keep telling myself: It saves lives It saves lives It saves lives AND you'll be able to finally find out your blood type!

Wish me luck!