Went In As a Donor, Came Out As a Patient

There is a lady in our church, Sis. Vianey. She went in this past weekend for a no-biggie kind of surgery, but there were complications and, long story short, she is now in a coma and in the ICU. It is so shocking and sad! Her family is devastated. My dad and I went last night to visit her for the first time. 

The doctors say she is able to hear us. Only one person was allowed in at a time and we had to wear these masks. 

When you walk into the ICU there is this sink where you have to wash your hands before going in to visit the patient. I couldn't figure out why my soap wasn't lathering up...on my way back out I stopped at the sink again and saw the words "antibacterial gel" on the "soap" I'd used earlier :P

When I went in to talk to and pray for Sis. Vianey, I managed to snap a picture of the ICU...not a very good one, but behind me you can see a bunch of empty beds. At my feet was a discarded and empty IV bag. 

Leaving the hospital

While we were at the hospital, the family informed us that Sis. Vianey is in dire need of another surgery, but before they will operate on her, the family is required to round up 6 people to donate blood and 6 people to donate platelets. Sis. Marisol and I signed up with a few others from the family to donate blood. This was going to be my first time, but I am not scared of needles so I figured it would be no biggie. 

We went in, filled out forms, did a couple interviews, had a mini-physical done, and were approved to donate blood! After a pretty long wait, we were finally called back give our blood. 

Sis. Marisol 

Me

It felt so strange when my blood started flowing through the tube - it was hot against my skin, like warm soda running thru a straw.  

We sat in elevated chairs with our feet propped up. Our room had a total of four people in it. 

MY LIFE BLOOD! Just laying there in a sack on the ground! Kind of gross, kind of cool. I read today that one blood donation can save three lives - pretty awesome! We each donated 500 ml - a little over 2 cups. I started getting nervous imagining a water bottle full of my blood....my precious blood....OH DEAR! 

When I got out, I felt pretty good for the first couple of minutes, then all of a sudden I just felt like taking a nap! All I could think was, "Ok Beth, you are tough. When you had strep last month, the doctor said you were tough and had a very high pain tolerance. DON'T RUIN YOUR GOOD RECORD NOW." Hahaha!! 

The hospital provides a complimentary breakfast to those that donate blood so we went immediately to the cafeteria to get something to eat. Honestly, the food looked disgusting, but the banana saved the day! It was just what I wanted.

We were also given water........OMW...looks like someone had a cappuccino in it and didn't wash the cup afterwards!??? So gross! 

So here is where things got a little crazy.....we were walking out of the cafeteria when all of a sudden I got hit with this overwhelming desire to just bawl my eyes out......lol. My vision started going black, and I felt like I was about to pass out. I was thinking, "If I can just make it to the car and lay down, I'll be ok." Unfortunately, the car was not close by...and Nicole is going, "Beth, quit being so dramatic" and laughing her head off the whole time....haha...

We hopped in the elevator, but I could barely hold myself up. 

When we got off the elevator, I told my dad, "I'm bout to lose my breakfast! I need a bathroom!" Aaaaauuugh....He said to not worry about a bathroom (haha)...apparently my stomach wasn't too concerned about finding a bathroom either... AHH!
I could hear someone behind me ordering another person to go get a doctor...then a man appeared behind me with a wheelchair...hallelujah...!

Another annoying part of the day...I figured I was just going in to donate blood - no big deal - then we'd go right home. I half-jokingly told Nicole I was going to wear my hair down because it'd be a comfort to me while I give blood. Well let me tell you!! Hair hanging in one's face is not a comfort when tossing one's cookies!

It was ok though...I had a little bit of privacy under the staircase (hahaha). My dad was great - digging through my purse, handing me the stuff I asked for and rubbing my back. 

Waiting for the elevator 

Of course, this whole time, Nicole was taking pictures!! She said this one was so I could see later how "green" my face was. The doctor told me, "If you were white before, you are TRANSPARENT now!" Haha! Thanks a lot! So much for that California tan from last week!

The nurse had me eat a sucker while she took my blood pressure.

They took me back upstairs to the doctor's office where they took my vitals again and kept their eye on me for about 10 minutes. I felt pretty good after that and they let me go! 

I was escorted out of the hospital and to my house, where I immediately got into a great cardio session...HA! Just kidding. 

It was a crazy experience, but I think I would do it again. I'm pretty sure the reason that all this happened is because the hospital's rule for donating blood was to come on an empty stomach....DUMB IDEA! Next time, I'm doing to EAT first!

~Bethany~