Blood Drive!

Last week, I missed my creative writing and website programming classes to donate at the school’s blood drive. The school hosts two drives each year, and this was my third time donating. The first time you donate, they notify you a few weeks after the donation to let you know what blood type you are, and I learned I was O negative. O negative is the universal donor type, so even though I didn’t react the best way physically to donating, the fact that my type is in highest demand made me feel an extra duty to donate any time I could. The first time I donated, I almost passed out right at the end of the actual drawing of my blood, and they ended up having to keep me there because my hearing and vision kept going out if I tried to get up. They covered me in ice and gave me juice, all that fun jazz. The second time was promising! I made it through without any serious problems, and I went to the little snack mat area you sit at afterwards, chatting with my friend Laura who had also donated. Then, the same symptoms of losing my ability to hear and then see happened, so I laid down and went through the same ice-juice process. But it still didn’t feel as bad as the first time, and I eventually went back to class. We had been reading A Streetcar Named Desire in language arts, so I read the scene of the day on my own and began working on the study guide questions. I felt tired, but nothing worse than that, until I got to around question 3 on the study guide. I was overcome with nausea out of nowhere and convinced that I was about to vomit. I was trying my hardest to not do that, and decided to get up and go to the bathroom. I don’t actually remember what happened next, but my classmates and teacher filled me in. My senses began to go again, and I tapped the girl next to me, whispering, “Mariela, I don’t feel so good…” as I passed out onto my desk. It’s a funny parallel to Peter Parker’s “death” in Infinity War(hopefully you’ve seen that by now and I didn’t just give a major spoiler). Then I was out cold, and Mariela and the others thought I was joking, and laughed while poking me. When I didn’t respond, they realized I had actually passed out and informed Mrs. Stockwell, who called the nurse, and somehow moved me to lay on the ground. I woke back up to see the rest of my class being escorted away, which was confusing when I checked the clock and saw that class was supposed to end 15 minutes from then. The nurse came up, and even though I felt pretty alright, they wouldn’t let me walk to the nurse’s office, so I got wheeled down during passing period, which was just embarrassing more than anything. We passed by my seventh hour teacher, and I said hello and informed him that I would not be in class that day. I felt okay for real after that, and even drove myself home about two hours after the incident. This third time, I did not want to risk a repeat of the last two, so I was FULL of food and water beforehand, and all was well! They also took extra precautions during the process since I informed them I had passed out last time, which was a significant help. It was a big relief to know I can handle donating more in the future.