Blood!!!!!!!

Today I decided would be a good time for me to give blood. I am visiting my parents in Florence and they were having a blood drive at church this morning. I decided that I could drop Crispin and Duncan off at class and go donate in time to pick them up. I should stop now and back up to the other events of the day. Before Church, Mom and Dad went to the building early to donate blood before services. The arrived at 8:00 to donate and Church did not start until 8:30. I got Crispy and Dunc ready and took them to church. We got there just on time and sat with Nana and Jack (my Grand-Parents and waited for Mom and Dad to arrive. They came in just a few minutes after the service began and slipped in beside us. No sooner than they sat down the speaker announced that everyone who was going on mission trips this summer (this includes Mom) should come to the front of the room and stand so that he could say a special prayer over them and then they were going to take up a special contribution to help fund the mission work this summer. Before the prayer started I noticed that Mom was not looking well. She sort of swayed back and forth. After the prayer I opened my eyes (I remained sitting because Dunc was laying in my lap trying to get his "Church Nap" in) and saw that Mom was gone. I figured she left during the prayer and went to the lobby or somewhere else, and would be back in a moment or two. She did not return, but Joanne came and got Dad and he quickly left. I figured she was weak from donating blood, but I was not sure. A few minutes later Dad came back in with a note and handed it to me and took Mom's Bible and purse with him. I then knew that she had fainted. (She started to fall during the prayer and the ladies on each side of her layed her down just inside the door behind her (the Kitchen Door) in the floor. They finally revived her and sent her home. She rested for the rest of the day instead of all of the other plans she was suppossed to do. After the service was over I took Crisp and Dunc to class and went to the Blood Bus. I signed in and got ready to answer the every popular sex questions and then prepared for my donation. The attendant asked if I gave regularly and I said yes and I had never had any trouble. I can't say that anymore. She then asked if I wanted to donate on the ALYX system. I said I guess and she explained that it removed two pints of blood and seperated it in the machine and then put the plasma back in. I thought it sounded great and agreed. All was going well and there were a few onlookers that found the process to be facinating. I could not see what was going on, but my blood was seperated into three seperate bags and processed. I thought it sounded neat and I was feeling well. Then it all changed. The machine switched to the Plasma reinsertion mode and started pumping plasma back into my body. It felt odd and sort of cold coming back in but it was not painful. I was assured that it was all going well and then I leaned my head back (I have to insert here that I have an odd obsession with watching the needle go into my arm and keep an eye out on it the whole time it is in there. Gross yess, but it is interesting.) Well, after I leaned my head back I started to feel a new sensation in my arm. Preasure. I did not look at my arm since I had been assured that all was well. Then the pain began to increase rapidly. I gasped and looked at my arm. It was swelling. There was a knot on the side of my arm the size of a lemon and growing. I yelled something is wrong. The attendant was on the other side of the bus and said what is wrong. I said the my arm was swollen. She yelled for another attendant to hit the stop button, but the new technician did not know where the stop button was on the machine. So I continued to be pumped full of plasma. The attendant finally stopped the machine and said "Looks like you blew out a vein." She then proceded to masage the fluid that had colected on my arm (now the size of a baseball) back out of the hole in my arm. This was the most disgusting part, but the relief was worth it. Now I still have a knot on my arm and a bruise coming up. I have had an ice pack on my arm today and still don't want to bend it (I'm typing with arms outstretched). Well I guess it could be worse, at least I got some of my plasma back along with two camo baseball hats!!!!