Blood Donating No More!

What a weekend!  I've thought about whether to give you a run down of the weekend in a Not Me format or just lay it all out there for ya. . . .  And I'm opting for the latter.  So hang on tight; here we go!

Our church held Macon Impact this weekend; this is a semi-annual event where our church participates in various outreach opportunities throughout the community.  There was a blood drive and blood marrow donor sign-up drive on Friday at the church, and Tim and I signed up to give blood.  I will admit I was a bit anxious as I arrived to donate; I've only given once before, and that was 13 years ago, and it didn't go very well. 

This time? I gave blood like a champ!  It was awesome!  And I was so proud!  Heck, giving blood went so well, I grabbed a bone marrow donation application on my way out the door.  My plans were to complete that bad boy and begin donating anything I could every time I could.

We left the church and headed to meet some friends for dinner.  I had looked forward to dinner with our friends for a number of reasons.  You know how there's always that couple you want to hang out with more, but you just can't ever get seem to get together?  And you know how you have a Friday that's full of stress - both good and bad, really - and you just anticipate the time you can sip on a salty margarita while relaxing?  Yeah, that was Friday for me.

So, as we walked into the restaurant Tim tells me his Red Cross nurse told him to double up on his fluid intake and to avoid alcohol.  My nurse didn't say that.  And you know, I am a rule follower from the get-go.  But, I reasoned, if my nurse didn't tell me to avoid alcohol, then I wasn't really breaking any rules by having a small margarita.

So I indulged. 

We ate dinner, we chatted, I sipped on my margarita.  Life?  It was good!

And then, before I knew it, I was feeling kinda funny.  Lightheaded and spaced out.  I told Tim I needed to get outside.  We were just inside of the restaurant's patio area, and I thought, "I can make it to that chair out there and sit down and I'll be fine."

I never made it to that chair.  I wake up to two men in my face, strangers checking my pulse, and I can't see my husband or my friends.  Come to find out, I'd passed out.  I was on the floor propped up with my head in Tim's lap. 

911 was called.  Paramedics arrived, and wisked me off to the hospital.  By the time I was in the ambulance and they started an IV, I began to feel much better.  Almost normal again.  And I was so embarrassed!  Tim and I spent the remainder of the night in the EC while I was having tests run and getting fluids.  We were released around 1am.
But not before Tim explicity told me my blood donating days are over.  And that bone marrow application?  Not for me.

Lesson learned.