---

---

---

---

---

---

Blood Donation #14: Trust Your Gut

Something felt off…

Blood donations have become run-of-the-mill for Rachel with 13 under her belt. As she headed to donation #14 though, something felt off. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she had a feeling. Not necessarily a bad feeling, but a feeling.

Was it her recent poor diet and fear of low iron? Was it a donation center rather than a donation bus (she loves the bus)? Could it be that her pre-donation routine was different due to lack of workout and added water intake? Maybe it was all of these things. Yes, most certainly, it was all of these things.

Everything started as usual…

During her intake, everything was going smoothly. Pulse, 58, blood pressure 119/69, temperature 98.1, and last up is the hemoglobin test. Hemoglobin test?

The hemoglobin test…

The hemoglobin test is a blood test (that pesky little finger prick) that measures the amount of a protein in red blood cells called hemoglobin. According to MayoClinic.org, the normal range for a female is 11.6 to 15. According to Bloodworks Northwest, a score of 12.5 will mean a deferment (you cannot give blood that day). Rachel’s score came in at 12.6. Yikes.

Let’s back up for just a moment…

The usual experience is the cleaning of the test site, the prick of the tiny but mighty needle and the phlebotomist squeezing the fingertip to elicit a tiny drop of blood. The first and second drop are wiped away and the third drop is captured and tested. On this day, when the phlebotomist wiped away that first drop and squeezed again, there was no tiny drop. No, instead there was a flow of blood that soaked her finger and kept coming.

The phlebotomist was visually shaken as she tried to wipe up the blood and stop the flow, while at the same time trying to capture the sample to test. Rachel said, “Uh oh, that isn’t a good sign.” Let’s count the number of times her gut told her to stop the donation… This is one.

As you will see in the below photo, the Band-Aid really did its job.

Always left, never right…

Rachel was moved to the donation chair and watched as the phlebotomist prepared for the donation. Rachel’s anxiety in these situations is lessened by talking, so she commented that she only donates on the left because if anything went wrong, she wouldn’t want it to affect her dominant right hand. Then she said, “but what could go wrong, right?” The response from the phlebotomist was lacking, it was kind of a grunt and faceless expression. This was two.

The better vein…

She then checked Rachel’s left arm veins for a stick site. There is one vein and only one vein that Rachel has ever donated blood out of. It’s large, very visible to the naked eye and has never let her down yet. She pointed to that vein and told the phlebotomist that this was the trusty vein.

Rachel was told this vein “didn’t look good” and that a vein nearer to her elbow was preferred. Her response, what vein? Rachel couldn’t see it. She asked the phlebotomist if she was sure that would be better. “Yes.” Just a yes. Period. This was three.

The stick…

When the needle penetrated Rachel’s arm, she felt a sting and pain. She quickly verbalized this to the phlebotomist. “I think I missed.” What? Missed what? Why is she not pulling the needle out? “Oh, there is the blood, I didn’t miss.” This was four.

Tiny air bubbles and a hematoma…

This part all took place in the matter of moments after the needle stick.

The phlebotomist said, “I gave you a hematoma.” Rachel likes bruises, so she reassured the phlebotomist not to worry about a bruise. Little did Rachel know what this really meant. Side note: bruises are pretty when they change color, and it isn’t weird at all that she likes them. What it really meant… she had blown her vein. This sounds far worse than it actually is for the person on the receiving end. It simply means the vein was damaged during needle insertion. While not considered serious, it can be painful, causing swelling and take nearly two weeks to resolve.

Now, let’s circle back to earlier when Rachel posed the question of what could go wrong. This could go wrong. Then came the tiny air bubbles.

Tiny air bubbles might sound cute but not when they are in your line during a blood donation. With her arm in continued pain since the stick, she was sure to make it known. The phlebotomist said, “there are too many bubbles, I think we need to stop the donation.” You think? Rachel’s final count at this point was four times her gut told her not to proceed. Four. You don’t even get four in baseball. Three strikes. That’s it.

Choosing kindness…

This poor young girl was mortified. Not Rachel, the phlebotomist. She was very apologetic even though her ‘bedside’ manner was lacking throughout the experience. If Rachel had to guess, she’s had this sort of thing happen before and wasn’t treated very kindly. Rachel is not a person to get angry and be cruel, she instead reassured the phlebotomist that these things happen, and it wasn’t the end of the world. Afterall, now she had better story material than just the regular donation experience.

Of course, she still got pictures with the minimal amount of blood in her bag, which will be discarded and not used for donation.

She still gets her cookies…

Sweet ginger molasses cookies, how she loves you. Rachel enjoyed her post ‘donation’ experience with some cranberry juice and a couple, okay, a few ginger molasses cookies. She earned it and they were small. Wait, she doesn’t have to justify why she had three cookies. She enjoyed those THREE cookies and next time will probably take four.

Let’s not digress…

Let’s talk about this weak, tiny, unimpressive bruise. Wow, she expected more from this experience. She waited the required four hours before removing the bandage and had been excited to see a giant bruise. This thing was tiny but boy oh boy did it hurt. The swelling was crazy, too. She was unable to get a photo of the initial swelling, which was the size of a golf ball on her elbow. She iced, elevated and rested and the below photo on the left is the day after shot. There was still a little bit of swelling and a whole lot of pain. Okay, not a whole lot of pain but quite uncomfortable. The photo on the right was taken on day two and things are certainly progressing.

Go back up for another look at that photo on the left. Do you see a vein near that bruise or needle stick site? You do see the vein over there to the left of the picture, that big one, nice and visible. Yep, that’s right. You better bet that Rachel will insist on that trusty vein in the future. Until next time, be well.

Donate blood, save lives…

If you live in the Tacoma or the surrounding area and are interested in donating, visit Donate – Bloodworks Northwest.

---