Can I have my Blood back please???

I wonder why, back in the day, they ever thought that "bleeding" an illness out of a person was the right way to go. Bad blood, you know.... I mean who ever came up with that idea anyway??? Isn't blood going out of the body always a bad thing??

Joe would agree that it is a very bad thing. Especially for him. Guilt got the better of him this week, after constant hounding from the "Bloodies", he decided that he would give blood at an American Red Cross blood drive, at a "New Life" church in West Linn. (appropriate name don't you think?)
His appointment was scheduled for 3pm, so things started out great.......He got to leave work early, he was doing something good for the community, it was a nice day, and he was going to watch a little March Madness tonight. He called me on the way, to let me know he was nearly there and would be home soon.

At about 4:30pm I started to wonder where he was. It can't take that long, can it? At 4:38pm I get a call from an unknown number. The woman on the other end of the telephone says "Is this Cami Severson?" I answer "Yes". "This is Bao from the American Red Cross, your husband Joseph has donated blood today.." At this point my heart starts racing. What is going on???? Why is this woman calling and not Joe? "He has passed out and had a seizure, will you please come down here, he will not be able to drive himself home" I tell her I will be right there, grab Kaelan, tell Levi that he is in charge of the older boys for a few minutes (while I pick up Joe) and head out the door.

I arrive at the church to find Joe laying on a modified dark green "pool" lounge chair.

Like this one:Only imagine the legs about 3 and a half feet high. It was a crazy contraption.

He was flat on his back, with his hand raised holding a brown paper bag over his nose and mouth. He was as white as a ghost. It didn't take long to realize that we weren't just going to hop into the car and go home. Incidentally, Kaelan, who as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, spotted Joe's truck exclaimed "Daddy!! vroom vroom" and as soon as we were in the place, and he saw Joe, he practically jumped out of my arms onto Joe. Not a great idea at the moment.

Joe was so happy to see us. I know that feeling. When you are in a strange place (as he put it: some weird creepy church) feeling awful, surrounded by people you don't know, it feels really great to see someone you love walk in. He told me he almost lost it when he saw me. It felt like such a relief to have me there. Poor guy.....

Apparently, they had just finished up filling up one of these beauties:when he started to feel light headed.
He thought to himself "Good thing that they are done, I was starting to feel a little light headed" And that was the last thing that he remembered. He woke to find 5 nurses surrounding him. The first thing they did (according to Joe's memory) was open a packet of sugar and pour it in his mouth. He remembers, quite vividly, trying to make it go down without choking on it. Weird treatment, wouldn't you say??


Apparently it is common enough that they have their own name brand sugar packets:

The nurse that had drawn his blood, was a nervous sort. When I asked her if he had passed out, her response was a nervous titter, followed by "He might have". She acted like she was going to get in trouble. I asked again "Did he or didn't he pass out" "Yes" she said, he did. Then she finally let me know the whole story.

What had happened, while he was out, was that he started to convulse. Pretty quickly it turned into a full body seizure and they needed 5 nurses to hold him down so that he wouldn't fall of the raised lounge chair. Apparently it went on for over a minute. She said that it wasn't unheard of, to have this reaction to giving blood, but it was very rare.

So, the plan was to take him home as soon as he was feeling well enough to sit up. We waited..... and waited......and waited for him to start feeling well enough to go home. When I had first arrived he had already been waiting an hour to feel better. We waited another full hour on top of that, before the nurses conferred and decided that he needed to go to the hospital. They were worried that he was too dehydrated to replenish his fluids on his own. They wanted to call an ambulance to get to the hospital, but Joe sighed "Can't you just give me my blood back please????" Everyone laughed at that. He sighed, "Alright, but, Cami, can't you just take me?" I looked at him and said "You are crazy! It costs us $5 for an ambulance ride and they will get you right in and taken care of immediately. If I drive you over there, you will be waiting for hours and passing out in the ER waiting room! Besides, you can't even sit up....how are you going to walk out to the car or into the ER??" Finally he conceded to that logic and the nurse called the paramedics.

It only took 3 or 4 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. In walk six 20-something men with crew cuts and uniforms, all looking like they just came in from a gym. I was so surprised how alike they all looked, I don't mean their faces or coloring, there was a black man, a Hispanic man, and 4 white men. But even still, they all looked cut from the same mold. It was weird! They were really professional, and in no time had him in the back of the ambulance and on the way to the hospital. In the meantime, I ran home, called a neighbor to come over and watch the kids, and left for the hospital.

So much for March Madness for Joe, and Levi's No-Camp Camping trip with the Webelos, our Friday night would be spent in the ER. Wahooo.

By the time they let me back there with Joe, he was already feeling so much better. They had given him a full bolus of IV fluids, and that made a huge difference. He had about every wire imaginable hooked to him (except a catheter....for which he was very grateful!!). He could not move. Little sticky nodules where attached to him all over his torso and legs with wires attached to all of them, he had a blood pressure cuff on one arm, an IV in the other, an O2 sensor on one finger and band aids on two others (from blood sugar tests).

Then.....he had to go! That darn IV and its fluids.... Now what??? I went and got the nurse and asked if he could get up to go to the bathroom. The answer was NO. What??? Then how.... wait, maybe we don't want to know.

She goes over to the cupboard and pulls out one of these lovelies:Joe just starts laughing when he sees it. NO way, he says.... well at least it's better than a catheter. "To think," he laments "this morning I was invincible, and now I am an invalid" He eyes the cardboard container doubtfully.... "Won't that leak through?" "Eventually" The nurse says. Great, that sounds....great. Why cardboard? Well, because its the "green" road to disposing of human waste. They even have a special machine that "takes care" of the unmentionables. Go Portland and the green movement!! "So, do you compost here, on site too??" Joe jokes. The nurse shuddered at the thought of that, while laughing heartily. "I have seen plenty of nasty things in my time here, but that is something I hope to NEVER see" she says. Fun times..... I won't even mention how this was all accomplished in the end... and I am sure Joe thanks me for that!

Joe was being tortured by the mere fact that he is in the hospital. Every time the doctor asks him a question, Joe responds with "Will my answer make me have to stay longer??", "I am fine" or "Maybe, just a little - but not bad enough to stay" The doctor can't resist smiling at Joe's antics, but assures him that he won't be in here forever.
Eventually all of the tests come back and everything has stabilized and is registering normal, with one exception. He had a white blood cell count of over 14,000. They diagnose this as "non-specific" because he has no symptoms of illness. So.... the reason for all of this hullabaloo? Well, he was dehydrated, stressed, has a naturally low pulse rate, and apparently is fighting a "non-specific" disease. I guess "little" things really add up as soon as they take a little blood out of you.

After this experience, I can definitely see the benefit of "bleeding" out an illness.... it definitely makes you stronger..... Joe was much better after they bled him a little. (notice the use of strong sarcasm here) I am sure glad we have come a long way since those days!!

And as the above cartoon says "I'm using all mine!" Joe really was.

So, everyone -but Joe, do as the Red Cross says:
"Get involved and save a life".....the life you save may be your own.