September 30, 2002
DOWN HOME:
Nurse Vampire & the slow drip
___"You're not bleeding fast enough," the young woman told me.
___People have expressed their displeasure with me in all kinds of ways--you get that in this line of work--but nobody ever complained that I didn't bleed fast enough.
___In fact, I've been pleased to be a relatively fast bleeder for more than 25 years. When we were in college, my buddies and I used to go over to Hendrick Hospital in Abilene to donate blood. We'd try to get hooked up at the same time, so we could "race" to see who would fill his plastic bag with blood the fastest.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___Joe was the fiercest competitor--at giving blood and just about everything else. If Marc, our friend and blood technician, would've let Joe run on a treadmill and give blood simultaneously, I think he would've tried it, just to set a world record time for heart-thumping blood donation. But I maintained his pace, squeezing the little rubber ball hard and fast to keep the blood flowing rapidly.
___So, when Countess Dracula said I wasn't bleeding fast enough, I thought blood had drained from my ears and I wasn't hearing well.
___I looked down at my right arm, which was beginning to go numb and turn purple.
___"Well, maybe you strapped the tourniquet on too tightly," I told her.
___She glanced at my arm and then returned her attention to the bag slowly filling with my blood, and shook it.
___Fortunately, another nurse heard our conversation and came over and loosened the tourniquet.
___"Still not fast enough," Nurse Vampire said, and I noted a tone of disdain in her voice. Maybe she's fast-bleeding Joe's long-lost sister, I wondered.
___I wanted to tell her I thought she might have placed the hole in the needle next to the wall of my artery, blocking the flow. But the last thing I wanted was for Cruella de Hemoglobin to jiggle a sharp object already penetrating my person.
___She waited, staring impatiently as my blood dripped into the bag. I was the last donor at our church that night, and when I finished, she could go home. I increased the pace of my squeezes on the little rubber ball and imagined Joe sat in the next chair, trying to do sit-ups to accelerate his heart rate.
___I've donated blood scores of times, and that was the only time giving really hurt. But almost as soon as she pulled the needle from my arm, everything was fine. She didn't even leave a bruise. And now someone else is better off.
___The Apostle Paul quotes Jesus: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." This especially is true with blood. I'd rather give a gallon than need a pint.
___Donate blood. It's the gift of life. Not the same as sharing your faith and offering eternal life, of course, but it makes a difference.
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