donation

so i tried to give blood this morning at washington hospital center for the brian beutler blood cause (it gets credited against his medical bills). but after going through the whole 40-minute screening process, they tested my blood and the iron level was 12.3 - .2 short of the 12.5 minimum. ah well, it happens. i'll try again next week. but the best part was this exchange with the blood donor nurse:

nurse: your iron level is too low, blah blah.

catherine: dammit.

nurse: sometimes with women that happens, a week before or after...*looks around, lowers voice* your, you know.

catherine: um.  *in my head: YOU ARE A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL, are you seriously TOO EMBARRASSED TO SAY PERIOD?* gotcha.

anyways, i'm going to try again next thursday morning or friday before 4pm if anybody else is interested in joining. the hospital is only like a 10-minute bike ride from traitor's cove, so you're welcome over for a drink afterwards (whether it be pineapple juice or beer).

Comments

[could be because you're a runner]

aren't you a runner? I think healthy ahthletic types often have lower iron and that it's even more common in females. I work in the blood bank world (indirectly) and have heard lots of complaints about it...

good luck next time.

[b]

Did you get the cookies? Because that's so the only reason I give blood -- free cookies and OJ. (No, I'm not three years old, but you'd think so.) And they'll give ya the cookies even if you don't donate.

[Tóin Salach]

In high school, I once donated blood to get out of a math test. So did a number of my classmates. Good times! :-)