I did it. I actually got out of bed, took a shower, even did my hair! Then I got all the stuff I needed to take with me, used the little cash I had left and got a healthy lunch at Zaxby's, drank a crap ton of water, and then headed off to the plasma donation place, 45 minutes away.
When I went in, it wasn't crowded at all. Nice and quiet, the guy at the desk was very friendly and looked at my ID and signed me in. I sat there about 15-20 minutes before my name was called. All the while more and more people started showing up. I had gotten there right at 2:30pm. The folks behind the desk seemed to know most of them and complimented the hair style and hair color of two different people coming in. I was feeling calm.
Finally they called me back there. I had to answer a ton of questions. learned a lot about drugs I had never heard of, about the dangers of synthetic marijuana (why does that exist?), and felt like this must be a lot like what getting booked into jail is like. They took my thumbprint and vitals. My pulse was was 108. From my time wearing a FitBit, I knew that was normal for me really. But they asked if I was nervous. I said I guess. So they had me go sit in the lobby for 15 minutes to see if it went down. Apparently it has to be below 100.
While I was sitting out there, every chair ended up filling up, and folks were standing around. Lots of them seriously looked like they were really missing whatever drug they might have been on. But with all the screenings, I don't know how anyone on any kind of drugs could possibly be accepted. So, I chalked it up to other issues, like possibly mental illnesses. I mean, I was on the edge of caving to my own anxiety afterall. About 5 minutes into my wait, a woman across the room starts moaning, like loudly. Meanwhile, the woman sitting next to me is on her phone talking very loudly to someone who she assumed hated her, and to be honest, she gave them every reason to. I mean seriously, what a bitch she was being. If she hadn't felt so upset about how that person cared about her, I would have though sociopath, from the things she was saying. Anyway, she finally went outside. But the moaning across the room turned into "Help me" and then she was down. A man who I learned was her husband, laid her down and went to get one of the techs. Not too long afterwards, the head person came out and yelled for Gatorade and ice packs. She hollered that the woman was seizing and to call 911, so they did. Not 3 minutes later, the firetruck was outside and by the time they were inside the ambulance could be heard pulling in. They were talking to the woman, or trying to, when they called me back there. Needless to say, I didn't think my anxiety breathing techniques had really done much. My pulse was 107. So they said I could come back Monday and try again. I won't though. Like I said, that's my normal pulse. Until I can figure out how to make that go lower and stay lower, there's no sense wasting my and their time.
When I went outside to get to my car, they were loading the woman into the ambulance. I hope she's okay, and I hate that now that couple has an ambulance and hospital bill on top of whatever prompted them to come to the plasma donation center that day.
I did at least get to go pick up my daughter's glasses at the mall and bring those home to her, so not a totally wasted trip.
In other news, in trying to cut costs and stay/get healthier, I've decided to try a non-meat diet. Mostly plant based, but there will probably be pasta and such until our grocery budget can increase. I'll try to get back here and do a post on my meal plan and grocery list and how much I end up spending. But I can't go shopping until the 29th (Thursday). So, until then, I'll be researching how to get a lot of protein on a meatless diet.
When I went in, it wasn't crowded at all. Nice and quiet, the guy at the desk was very friendly and looked at my ID and signed me in. I sat there about 15-20 minutes before my name was called. All the while more and more people started showing up. I had gotten there right at 2:30pm. The folks behind the desk seemed to know most of them and complimented the hair style and hair color of two different people coming in. I was feeling calm.
Finally they called me back there. I had to answer a ton of questions. learned a lot about drugs I had never heard of, about the dangers of synthetic marijuana (why does that exist?), and felt like this must be a lot like what getting booked into jail is like. They took my thumbprint and vitals. My pulse was was 108. From my time wearing a FitBit, I knew that was normal for me really. But they asked if I was nervous. I said I guess. So they had me go sit in the lobby for 15 minutes to see if it went down. Apparently it has to be below 100.
While I was sitting out there, every chair ended up filling up, and folks were standing around. Lots of them seriously looked like they were really missing whatever drug they might have been on. But with all the screenings, I don't know how anyone on any kind of drugs could possibly be accepted. So, I chalked it up to other issues, like possibly mental illnesses. I mean, I was on the edge of caving to my own anxiety afterall. About 5 minutes into my wait, a woman across the room starts moaning, like loudly. Meanwhile, the woman sitting next to me is on her phone talking very loudly to someone who she assumed hated her, and to be honest, she gave them every reason to. I mean seriously, what a bitch she was being. If she hadn't felt so upset about how that person cared about her, I would have though sociopath, from the things she was saying. Anyway, she finally went outside. But the moaning across the room turned into "Help me" and then she was down. A man who I learned was her husband, laid her down and went to get one of the techs. Not too long afterwards, the head person came out and yelled for Gatorade and ice packs. She hollered that the woman was seizing and to call 911, so they did. Not 3 minutes later, the firetruck was outside and by the time they were inside the ambulance could be heard pulling in. They were talking to the woman, or trying to, when they called me back there. Needless to say, I didn't think my anxiety breathing techniques had really done much. My pulse was 107. So they said I could come back Monday and try again. I won't though. Like I said, that's my normal pulse. Until I can figure out how to make that go lower and stay lower, there's no sense wasting my and their time.
When I went outside to get to my car, they were loading the woman into the ambulance. I hope she's okay, and I hate that now that couple has an ambulance and hospital bill on top of whatever prompted them to come to the plasma donation center that day.
I did at least get to go pick up my daughter's glasses at the mall and bring those home to her, so not a totally wasted trip.
In other news, in trying to cut costs and stay/get healthier, I've decided to try a non-meat diet. Mostly plant based, but there will probably be pasta and such until our grocery budget can increase. I'll try to get back here and do a post on my meal plan and grocery list and how much I end up spending. But I can't go shopping until the 29th (Thursday). So, until then, I'll be researching how to get a lot of protein on a meatless diet.
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I love getting comments, and I read every one. Thanks for coming by my site and reading my ramblings. I hope you have a wonderful day! -Patty