I Guess There is No DIGNIFIED Place to Faint......

.....but come on, the bank?

Really?

I gave blood today, and I've had problems in the past after donating blood. The dizziness usually hits me when I'm in the "canteen" area having juice and cookies. I can tell when it's coming, and I know to let the staff know so they can put me on the Stretcher of Shame. I also discovered years ago that yawning is an indication that I'm going to faint. A nurse told me that yawning was an indication that my blood was starved for oxygen, and that many people yawn right before they die.

Thanks for that little pick-me-up.

Today I felt fine after my donation. I sat in the canteen area the requested 10-15 minutes (closer to 10 - I had a lunch date with the Warrior Princess). I left to go run an URGENT errand for Hubby (SOMEONE who shall remain nameless but has been known to walk in his sleep and enter closets came to the golf course with no beer, immediately causing a situation of national security. Or insecurity. Whatever.) and I still felt fine. I met the Warrior Princess at the restaurant, and we had a lovely time chatting and enjoying lunch. Then I followed her back to the bank so she could take care of some internet banking business for me. I filled out some forms, signed some papers, and thanked the heavens above for the Warrior Princess. Again. It's wonderful having a friend in the banking business.

That's when things began to go a little wrong. I was ready to leave, but the tremendous buzzing in my ears told me that perhaps I shouldn't drive. Warrior Princess offered to let me sit in an unused office, but I said I was fine. And then my color abandoned me. And I started yawning. And then I sort of woke up on the floor in the unused office. Not at all sure how I got there. I heard a man ask if we needed help, and Warrior Princess assured him things were fine, it was only related to my blood donation. Thank goodness for that. Fainting in the bank is embarrassing enough; if anyone had called 9-1-1, I would have been permanently humiliated.

Eventually I felt well enough to drive home (over WP's protests, but I wasn't going to take her away from her job to drive me home), and I felt much better by the time I got home. I checked my blood pressure out of curiosity, and it was 93/54. Hello! I don't know how low is TOO low, but that's way low for me. No telling how low it was when I was still at the bank.

Oddly enough, I have never had blood donation problems when I was fat/obese. I don't reckon that's reason enough to put the weight back on, though.

I'm just pretty sure I can never go back to the bank.