Drawing Blood
Blood is a very unique and special substance which sits at the heart (pun intended) of life as we know it. With expressions like “life-blood”, we seem to openly acknowledge that blood is the essence of life. Some people fully comprehend the composition of blood and understand that it is not at all the same from one being to another. We often like to say that we all bleed red just like everyone, and that tries to suggest that we are all the same in our primary color, which, of course, is blood red. The differentiators between the elements of blood such as red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma are all things most of us know but only a few of us (mostly those in the medical profession) really understand. There are also mysterious blood diseases like general Anemia, the more rare, but more harmful Sickle-cell Anemia, and then the cancers of the blood generally called Leukemia (mostly acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)). Things going wrong with the blood are pretty serious since it is the blood the feeds the rest of the body in all ways and all places.
There are at least eight blood types including A positive (A+), A negative (A-), B positive (B+), B negative (B-), AB positive (AB+), AB negative (AB-), O positive (O+), O negative (O-). The biggest differences are the presence or absence of antigens (A or B) that cause different people to react differently and be compatible or incompatible with various blood types. The most common blood type in the United States is O+ and the rarest is AB-. The most common category, the O category, is considered the safest or healthiest because it has fewer clotting factors or proteins in it than do the other categories. O- types are also the most needed blood types because they are what are called universal donors and can be given to anyone as a transfusion. Blood type not only determines important things like likelihood of certain diseases like coronary artery disease and diabetes, but they also determine what dietary needs your system prefers and performs best with. That makes O- the most compatible blood type while the least compatible blood type is AB+, so guess what blood type I have? Yep, that would be AB+. And guess what blood type Kim has? Yep, O-. That means that everyone in the world wants what Kim has to offer and no one in the world wants anything to do with me…at least in terms of the essence of life, blood.
Back in my early career days, my bank was very serious about blood donation for one reason or another. Great accolades were heaped on long term employees who donated blood very regularly and racked up gallons and gallons of donated blood to their credit. I gave blood a few times, but when I came to realize that AB+ blood had relatively limited compatibility. In fact, AB+ red blood cells are only usable for AB+ recipients, which represent less than 3% of the population. But then there is AB+ plasma, which is universally acceptable by people of all blood types much as O- is universally acceptable in terms of red blood cells. But blood plasma, as important as it is in trauma care medicine represents only 55% of the volume of blood taken from a whole blood donation, and 95% of that is comprised of water. So, it turns out my life essence does have some value to the world at large, its just that its worth a fraction of what Kim’s red corpuscles and their acceptability makes her blood.
I am no longer at a point in life where getting my name on a gallons-given list means anything, so all of this blood type awareness has made me less inclined to actively donate blood. My oldest sister, Kathy, as a kid, had an abject fear of needles. She would literally run out of doctor’s offices screaming bloody murder. Somewhere along the line she decided she needed to get over that problem, so she decided to start giving blood so as to force herself to get more used to needles. Since then, she has donated 8 gallons, and since she too is O+ and thus a universal donor, the blood bank loves her for it.
This past Sunday, Kim was asked to stand in for a friend in running the Hidden Meadows Sellers Fair. There was a bloodmobile there as part of the program and she decided to give and asked if I would give. I didn’t give it much of a thought until later she told me that she had tried to give, but that there had been a trouble with her veins and they weren’t able to draw blood. She said she felt somehow unfulfilled even though the blood bank people were very appreciative nonetheless. After I went for my daily swim laps, I had no agenda, so I swung by the Sellers Fair thinking that I would go give blood. I really don’t have much reason to go to the Seller’s Fair otherwise since I rarely find things at the main fair that i need or want. When I knocked on the blood mobile door I asked if they had any interest in AB+ blood. The blood technicians didn’t react one way or the other over my blood type. I suspect they are trained not to engage in blood type dialogue with donors. Instead, they handed me a clipboard with a form to fill out. Beyond the obvious ID and contact information, there were 43 very personal questions that involved where you have travelled recently, what medications you are taking, any illnesses you have suffered in the past few months, who you have had six with (including homosexual activity and any prostitutes you have encountered). It was quite an eye-opening questionnaire.
They then asked which arm I preferred. I actually showed them a vein that I tend to use for routine medical blood work, but they said that was too much on the bicep and that they preferred to go in at the routine inside elbow joint. My comment was that I had been told that I had veins like pipelines except that they were quite deep and not right up at the surface like on some people. The young technician went at it, first marking the veins to be attacked and then covering the inner arm with tincture of iodine. I looked away (never easy to see yourself getting poked) and she proceeded to jam a big old needle into my arm, wiggle it around and then make a noise as though she had been successful. Just then the more senior technician came over and jumped in to suggest that the vein that had been chosen would likely not hold up for the full amount of the required blood draw. She made a command decision to pull out and then simply took over the procedure, asking me to hold the needle wound while she got an ice pack to put on it. She then taped the ice pack to my arm as though it were a battlefield wound.
She told me to move chairs to the other side of the blood mobile so she would get at my other arm. She went through the same prep procedure as with the other arm and then started to dig into that other arm with more or less the same outcome. In frustration, she told me that was enough and that we needed to declare defeat. She taped up the newly mangled arm, but didn’t bother with the ice pack this time. She apologized and thanked me for trying and as I got up to leave the blood mobile asked if I wanted one of their snacks anyway…presumably implying that I hadn’t really earned one by virtue of being down a pint of blood in my system. I declined and came out of the bloodmobile into the sunny hot part of the day. Why did I suddenly feel inadequate? My universal donor wife had tried and failed to give blood. My own efforts to give them would likely turn into 55% universal plasma had also failed. Between the two of us, all we had for our goodwill efforts were three arm bruises to show for our efforts at drawing blood.