the lotus leaves will set you on a slumber sweet and sound

[frith_in_thorns]

This is a story about how cool I am.

I went to a blood donor session today, gave blood, blah blah. ("Wow, you have really slow blood!" "Yes. Yes, I'm told this with fascination every time.")

Finished, was asked if I ever had any problems afterwards, told them no, sat up and fainted. Which I have never done before.

Lying there feeling like crap, my first coherent thought was, "Hey! I can use this in a fic! :D"

...I am so totally cool.

Comments

Meep!

[ebeneezerdark]

Sorry you had a rough time... will look forward to the fic!

(and talk about "making lemonade"...!)

Re: Meep!

[frith_in_thorns]

It's totally good life experience ;D

[embroiderama]

*hugs* I hope you feel all recovered now.

But ooh, please do. (Though, if you want to be realistic, Neal in particular would never be allowed to donate since he spent time in prison. Unless he lied, which of course Neal would NEVER do. ;))

[frith_in_thorns]

...huh, that's a rule in the US? I totally didn't know that! Is there a specific reason for that given?

I'm pretty amused by the whole thing now, at the time I was pretty embarrassed :P But also really interested in cataloguing exactly what my body was doing to me, because I am a massive dork XD

[embroiderama]

AFAIK all the major blood banks in the US don't allow donations EVER from certain populations that are considered to be at higher risk for HIV, including people who've spent more than a couple days in jail/prison since the late 70s, men who've had sex with men since the late 70's, and people who spent time in certain countries like Haiti. I don't think it's fair, but they ask the questions and to donate anybody in those categories would have to lie, generally verbally not on paper.

[frith_in_thorns]

Yeah, having served jail time doesn't come into it in the UK, which is also in the process of (slowly) allowing gay men to give blood, since they've belatedly realised that their risk factor for HIV isn't actually any higher than that of exclusively straight-partnered people. (I think currently the rule is if you're a man you can't have had sex with another man within the last 12 months, and if you're a woman you can't have had sex with that man in the last 12 months. Don't quote me, though.) There's also all the stuff about can't have had tattoos/piercings in the last year, can't have *injected* illegal drugs ever. And there's also a time limit from having visited certain countries and being vaccinated.

/infodump

(I kind of still want to write that fic, though, lol :P)

[embroiderama]

The rest of it sounds similar to here. Actually, I just looked and there seems to be some variation when it comes to the prison thing--some places may just defer people for a year but in my state it appears to be a permanent deferral.

[frith_in_thorns]

Aha, I found criteria for New York! No mention of prison there (although good to know tattoo parlours in NJ could never harbour hep. strains :S), so it's just down to interpretations of Neal's sexuality :P

[saphirablue]

I'm just randomly popping in here - in Austria you are (at least I think since they ask for it on the sheets) excluded from donating if you spent more than 6 months in the UK in the (I think) 90's due to BSE and the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

And the same ban on men having had sex with an other man within the last 12 months. Can't remember if there is the same question for women though.

[frith_in_thorns]

Actually, I feel I want to write a second comment to register how much I hate governmental systems that basically regard prison rape as an expected part of jail time, and actively advertise it as part of the "deterrent" of prison (and I also dislike it when the good guys do this on cop shows) rather than doing something about this massive systemic human rights abuse.

(This is totally not aimed at you, it's a general feeling of mine.)

[embroiderama]

No, I agree in a very big way.

[ivorysilk]

THIS. Prison is supposed to be about deterrence, yes--but that's the loss of freedom part, not an introduction to torture. I'd like to think that if a prisoner / inmate complained about sexual abuse, something would be done--but I am not naive enough to think that this is reality.

(In my world, despite having written it, Neal comes out of prison completely unscathed, except by boredom and loneliness, and fashion issues.)

[frith_in_thorns]

Especially given the amount of people who end up in prison for relatively minor things, such as possession charges, and the massive bias in which populations are way more likely to be prosecuted severely :/

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

D: I hope you're feeling okay now!

LOL, at the mind jumping to using in fic, though. Yeah, I admit, my sister and I have definitely had plenty of those conversations as well. We'll get hurt, or really sick, or something generally unpleasant or dramatic happens, and we're both like, "But hey, on the up side... it's research!" In a way, though, it does kind of help deal with otherwise seriously not-fun situations, to step back and analyze and file it away for future reference like that.

[frith_in_thorns]

I'm fine now, thanks :)

Have to say, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who does that :P Anaylysing exact reactions, and how they feel and everything, is always so much more fun than just experiencing them, imo.

[ivorysilk]

HEE!!! I love it! And will look forward to the fic :)

[frith_in_thorns]

I have a whole ton of half-finished fics right now, it's terrible :P But my brain is totally jumping to "inflict RL pain on Neal!" XD

[rumrouz.livejournal.com]

Oh, are you ok now?

"Hey! I can use this in a fic!
It would be interesting =)

[frith_in_thorns]

I'm fine now, thank you very much :)

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear! I'm sorry that happened to you! But...I guess, happy for you that now you know firsthand what it feels like? This is why they ask you to sit up slowly, I guess.

One of the times I gave blood, this girl giving at the same time as I was basically had the same reaction--everything seemed fine, she said she was fine, she sat up, literally turned greyish-green before my eyes, and crumpled onto the floor, unconscious. I saw her change colors. And then she just collapsed, like...I don't know, I guess it reminded me most of a tree that had just been chopped down. It was one of the weirdest moments, and happened so quickly!

[frith_in_thorns]

I totally did sit up slowly and everything, apparently my blood pressure just randomly dropped XD (I'm kind of sad now that I don't know if I changed colour :P) It felt so weird, really!

[leesa_perrie]

I used to feel faint after injections and blood tests - I'm not so bad now, but the thought of giving blood still makes me feel ill! I used to be on medication and so could justify not giving blood... now, maybe I need to check the criteria and, to paraphrase Peter, cowgirl up!

Btw, glad I'm not the only one who sometimes goes 'that'd make a great fic idea' for RL things! :)

[frith_in_thorns]

I'm really lucky not to have a problem with needles - I just had my blood pressure randomly drop :P

Actually, that's another thing I tend to find amusing when I give blood - I tell them my medications, and without fail the next question is, "Um, how do you spell that?" XD

And apparently there are several of us who go "hey, fic idea!" :D

[littlered2.livejournal.com]

Hee! That is an impressive first thought to have. (And poor you! I hope you're feeling better.)

Is it weird that I really like giving blood? Because I do. I have not yet fainted, admittedly.

[frith_in_thorns]

I like giving blood too! I am all LOOK MY BLOOD IS GOING INTO THAT BAG IT'S SO COOL :D

[littlered2.livejournal.com]

It is cool! And you get to feel like a good person, which is always nice. (Apparently my blood goes quite fast, too, which is handy.)

[saphirablue]

Hehehe, when I donate they are always surprised that mine flows so fast. :D

Hope you feel okay now! :)

"Hey! I can use this in a fic! :D"
*rubs hands* and: To the lengths whumpers go in order to improve their fic. :P ;)

[frith_in_thorns]

Pfff, people with fast blood :P I tend to have nurses coming up to me at intervals and going, "Wow, your blood is REALLY SLOW!" :P Every single time. I find it really amusing (and I've started warning them when they put the needle in that this is going to happen).

And yeah, I'm fine now :) Actually, I was kind of surprised that so many of the fic cliches about fainting (which I totally use all the time) are actually true XD

[coltdancer.livejournal.com]

YAY for giving blood! I am overdue to donate, but it is difficult to give while in race training because you have to be careful about over-exerting after they take the blood. I should have given after my last race, but I think there's a bit of contraindication to donating right after a marathon.

I hadn't ever thought much about the questions they ask until I read this discussion, and I have to say - what the fresh heck does sexuality truly have to do with HIV risk any more? That's a bit of an ignorant misnomer - HIV is not biased towards sexual preference - and don't they still test each blood donation? I guess it's still not foolproof; and, what a terrible way to become infected with HIV.

And abuse/rape in prison should NOT be an expected occurrence! I don't think they include those as a stipulation of any sentencing (although, hey - some offenses naturally should be punished in the same way they are initially performed, but that's an entirely different moral/ethical discussion of 'eye for an eye' and all) - and the fact that some institutions seem okay with this outcome is a little alarming. Fact of life or not - many perpetrators don't deserve that kind of brutality, no matter their offense.

Anyway. That was long winded. And I just wanted to give you a thumbs up on your idea. And fawn over how your brain works so similarly to mine. :D