Thanks for joining me Over Coffee
A writer by passion and profession, I've been writing since I was old enough to know how, so establishing a weblog
seemed a natural progression. By adding a blog to my site, I can speak about my passions and life, share my writing, art
and photos, and comment on current events.
Sunday, August 10, 2003
Not Ironic Enough It happened again. I went to donate blood, and they rejected me for being just a smidge under the required level of iron. The male nurse--a humorous big guy--who took my info was chatty as I warned him he'd probably have to "spin it" to get the number.
When he came back with my iron numbers (Hematocrit), he was disappointed to hear that I wouldn't consider eating meat to increase my iron level and made some alternate suggestions: "If you're taking a vitamin supplement to help, try switching to capsules, they dissolve faster and are more easily absorbed by the body--the tablets just sit in the stomach and get washed out."
He also suggested more raisins in my diet and said: "If you're on or near menses, it can affect your iron level and ability to donate." Now, I'm not 12 years old or anything, but when a guy built like actor Abraham Benrubi (who you might remember from such shows as ER, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Parker Lewis Can't Lose) delicately mentions my "menses," I had to giggle--at least to myself.
Of course, Phil was thrilled to learn (NOT!) that my iron was too low since he signed up to donate too. He was fine to give the gift of life while I was again rejected...so he got syphoned while I sat there and straightened all the items on the Red Cross's canteena table. Don't get me wrong, Phil likes to help, but since he's kind of phobic about needles to begin with--it always seems a bit like bait-and-switch when we sign up, and then I don't end up getting stuck (with the needle) too.
