So I arrived and she still wasn't ready to see me so I decided to donate some blood since, coincidentally, a college organization of ours was holding one. I breezed through the screening process and my arm was eventually inserted with a huge ass needle. OUCH. Draining me of blood took some time because I was told that my veins were tiny and the blood wasn't flowing very well. Alas, the buff and the Chinese doctor guys decided to stop the process and just list it as low-volume blood. (Apparently, my body was just not as generous as I wanted it to be.)
Still, the day was uneventful. I was okay, felt healthy and happy, even though my arm still felt like a needle was in it. I eventually met up with my professor blah blah, then went home.
Now, this is where my day gets interesting.
I was inside the train homebound, standing in front of two students from two different schools but real close in proximity from mine when it happened.
I was looking up at this advertisement on the train and wondered why it looked fuzzy. The words seemed too bright and I could not distinguish the borders. I blinked, and saw that it was clear again. Then I started to feel nauseated and my head started to throb.
All I could think of was, "Ohmygod. Not now please. Not in front of all this people."
But it happened, because my body's such a traitor. A migraine aura.
Everything started to get really bright. I closed my eyes shut wishing it would get clearer, but when I looked at the girl in front of me she was just a bright white blur. Shit. My eyes have failed me, and so did my ears. If anyone was talking to me, they might as well have been talking to a deaf person. I was sweating bullets and I was told I'd turned pale. Losing all sense of balance, I felt myself leaning towards Girl #1 and my hand was touching her arm for support. I felt like falling, but stood my ground. I did not want to faint in front of all these people. She eventually stood up and let me sit down. They gave me alcohol to smell to make the headache and nausea go away. Finally, after the torture that is my headache, my vision and hearing came back.
I could hear Girl #2 asking me if I was okay. I told her I was having a migraine.
She asked if I had donated blood. I said yes. Then she started telling me about how donors can't travel or stay in cold places. I ignored her for the most part because I was still woozy and I did not need a lecture at the moment. My migraines have always been a problem to me, and they visit every so often with no cause. I doubt it had anything to with my surroundings after donating blood. I gather I was just dehydrated, because I'd only drank a glass of juice for the day.
My next problem was how I could face the people around me now. These two girls were nice and conversant, but all the others were staring. I looked up, saw all their eyes on me, so I feigned another headache. (HEEHEE)
But what struck me the most about all this was how Girl #1 offered to go down one stop before she has to just to take me home. Girl #2's destination was two stops after mine, so they decided that the other one should accompany me. I was really embarrassed and kept telling them, "No, I'm okay. I can go home alone. Don't worry about it."
This incident taught me two things:
1. I should take better care of myself. I can't be a health provider for others if I can't maintain mine.
2. I should not see myself different or better than other people just because they don't measure up to my stupid standards. The people that I once looked down on came to my rescue when I needed them. Pride (and migraine) was (were) my downfall (almost literally).
My head was so woozy I don't even know if I thanked them; I hope I did. Because the last thing those girls said to me before I alighted the train was,
"Are you sure you can go home by yourself? Well, okay. Take care and God bless you, Miss."
And you know what? I'm pretty sure God did. :)
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