A bloody bad decision

By Staff     Oct 31, 2008

My list of reasons to ride my bike is considerably longer than my list of reasons to drive, but the latter grew by one the other day: altruism.Let me explain.I gave blood Wednesday, and I let the vampires talk me into a double-red-blood-cell donation, or, as it’s innocuously described on the facility’s big board illustrating just how dire the blood straits are in this town, a “2RBC” donation.Normally I give whole blood, and the side effects are minimal. I tend to be a little light of head for a day or two, but that’s about it.This time, however, I relented and agreed to the 2RBC.The difference between the two, I was assured, was small. In the 2RBC, twice as many red blood cells are harvested, but – bonus! – the rest of the blood, plus a little saline for good measure, is returned to the donor. In your arm, I might add, not a doggy bag.Quick biology lesson: Red blood cells transport oxygen to the body tissues. The donor center’s literature pooh-poohed any serious effects, suggesting only high-end aerobic exercise should be avoided, and on the day of donation only.”If you go for a run,” I was told, “you might feel a little out of breath for a couple of days, but that’s it.”So I gave in, let ’em stick me and hook me up to a whirling, clicking contraption. Less than half an hour later, I was out the door and on my bike, feeling pretty much the same as I had going in.The feeling lasted about two blocks.The road was flat, and I had a tailwind, yet two blocks away, I was sucking wind. And it didn’t get any better.So I went home and took a nap.Afterward, I jumped up and headed to the kitchen for a snack, and : let’s just say it’s a good thing the stove has a handle, because I was headed to the floor faster than a seventh-year senior at a graduation-day kegger.That night, after a few more near-fainting experiences, I turned in early – about six hours early – and woke up feeling great. Until I headed to the basement for a half hour on the bike trainer. The legs felt great, but the lungs felt like they belonged to an asthmatic pack-a-day smoker in Beijing.So rather than ride as usual to my racquetball game, I drove, and I’m sorta glad I did. I sucked wind through two-plus hours of racquetball before heading home for another nap.I did ride to work twice Thursday, and I’ve held up OK. I’ve only nodded off a couple of times at my desk.And I expect tomorrow will be better still as I regenerate those lovely red blood cells.Do I regret giving blood? Of course not. It’s the gift of life. And the life I save might be my own. And all that.But after my 112-day waiting period, I might go back to twice-as-frequent whole-blood donations instead of the big double-red enchilada. Now I just need another nap.

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31085A bloody bad decision