Denied Again
I tried to donate blood today, but the American Red Cross turned me away. They said my hematocrit was 32% and they don't take blood from anybody under 38%. If this sounds familiar it should. Back in July, I tried to donate blood and they turned me away, in that case, they said my hematocrit was 36%.
I looked at her and said, "Impossible. There's no way my hematocrit is 32%. I wouldn't be able to function right now." So she jabbed me again, drew blood up the little glass cylinder, and went to spin it down. She came back and said a co-worker analyzed my results and it was a 34. I had blood drawn a couple of days after the attempt in July and my hematocrit was 39%. I even went in there a bit dehydrated, because I knew excess fluid would drop my hematocrit.
The worst part is I was feeling fine when I went in there, I had plenty of energy (I rode a century on Sunday and rode for two hours this morning), then I left depressed and tired as if my hematocrit was actually that low...
One thing is for sure, this is going to be a sucky RAAM if my Hematocrit is really between 32 and 34.
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