Hematoma

 

Platelet donations have had some recent misadventures.  For a while my hemoglobin did not measure up to their standards.  Lab testing showed iron deficiency, for which I added a multivitamin with 18 mg iron and set up a GI investigation.  A few weeks later, the Blood Bank of Delmarva's desktop hemocytometer displayed my Hb at 14.7 g/dl, which is wrong, as were some of the previous borderline low ones.  It all comes out in the wash.  They prepped me for a donation.  The left antecubital vein has become less of a standout than the right, but still easily accessible for an experienced phlebotomist.  They accessed it, assigning it the afferent arm.  Shortly into the donation it clogged and could not be successfully repositioned.  I was sent home.

Back in less than three weeks for another go.  Due to some elbow pain on squeezing with my left hand, I opted to have the left are as the efferent side to receive the RBC's after the machine extracted the platelets and plasma.  No problem.  Set Netflix to Queer Eye visits Japan.  All systems go.  Felt good squeezing with my right hand.  It seemed to take longer than usual.  With seven minutes to go on the second episode of Queer Eye the TV streaming failed, leaving me alone with my mind and a digital clock that I could see on the far wall.

Like many places, the Blood Bank seemed short-staffed, especially in the cavernous bleeding room divided by the type of donation and the machines required for them.  After checking up on me with less frequency, my last encounter was receiving one of their white blankets as prolonged donations usually leave donors a bit chilled.  My nurse disappeared.  Ordinarily, the collecting machine would signal some type of violation, for which an attendant would check the screen, push a button, and the sound would go off.  No signals, so nobody came by to check me.  I glanced at the bag of collected plasma to my left. It appeared pretty full.  My right hand became sore from squeezing the inflatable ball for so long.  And then my left anterior elbow began to get sore, and then more sore.  The machine finally signalled, bringing the attendant over.  He checked the time, estimated another two minutes, then came back to close off the afferent line.  I mentioned the pain at my left IV site.  He lifted the bandage to find a pretty impressive infiltration hematoma.  I did not really need any more of the few RBC's not already returned, and they weren't going into the antecubital vein anyway, so he shut down the line, removed the needle, called over a more experienced colleague, and applied a compress.  The afferent line was then removed and compressed in the more conventional way, while a freeze gel pack was placed over the injured antecubital fossa.  Pain resolved as soon as the needle was removed.  Swelling took a little longer.  By the time they put the final sterile compress on, the swelling had greatly diminished, discoloration started, and I went on my way to their canteen for coffee and two oatmeal raisin cookies, then home.  And-they gave me a new t-shirt and a discount coupon for a beer at our nearby Two Stones Pub.