adventurous thursday.

last thursday, i had a little adventure. i had the day off because classes haven't started yet, so i decided to give blood. i love giving blood for the kind of selfish reason that i just get a kick out of the idea that there are other people out there in the world with my blood coursing through their veins. it kind of blows my mind. so, i went to new york blood center, and while i was waiting, a nurse asked if i'd like to give platelets instead of whole blood. the procedure is longer, and i had time, so i said yes. everything went fine, two hours later i left the donation center after eating shortbread cookies and drinking an apple juice (like snacktime in kindergarten!), feeling great. i was waiting for a train when i started to feel faint. i went upstairs, knowing that there was a police precinct in the station, and almost made it there when i passed out. i woke up when i hit the floor, to see a bunch of teenage kids running toward me asking if i was okay. i got up and walked into the precinct, tried to explain to the cops what was wrong, but passed out again. this time i woke up when a cop lifted me up and sat me next to him on a bench. another cop bought me a gatorade and they called EMS. in the ambulance, the EMTs and i talked about jersey shore and graduate school while they ran an IV. i spent about four hours in the emergency room getting more fluid through IV, having a bunch of tests run, and laughing with the staff. oh, and of course tweeting the funny moments (you'd be surprised how hilarious an ER can be!) so my friends knew i was alright. i'm fine now, aside from a skinned knee and some marks from the EKG that just will not go away. so here's a gratitude list of everyone i'm thankful to for making my adventurous thursday go as well as it could have:
-to the NYPD precinct at hoyt-schermerhorn station: thank you for taking care of me, for following me all the way out to the ambulance, for giving me gatorade, for your genuine concern and just for being so nice to me.
-to the EMTs who took me to the ER: thank you for being gentle when you carried me up the stairs, for laughing at my silly jokes, for joking back, and for being just plain awesome.
-to the staff at long island college hospital's emergency room: from the man who took all my insurance information and told me about his math degree from yale, to the physician's assistant who laughed at my answer to your boring questions ("how old are you?" "23." "do you smoke?" "no." "do you drink?" "...i'm 23."), to the nurse who greeted me with "so i hear you were trying to be a good person, and this happened?" honestly, everyone i interacted with during my stay was so nice and sympathetic and helpful. you guys do such hard work, and you do it well. bravo.
-to the staff at new york blood center: thank you for being awesome during my donation, for offering to pay my medical expenses when i followed up with you, for calling me yesterday to see how i was feeling... despite how this donation went awry, i will be back! i'll drink more water beforehand next time, promise.
-to all of my friends and family who've expressed concern, asked if i needed anything, or listened to me tell this story, thank you for being amazing as always.