Whelp, I’ve jinxed myself. I’ve jinxed myself good.

A few weeks ago, I went into my nearby plasma donation center to read a book-- I mean, give plasma. I came in a little later in the day than I normally do, but was still met by a nice shift of nurses who greeted me warmly and were otherwise normal. I was then under the impression that this was going to be an average experience at the plasma donation center and I naively let my guard down. And that was when I met Miss Ultra-Professional Nursing Student.

Miss U.P.N.S. was technical. Very technical. Friendly, but in a fakey, medical school way. She was only supposed to take me through the prelim exam, the one where they prick your finger, check your temperature, and make sure you haven’t been shootin’ up somewhere else; however, she treated it as though it was a pre-op. Which made me nervous. Which means that my heart rate increased substantially. Conclusion: I wasn’t able to give blood.
Sure, she tried the whole “wait for a few minutes and we’ll try again” bit, and even gave me a clinical smile, but that flopped because I spent the next few minutes worrying about my pulse rate which made me even more nervous and I’m sure you get the picture.

And so, the jinx: I can’t relax through the exam anymore. I have tried twice since then to give blood, and have been rejected both times due to high pulse rate. I’m fine driving up to the center, parking my car, walking in the door, signing in, and even waiting for my turn, but as soon as they call my name, my heart jumps to my throat and starts beating out a samba. (That’s a Doctor Who reference, by the way. Doctor’s got two hearts and someone takes over his body and makes a comment and so on and so forth...)

So if anyone has any means of distraction or spur of the moment relaxation tips, I would love to know them. I set up another appointment for tomorrow (I’m a sucker for rejection), so I suppose I’ll have to spend tonight learning how to relax on command. It’s a rough life.

Edit: Kyle said to just accept the fact that I’m going to fail the pulse rate and then I won’t worry about it so, in turn, I won’t fail it, which makes sense in a roundabout sort of way, I think...



UPDATE: Thanks for the help, I was able to get it down to passable last week, but I tried today and it was back to 103 (Unacceptable!). And after the nurse checked it again, she sounded surprised that it went up to 109. Of course it went up, I couldn't stop thinking about it! Grr, I will conquer my heart someday soon, I hope.