30 was my lucky number
While everyone was still sound asleep and dead to the world, and enjoying the day's or early morning’s cessation of duties due to the bad weather, I was already up by 4am, oh, I mean, we. The rest of the family agreed to doze-off the rest of the night to prepare for the much-awaited activity for the morrow; bloodletting. Haha…kailangan daw kasi, hindi puyat, or else, lalagapak kami sa lupa dahil sa hilo.
Actually, kami lang naman apat na magkakapatid ang magdo-donate. Wondering about the beneficiary? I have no idea, kaya lang, kailangan ni mama e. She would be undergoing an operation, and she’ll need a colossal amount of blood(and that was an overstatement). Haha..Back again, our blood contributions would be replacements for what she’d be using by then.
Upon arrival sa PGH, I was already dead beat. Sabi ni mama, kailangan daw na hindi kumain ng at least 8 hours. 8 hours! I didn’t even have the guts to touch that glass of water dahil because I felt obliged to stick in to the agreement at saka, nakakaguilty kaya, baka ma-reject ako sa blood screening. To my dismay, pwede nman pala.
I was number 30, and I was handed a piece of paper that had in it some questions that were, if not too vulgar, or crude, I wouldn’t know what to call them. But at times, they were funny. By the way, here are some:
Ø Kung ikaw ay lalaki, ikaw ba ay nakipagtalik sa kapwa mo lalaki sa loob ng isang taon?
Ø Nagkaroon ka na ba ng sakit na tulo(gonorrhea), sipilis(I wonder kung mag-no sila), at iba pang nakakahawang sakit?
Ø Alam mo ba na maaari kang mag-negative sa AIDS kahit ikaw ay may ganoong sakit?
Ø Natusok ka na ba ng karayom?
O diba, adik? Natawa talaga ako dun sa una. I mean, I’m not a sexually inactive person, kaya lang.nakakatawa talaga siya. I won’t comment on the subject matter because of its sensitivity. Now don’t go asking me what I wrote on that paper, ok?
There was an interview afterwards, and it was really blood oozing, both literally, and figuratively. While that damned physician, who kept on smirking one at a time and after every glance, was busying me on some questions, ung mga sinagot ko sa papel, and reiterating those sensitive ones, he out of the blue brought forth out of nowhere that big injection, and started taking my sample. Heaven forbid, nagulat talaga ako.Ang dami niang kinuha, pang-sample lang nman! Goodness, un ung mga pagkakataong gusto mong makapatay.
After awhile, I was a bit vexed, “what if unsuspectingly, my AIDS ako”. Waaahh! I was already thinking of my brood, my wife-to-be, or partner for that matter. Tapos, tinawag ako.
“number 30.” Everyone’s eyes was on me.
“Good luck sa akin.”
…………………………..
“maghintay na lang po kayo sa pila. Hintayin niyo na lang po ung tawag pag kayo na aung kukunan.”
“ok. Ah miss, hehe..ok ba ako?”
I know I wasn’t mistaken when I saw that faint smile form in her lips. “ Ha? Sir, you are cleared na po. Bakit?”
“wala po. Haha..maghihintay na lang ako.”
Relief.
…………………………
Finally, it was time.
Noon ko lang naramdaman ung pakiramdam siguro ni Echegaray nung papunta siya s lethal injection chamber. Hihiga ka doon sa recliner at kakabitan ng injection. The only difference maybe was that some of my “river of life” would be drained out of me to save a life, so to say, while he probably had no single drop of his blood leave its portals, only some toxic chemicals entering his bloodstream. Still, ang laki-laki ng karayom! The nurse was finding my most conspicuous blood vessel at nung hindi niya makita ay pinitik-pitik ung braso ko, hanggang sa mamula, at sinaksakan ng needle. Sakit.
I saw my blood flowing out of my streams. And the bag was expanding at a rate unimaginable. The nurse was expecting some 450 to 500 cc from me. Beside me was my brother who was texting her girlfriend, probably reassuring her of his Love..which was a real eeewww. Beside me was a John Doe, and I had this little conversation:
“Kumusta? Ok ka ba?”, I started.
“ Asus, alam mo, kanina, ginising na lang nila ako bigla, magdo-donate daw ako ng dugo! Grabe, nagulat talaga ako. Kaya lang, kawawa kasi ung pamangkin ko e, ung baby.”
“ow. Ok. Haha..nakakatawa nman un.”
“Ang taba na ng bag ko, mauubos ata ung dugo ko dito.”
“pati nga ung sa akin e. Teka, anung blood type mo?”
“ano yata, blood type? Type G ata.”
“ G? anu un?”(although I was thinking of the other g, as in green
“Type Gin”
“haha..adik ka ata e. E ako, type rh.”
“Rh?”
“red-horse.”
“haha, alam mo kanina, di ba may tanung dun kung uminom ka ba ng alak sa huling 12 oras? Uminom ako kagabi e.”
“talaga? Galing a? mukhang malalasing ng di oras yang tatanggap ng dugo mu ah?”
“oo nga e.”
………………..
I thought I’d be creeping the whole time after that session. Hindi nman pala. Although I was a bit muzzy, I managed to stand after a few minutes.
We were there 6am.. Nabad-trip pa nga ako dahil mukhang walang balak umuwi ang mga tao.E uwing-uwi na ako e. Hindi pwedeng hindi ko mapanood ang SONA. Buti na lang, umabot ako.Haaay.
……………………………
Nga pala, Type A+. ako. Galing. Pareho kami ni mama.
posted by Randyh @ Thursday, July 27, 2006
Comments: 2
