1346 All The Deals.

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First of all, Patreon backers, there’s a thing about bonus comics in the activity thing there. At least I think that’s what it’s called. Anyway, it’s in the place where stuff I post goes. Read it if you’re interested in participating. If you want to become a patron click the Nina link.

So, anyway, I went to the doctor yesterday. They wanted to draw this big jar of blood for all kinds of doctor magics. I don’t have a problem with that sort of think as long as you don’t warn me first, and I don’t look. Just stick me and do whatever. This time wasn’t any different except they needed a ton of blood. Everything was fine. I was distracting myself with texting, then I noticed that my hand felt funny. I don’t have any words to describe it. It wasn’t like any feeling I’ve ever felt. I turned and looked at it, moved it, and it seemed fine. Never saw the needle, blood jar, or anything.
I went back to looking at my phone. Just as I was finishing a twitter response I started feeling sick to my stomach. It was getting worse really fast. I had fasted the night before for the blood stuff, so there was nothing for me to barf, but the need to do it was getting really intense. The lady drawing blood apparently noticed and asked if I was okay. Now, I’ve been raised my whole life not to make a big deal about feeling bad. Feeling sick is a contest that my dad always has to win. No matter how sick you are he has to remind you that he has done a full day’s hard labor while being sicker than you. However, in the seconds I had to decide how to respond I decided that army of tiny women running the office might need some warning if a 370 some odd pound man suddenly malfunctioned on them. Very earnestly I said “No, I’m not…”
At that point things started getting weird. I was suddenly very hot and my heart was beating really fast. The room started getting really bright. I looked at the window and the light just started expanding out from it till I couldn’t look at it anymore. Then I felt a lot of my muscles give a weird twitch, stopped feeling my heartbeat, and turned off. Just before I went down I thought “What a boring way to die.”
I’m not sure how long I was out. No one ever told me. When I became conscious again everyone was standing very close, looking at me, and trying to keep me from falling off of the chair. At that point my brain was back online in so far as I was able to retain memories of what was happening, but it was a few moments before I started being in control of things. It was really hard to remember how words worked. I wanted to say things, and I knew what they were, but I couldn’t make the connection between brain and mouth. Then I was being given orange juice. A little while later I was able to stand up. My hip was really hurting so I stood up and then sat myself on the floor. Which is the only way I can sit without it hurting. I’m not sure how long I was on the floor, but eventually I walked out of the building.
I was able to go to Gamestop, but when I was in walmart my body started threatening to switch off again, so I hurried as best I could to the car and waited. I still don’t feel exactly right, but I haven’t felt like I was going to pass out today.
Anyway, it was quite an adventure and I don’t recommend it.

49 Comments

Poor Vicky. She has hot brother syndrome.

I dunno, I’m pretty sure Reggie has hot sister syndrome.

*agrees with you both*

Yeah, hot twins syndrome. They should never meet in the same room. And poor Reggie, does he even Know about Vickie’s fur suit?

Also hate needles, a lot. They can only have blood from me if I am flat on my back, … Otherwise feel odd, tip over fall down go BOOM!!!.
Tell them to have you lay down for draws. Fainting is weird stuff; with odd tinglings, weird perspectives, … Hollywood never gets it right in the movies. Fade to black, yeah, that, but not the room spinning. That’s not how the lights go out, spinning, when I faint. There’s a roaring sound, but as if muffled by a pillow. Outside sounds are fluffy and indistinct, but the roaring is very loud. Sorry for all the blood gone missing.

also, Jackie, get feeling better. And just remind your Dad that no one has to walk through the snow uphill both ways anymore. Such machismo doesn’t work anymore.

When I started reading this comic I thought Ed was the main character for a while, and when I realized he wasn’t I was sad. He WAS my favorite character but now… now Vicky is. I was very wary when this arc started because I don’t tend to agree with the furry community. I won’t talk any further about my personal views on it, but I absolutely love Vicky. I want her to be a main side character now.

Congratulations, you most likely had a vasovagal response.

The term “vasovagal response” sounded slightly familiar so I looked it up. I do believe the poster had it dead right. The description on Wikipedia sounded like an almost perfect reproduction of the symptoms you described. One thing that worries me is that you were out driving around not long after you had the incident. Please take care of yourself! Your readers can forgive you taking some time off to get past illness but I’m not sure they would forgive you if you passed out while driving and wound up depriving us of your comic for a few months while you mended – or – worse.

Maybe we should insist that the teen sign a contract that if anything happens to you she is obligated to continue your comic – that ought to either drive her catatonic or motivate her to be an incessant nag out of sheer terror at the weight of responsibility…

I am loving this storyline. It is always nice to see a fair portrayal of furries, and I absolutely love the humanising of Reggie in this arc. He’ll probably come to be an asshole at the end, but at least for now, I can pretend that he is merely a jerk. :)

It sounds like you went into shock due to insufficient blood sugar and pressure – it’s a fairly “known” result from giving blood, which is why I know about it (it’s not all that common, incidentally, and it’s not life threatening in general, especially under controlled situations with competent people). From the sound of it, you gave more than the standard pint, which meant they should have warned you about a fair number of things to watch for *I’m glaring at your doctor and RN at the moment* including tingling in the extremities and lightheadedness. The fact that you aren’t so good with blood and needles should have meant that they were extra careful with you – stress exacerbates shock by accelerating the heart and initializing certain fight or flight responses which are not useful during blood loss.

I’m not a medical specialist, but I can tell you what I’ve been told to do after giving blood – eat a lot of iron rich foods (kale, spinach, liver, that sort of thing), to help with anemia, keep some relatively sugary fruit juice (pure oj is a favorite recommendation; not cola, you need all the hydration you have, and cola dries you out) handy to sip on, and drink at least a mouthful every hour you are awake (1/2 a cup is better, but most people don’t have the capacity for that much liquid; a similarly sugary snack w/ water also works, but the uptake is slower and more varied) to help regulate your sugar levels, get plenty of rest, and in cases where someone has gone shocky, get someone else to watch you for the next 24-48 hours and avoid heavy lifting, stress, or serious exertion – you don’t have the red to support it, and trying is likely to either cramp the muscles, or shock you again. Since you almost went over in the car, I hope you take it easy for the next day, at least. If there is nothing pressing, take a sick day, and enlist the teen to cook for/help you, if she can. This isn’t a significant issue if you take it slow and steady, but family is meant to assist in troubled times, after all.

Your hips may hurt because they had to hold you to the seat after you “checked out.” It isn’t unusual to have a blood starved body to straighten out to improve circulation or start shaking, but that would possibly have put you on the floor without some brain guidance. rather than take the risk, they’d have held you down.

Be safe! Get Better! much love and good wishes sent your way!

I second Rippy’s advice. Stay safe!

yes, please take care of yourself. Put the comic on a hiatus if you need to. You and your health are much much more important.

Never! The comic IS life!

Awesome. To be able to say that, well your are a lucky guy :) I see people encouraging you to eat chickpeas. I don’t know much about the true health benefits of the humble chickpea but I do know this, they are too freaken delicious to not eat. You want some tasty humus? Chickpeas got you covered. Hot out and craving a cool salad, get some chickpeas, olive oil, cranberries, carrot, those weird big white beans and finish off with some more chickpeas… bam delicious dinner! Feeling like something spicy? Well there’s no shortage of options, because mr chickpeas all about the curries. Need spinach for some reason involving questionable amounts of iron? Just throw it in with the chickpeas. Chickpeas don’t care it’ll make the spinach awesome out of pure association.

> eat a lot of iron rich foods (kale, spinach, liver, that sort of thing)

On this particular topic, keeping around a cast iron pan is a good idea too. Sautee those veggies in one of these with some red meat and a touch of something acidic (lemon juice, etc) and you’ll boost the iron intake even further.

My mom has to do that due to anemic tendencies.

Man, that sounds like a rough day. Also sounds kinda similar to the one time I had a bad reaction to giving blood, what with the brief blackout & all things just being “off” Our bodies do really weird things when the blood levels change, but if you were up & about afterwards you’ll probably be okay, just hydrate, fuel up & take it easy. And be careful of bathrooms, blacking out in there can be quite hazardous (usually hard, tile floor; sink/tub/toilet to knock on if falling; secluded, so unless someone hears you’re on your own)

Wow, that got dark fast…

Just take care & have some cookies (cookies always help after blood drawing)

So the Boothe family apparently went from a family of victims to a family of hotties (speaking figuratively of course).

So it all worked out in the end. ^^

Also, I think Vicky might drink way too much Caffeine, she has the look of Tweek Tweak about her…

That sounds similar to how I get when I have blood taken. I get myself worked up and then go into shock more or less. I need food and sugar immediately after. But I’ve never had more than a vial taken and never on an empty stomach. What you just described would probably lay me out.

I have the same response even from a single vial of blood being taken. Feel better and take care, Jackie.

If it’s any comfort to your psyche, no one stays unconscious for more than a few minutes. I actually had this happen to me when a doctor did impromptu surgery on my arm. It’s good to try and breathe deeply and for god’s sake DON’T LOOK INTO THE LIGHT. Eyes closed, breathe deep.

And yeah, don’t hesitate to tell your medical professionals shit’s going south. They don’t like surprises, especially when they’ve got a needle in your arm.

Well the Hellscape continues to expand.

Why is someone who can switch off driving around? Lots of water and a nap…

@Crave:
Sounds like low blood-sugar caused You to pass out.
Think of it a bit like loosing traction in the snow…

If You die on us, Crave, Your fans will hunt You down and take a leak on Your grave.
Just sayin’…

It’s times like these I remember your strength as a character creator (not to diminish the storytelling abilities, of course). You’ve already got the comic populated by a batch of fantastic and interesting characters, but then you can just whip up a new group that’s just as engaging in different ways.

In Vicky’s and Reggie’s defense, siblings rarely consider the “hotness” level of their siblings. Regardless of their gender.

The “Euww!” factor on the other hand… :)

Sorry to hear about your episode. I though they were insane for drawing a quarter of blood to do a few tests. Figured out in the meantime that’s because they are still using machinery from the 60’s for that, even though with today’s tech a drop of blood would be enough.

Maybe time for some health tips? It does take years to figure things out from scratch, so I got a bit of a head start. Just in case you don’t have a good source to plug for this if you are looking into it.

I like how Victoria’s hair gets ever more frazzled as she whips her attention back and forth.

Also repeated “What?!”s. Harkening back to when the Titanic crashed into David Tennant’s TARDIS. Still my favorite Doctor Who scene ever.

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