The baby was jaundiced. But more than usual. The blood work came back, and the search was on. This baby needed blood. In the Philippines, if you need blood, you need to find it yourself; there are not available supplies of blood. If you are desperate, you can go outside the hospital and find one of the people who's occupation it is to sell their blood. But if you can, it's best to find a friend.
In this situation, none of the baby's family could donate, so our staff was asked if they could help. Dear Ate Maymay, our social worker, is terrified of needles, but she was willing to donate blood if she passed the screening. But she asked if Amber and I would come with her for moral support. She got the initial blood work done, and the answer came back: she was a match.
At the public hospital, the lab staff are friendly and relaxed. There were four of them on duty in the lab, and beyond a little divider, there were two analysts. Usually, one patient is allowed in at a time, and they get their blood taken right there by the door. But because this was a bit different, they brought us behind the counter that said "staff only beyond this point." Maymay lay down on the cot, and we sat down beside her.
It was an interesting place we were in. There were some green potted plants growing on the counter. There was strange paraphernalia here and there; mainly discarded pieces of technology which no one could quite bring themselves to actually throw out, like type-writers, and things like that. The lab staff wore flip-flops. The furniture was wooden and quaint.
Amber and I were snacking on cookies and chatting when all of a sudden, with no prior warning or preparation, there before us on the wall above Maymay's head was the biggest spider I have EVER seen in my ENTIRE life. It was at least as big as the palm of my hand. While I froze in terror Amber leaped on top of me, as supposedly the further you are from the floor, the least likely you are to experience attack.
At this interesting juncture, the lab technician came over with the necessary equipment and began to prepare our dear Ate's arm for the procedure. DO YOU NOT SEE THE MASSIVE ANIMAL RIGHT ABOVE YOUR HEAD MISTER??????? Things seemed to be heading in the wrong direction, especially when the spider suddenly darted down towards Maymay's head. This time I cannot hide the fact that all three of us shrieked and threw ourselves to the other side of the lab. The lab tech, seeming to realize that it would be impossible to continue his duty under the present circumstances, went to find a broom. The other three female lab techs were by this time well aware of the situation and had armed themselves with various defensive and offensive implements such as an umbrella. The first lab tech returned with a broom and after a moment of internal preparation tried to squash the spider. Unfortunately, it was too quick for him, and as it flew across the wall, I can assure you the broom-wielder jumped back just as quickly as the rest of us.
Poor man. We started screeching directions at him, which, naturally, we would have done ourselves had we been the ones performing the operation.
"Just hit it!!! Don't be scared, hit it!!"
"Don't fling it, KILL IT!!!!
"Kill it kill it kill it!"
The funny part was, the two analysts on the other side of the potted plants were still studiously bent over their specimens, analyzing away, as if there were not seven screaming and endangered humans 10 feet away from them.
Amber and I were both crying by this point, one of us from sheer phobia and the other from the pure and undefiled hilariousness of the situation. We all clung together, supposedly under the raw instinct that there is safety in numbers. The broom-man kept getting scared because every time he went in for the charge, the spider flew across the wall in the opposite direction.
At last, in a moment almost too horrible to recall, the spider met it's fate at the end of the broom. Peace slowly was restored to the laboratory, Maymay's blood was extracted successfully, the baby was infused, and he is now in excellent health. I am sure that baby may be told someday that he was given a blood transfusion shortly after birth. But I think he will never know the lengths that were gone to, the exploits which occurred, or the bravery that was shown all in an attempt to get him that blood.
In this situation, none of the baby's family could donate, so our staff was asked if they could help. Dear Ate Maymay, our social worker, is terrified of needles, but she was willing to donate blood if she passed the screening. But she asked if Amber and I would come with her for moral support. She got the initial blood work done, and the answer came back: she was a match.
At the public hospital, the lab staff are friendly and relaxed. There were four of them on duty in the lab, and beyond a little divider, there were two analysts. Usually, one patient is allowed in at a time, and they get their blood taken right there by the door. But because this was a bit different, they brought us behind the counter that said "staff only beyond this point." Maymay lay down on the cot, and we sat down beside her.
It was an interesting place we were in. There were some green potted plants growing on the counter. There was strange paraphernalia here and there; mainly discarded pieces of technology which no one could quite bring themselves to actually throw out, like type-writers, and things like that. The lab staff wore flip-flops. The furniture was wooden and quaint.
Amber and I were snacking on cookies and chatting when all of a sudden, with no prior warning or preparation, there before us on the wall above Maymay's head was the biggest spider I have EVER seen in my ENTIRE life. It was at least as big as the palm of my hand. While I froze in terror Amber leaped on top of me, as supposedly the further you are from the floor, the least likely you are to experience attack.
At this interesting juncture, the lab technician came over with the necessary equipment and began to prepare our dear Ate's arm for the procedure. DO YOU NOT SEE THE MASSIVE ANIMAL RIGHT ABOVE YOUR HEAD MISTER??????? Things seemed to be heading in the wrong direction, especially when the spider suddenly darted down towards Maymay's head. This time I cannot hide the fact that all three of us shrieked and threw ourselves to the other side of the lab. The lab tech, seeming to realize that it would be impossible to continue his duty under the present circumstances, went to find a broom. The other three female lab techs were by this time well aware of the situation and had armed themselves with various defensive and offensive implements such as an umbrella. The first lab tech returned with a broom and after a moment of internal preparation tried to squash the spider. Unfortunately, it was too quick for him, and as it flew across the wall, I can assure you the broom-wielder jumped back just as quickly as the rest of us.
Poor man. We started screeching directions at him, which, naturally, we would have done ourselves had we been the ones performing the operation.
"Just hit it!!! Don't be scared, hit it!!"
"Don't fling it, KILL IT!!!!
"Kill it kill it kill it!"
The funny part was, the two analysts on the other side of the potted plants were still studiously bent over their specimens, analyzing away, as if there were not seven screaming and endangered humans 10 feet away from them.
Amber and I were both crying by this point, one of us from sheer phobia and the other from the pure and undefiled hilariousness of the situation. We all clung together, supposedly under the raw instinct that there is safety in numbers. The broom-man kept getting scared because every time he went in for the charge, the spider flew across the wall in the opposite direction.
At last, in a moment almost too horrible to recall, the spider met it's fate at the end of the broom. Peace slowly was restored to the laboratory, Maymay's blood was extracted successfully, the baby was infused, and he is now in excellent health. I am sure that baby may be told someday that he was given a blood transfusion shortly after birth. But I think he will never know the lengths that were gone to, the exploits which occurred, or the bravery that was shown all in an attempt to get him that blood.
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