How Do You Spell Success? B-A-C-O-N

I have been trying to give blood since March 19, my sister's birthday. That day, my friend T met me at the Red Cross...she gave a pint, I gave a drop. I failed the iron test. This was not unexpected, because I had been borderline before. But darn it, I was taking a multi-vitamin with iron EVERY DAY for weeks leading up to this appointment. Needless to say, this was a big disappointment. I called M and asked him to meet me at Red Lobster, so I could load up on iron rich foods and try again the next day.

A big steak, five yummy shrimps, and a good night's sleep later, I went back for another try. Again, failure. Matter of fact, my iron level was even lower than it had been the day before! Fine. So home I went, to dig out the heavyweight iron pills that the doctor prescribed me after I had E. For a week and a half, I took them religiously...now mind you, these have, like, a hundred times more iron than the daily recommended dose.

I waltzed back into the Red Cross with confidence, but no luck. All of those pills had barely made any difference at all. I was close, but not close enough. This time the nurse not only gave me the list of iron rich foods, but she hand-wrote a note at the bottom of the sheet..."Wendy's bacon double cheeseburger with a side of chili. Eat for lunch the day of your next appointment."

So yesterday when I saw that there was a blood drive on campus, I went immediately to the cafeteria. Alas, I was too early for the hamburgers...so I settled on the next best thing. A make-your-own omelet with LOTS of bacon. Funny thing is, I didn't ask for extra bacon...the woman behind the counter just kept piling it on! When one container was empty, she even reached for some extra pieces out of the buffet! Maybe I looked pale. Then I grabbed an orange juice, because Vitamin C is supposed to help iron absorption.

After giving it a little time to work, I went over to the blood drive and BINGO! I passed with flying colors! I walked out a half hour later with my little "I gave blood today" sticker, and a date...56 days from now, on June 1, I can do it again. And this time I'm STARTING with bacon.