So today was the day.! I gave blood and I will explain the wholee process from beginning to end and how I felt and all that good junk and of course tips for you guys.!
So I got out of my 3rd period class about 10:10 to go to the bathroom and go to the gym to start the process. I was really nervous and I started out by drinking water that morning so I was sipping it all day to make sure I stayed hydrated. So I went to the gym and got signed in and showed them my I.D and got a pack of information to read. So I kept having to move around and change chairs until I got into the waitng line to get exmained. So finally a very friendly guy came out and got me and took me back and asked me my height my weight if I ever donated before, that kind of stuff. He made me fill out a paper with my address and all kinds of stuff so I can get my donor card in the mail. So we went through that junk and then he started asking me health questions like if I've had unprotected sex, Anal sex, That kind of stuff, He asked about family history for disease and made sure I was good as far as that stuff to donate. I won't lie to you guys but I lied to him on a question. He asked if I've gotten any piercings in the past year and I told him no and I did, But it was okay because I didn't come in contact with anything else but my own blood or whatever. So he took a blood sample to make sure my iron levels were stable because they had to be at least 12.00 and it was 13.77.! So, The finger prick hurt really bad. and it was really bleeding. So after that he went and got my signature. So then I finally got on a bed and he looked at my arms to find my veins to see if they were good and if they were gonna collapse.So in my right arm he couldn't find a good one. In the left arm he found one good vein but it was about 2 inches in and it was really thin so he decided to go with that one. He was joking around and I was talking to my boyfriend while he prepped my arm with iodine and I told him I didn't want to know when the needle went in but a nurse came over and told me what was happening anyhow. So it went in and It really Freaking Hurt!!!! Like HURT. I felt it go through the layers and it stung reallllllyyyyy bad. So after that I was going and It took me 7:42 To donate a pint and I had to lay there for about 2 mins to make sure I wasn't gonna pass out so I stood up and walked over and ate a muffin and drank a juice and I was fine. My arm is still sore and its bruised but I'm okay. So my tips are to drink lots of water and just stay relaxed because your heart rate has to be under 100 to donate. So there it goes.! My blood is now on its way to save someones life. So DONATE. It's really not that bad after. Just if you have deep veins like me make sure that you don't tense up when they put the needle in and don't wiggle around because you can blow a vein out. Thanks guys.!
