12 Feb 2011

of blood and bruises

A few weeks ago I went along with Ida and her mom to donate blood. For them it's routine. For me it was the first time :)
First the lady taking my information couldn't get the computer to print out all the information, so I had to wait awhile. Once that was done I got to proceed to the blood tests. My hemoglobin was acceptable, as well as my history. Hard to believe, but it will soon be 3 years since I've been to a malaria area... Time flies.
I have a low blood pressure as it is, so all day I had tried to drink lots of fluids to give myself more volume. Even with that my blood dripped slow enough that they almost didn't let me donate. 
I decided to look the other way when the nurse stuck the needle in my vein. Being stuck with needles isn't very high on my list of things that I enjoy.. 
Then I lay there for about 10 minutes pumping my hand into a fist over and over again, feeling my strength literally flow out of me. It's a weird feeling really.
Afterwards I felt a bit weak for a few hours, preferring to sit on the floor rather than stand, when possible. But that passed pretty quickly and I felt fine. 
That was on a Friday. Sunday morning I woke up with a pretty bruise and apparently fresh bleeding inside my arm. Maybe I slept weird and made it bleed?
Battle scars :D
Maybe I'll go back once my 3 months have passed. It's not that bad of an experience, and they can always use blood. Besides, I'd really like to know my blood type!

2 comments:

senni said...

Huh, mä kunnioitan teitä kaikkia luovuttajia!!! Rupeaa heikottamaan kun vain ajattelenkin että menisin itse.. säälittävää..

evoleinrahs said...

Donating blood is so cool!

First, Not everybody can get (or would want) to experience it. I've been a regular donor since I turned 18 (I wanted to do it earlier but they wouldn't let minors do it without parental consent. Oh the freedom!) My latest one was just this December. Good stuff, eh? :)

Second, it cleanses the system..and it gives the body time to produce new clean blood. Oooh!

Third, the ones sponsoring the blood run gives you freebees (which I'm not quite sure if they do over there). :)

Lastly, it can save lives. What else could be cooler than that? :)