Giving away my blood

[pixiecrinkle]

So I have an appointment to give blood here at work at 2:15. I'm nervous. I've only given blood twice in my life. The first time, I was 17 years old, and they came to my high school on the day of our senior picnic. I must have nearly passed out (I have only passed out once in my life, and didn't realize I'd done it until much later) because they had to put me down flat on my back. My friend Matt, a big football player who ended up in the army was behind me and he did pass out. I always thought he did it to make me feel better. I ended up at the senior picnic later with a rubber glove full of ice on my arm because I bruised so badly.

I gave blood again in college. I don't remember much about it, except that they asked so many more questions than they had in high school. Again, I nearly passed out, and bruised like crazy.

So why am I doing this today? Well, there's a critical shortage in central Ohio, and they finally changed the piercing rules, so I'm "clear" to donate. Plus, it's kind of a test to see if I still nearly pass out and bruise badly. I'll try some yoga breathing to get through this. I'm just not good with needles though, especially when they are removing something from me. Ick.

Comments

obvious advice:

[qe2.livejournal.com]

Don't look at the needle. In fact, avoid looking at the blood-giving arm if you can possible manage to do so. I've given blood many times in my life (a process now on hold, as I'm part of an HIV vaccine study program and they feel quite possessive of my blood :-)), and that's helped me every time. Otherwise I incline towards the woozy myself.

And good for you!

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

Good luck! A book really can come in handy. I always take one with me.

[stitchinthyme.livejournal.com]

When I give whole blood, if I get up too soon, I nearly pass out too. I have to stay lying down for 10-15 minutes after finishing to prevent this. Also, drink lots of fluids; I've heard that fluid loss is really what makes you woozy.

That's why I like to donate platelets -- no fluid loss. I've never felt ill after a platelet donation.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'll chime in on the woozy-about-needles bit. I get more than woozy, actually; I suspect what I do is go into a state akin to shock. My breathing changes, my blood pressure drops (once a blood donation center had to revive me to fill the bag), I get sweaty/clammy, the whole nine yards. Passed out in Army inprocessing once. Right in the middle of the hallway -- thud. Heh. Anyway, I'm another one. :)

Another good distraction is talking to the technician about stuff. I had a glucose tolerance test not too long ago (just lovely for us needlephobes) and the tech told me all about the really cool vacation he'd just had. That worked pretty well!