I donated blood for the first time today. I'm not sure what to expect so I kinda just follow my resident and the other student in. I've wanted to donate blood for a while but just haven't gotten the courage to do it. Today, I was like what the heck, just go for it. That's what I did.
It wasn't bad at all. The room that the drive was in today was cold and of course, they couldn't find a good obvious vein on my arms, so they have pick the best one. The pinch when the needle went it hurts, it was more painful than when the draw blood for lab work. If that's how an IV line feels, I can see why patients absolutely hate them. I didn't feel anything when the phlebotomist took it out. It took be about 10 min to fill the bag up with my blood. By the end of the time, my hand was tired from squeezing the stress ball that they had us squeezing. After that I just got a sore arm.
I didn't feel dizzy when I got up but I laid down for a couple of minutes before that. By the time I finished, they had catered lunch brought in, so I sat down the staff and basically had lunch with them. They gave me a Christmas mugful of candies and random things. I also got 2 auto show tickets and a BP gas card of $15. I gave the autos how tickets to my residents since I have no intention of going. I think I'll do it again the next time they have a drive.
Now I just feel extra tired. I wasn't tired before this but I feel like it's already 8 or 9pm. ::yawn::
It's all for a good cause. And I also get to find out my exact blood type.
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