My first blood donation

by sass_my_frass 17 Replies latest watchtower medical

  • sass_my_frass
    sass_my_frass

    Yeah blood is donated here, they can't pay for it, but they feed us up good and give us lots of little treats.

  • bubble
    bubble

    I was speaking to my hubby just yesterday about this. I said that I definitely want to donate and am going to look into doing so very soon.

    He won't though, he's too squeamish!

  • bikerchic
    bikerchic

    I just set up an appointment to give my first pint at the end of this month! I've been meaning to do it before this but the dates/times never were convienent for me. I checked again this morning after a friendly reminder or two recently and found a location and date which will work so yay me!

    Yesterday I was told by a Red Cross worker at an event we were both volunteering at that my blood type (Negative) is always in demand as it's less common. She gave me the nudge and info to do it then this morning there was something on our local news of a call for O- blood, a good reminder......I'm sure this is just the start of my giving.

    Gulp! I usually faint at the sight of needles......

  • MsMcDucket
    MsMcDucket

    Thanks for the blood donations! It sure came in handy for my husband.

  • mrsjones5
    mrsjones5

    A local TV station is having a blood drive tomorrow and I think I may go...early.

    http://www.cirbc.org/Wish.htm

    Josie

  • Justice-One
    Justice-One

    I just gave my first pint today. It felt real good. And considering I'm in deep "fade" mode, I felt like a spy on a mission. The thought even crossed my mind for a second, wondering if any witnesses worked at the blood bank. - But I thought the odds of that were next to nothing.

  • Justice-One
    Justice-One

    Funny thing. I have always been afraid of needles, and wanted to get over that fear. So when she said, "you might want to look away," I looked. - Just long enough to say to myself - "oh my God, look how big that needle is!" The next time, I swear I'm gonna watch. But I must say, they were REALLY good. I barely felt anything.

  • bikerchic
    bikerchic

    Yesterday I gave my first unit of blood and today I have mixed emotions about it.

    On the one hand I feel good that I did it, on the other hand I wouldn't recommend it to others because after what I went through I think you would really have to want to do it.

    I can't say enough good about the Red Cross™ workers they were all great. Everything went fine for me up until the nurse had removed the bag, the needle and put a gauze pad on my arm and asked me to hold my arm up high in the air. (Up to this point I was so proud of myself for not being squeamish about the needle and blood I usually faint when getting blood drawn!)

    As soon as I put my arm up in the air I got this funny feeling and I looked at the nurse and the look on her face told me yep I'm a gonner.....she asked if I was OK and the last thing I remember was muttering.....NO!

    When I woke up I was laid out flat on the cot with people standing over me, I was hot, sweating and they had cold packs on my forehead and neck, my legs elevated and a paper bag over my mouth telling me to breath deep. I felt like I was going to puke but was fighting it so hard cuz I really had to pee bad! I knew if I puked I would probably pee my pants! LOL OK TMI....at least it gave me something else to concentrate on. I laid there for about a half an hour before I felt good enough to get up and they slowly raised the cot and gave me some water to drink, IKES more water just what I need....I needed to get rid of some water!!

    As I was at the refreshment table they had some questionnaire to fill out about the visit, I did that. They also had a card for your next appointment in 56 days, I FILLED IT OUT! I guess it didn't scare me off and I will donate again, next time I'll know what to expect.

    I just wanted to tell my experience because I was under the impression it was a cake walk and thought if I could have blood drawn I could do this easily. The nurse said that some people have this reaction due to how the body handles a large loss of fluid and a drop in your blood pressure. There is nothing you can do about it it's just the way your body reacts, but it doesn't get worse than what I went through.

    Just a bit of forewarning for any of you thinking about donating blood it's a good thing to do but everyones experience is different. Nice thing is if your going to faint no better place than on a cot with a bunch of medical help around!

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