![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scottahillI donated blood for the very first time yesterday. I've been thinking about doing it since discovering, over the past decade or so, that I've gotten over my fear of needles (I find it helps me to actually watch the needle go in, to get rid of the anticipatory anxiety). I am also very curious to find out what my blood type is: my parents are both A, and I had always assumed that I was type A as well, but Miriam is actually O+, which makes me wonder if I might not be type-O as well. Donating blood is a cheap way to find out your blood type, and it's a good deed in any case.
I gave at my church's health fair, which was offering a variety of free tests (diabetes, cholesterol, etc). The diabetes test required fasting, so I didn't have breakfast; however, by the time I got there the diabetes test had shut down, and I started to think about donating blood instead. I asked them if it mattered that I hadn't eaten yet, and they said "yes, you should eat", so I had a couple of sausage-and-egg biscuit sandwiches which the Women's Guild were offering for sale, along with some OJ. Apparently, that wasn't enough. :) I was fine through the whole procedure (although I was expecting the usual needle; this one looked like it could double as a carpenter's tool...and yet it was surprisingly painless), but after getting out of the chair and going over to sit down and recover, I became very dizzy and nauseous. The instructions said this might happen, so I put my head down and hoped for it to pass...how was I to know if this was normal or not? Anyway, a couple people noticed me and how pale I was, and they walked me back over to the donation chair, tipped me backwards, and put wet cloths on the back of my neck and on my forehead. Apparently they wanted to keep me from feeling hot, because that would increase nausea. Well, it worked: between the wet cloths, and a fan blowing on me full-blast, and my shirt getting soaked from the Powerade they gave me to drink, I was cold enough to set my teeth chattering. It took me about an hour and a half, I think, to feel well enough to walk back to my car and drive home where I could eat.
I'll be getting the results of my blood test from a website by the end of the week. And next time, I will eat a bloody 5-course meal beforehand (and not go alone). Still, it feels good to have finally done it.
I gave at my church's health fair, which was offering a variety of free tests (diabetes, cholesterol, etc). The diabetes test required fasting, so I didn't have breakfast; however, by the time I got there the diabetes test had shut down, and I started to think about donating blood instead. I asked them if it mattered that I hadn't eaten yet, and they said "yes, you should eat", so I had a couple of sausage-and-egg biscuit sandwiches which the Women's Guild were offering for sale, along with some OJ. Apparently, that wasn't enough. :) I was fine through the whole procedure (although I was expecting the usual needle; this one looked like it could double as a carpenter's tool...and yet it was surprisingly painless), but after getting out of the chair and going over to sit down and recover, I became very dizzy and nauseous. The instructions said this might happen, so I put my head down and hoped for it to pass...how was I to know if this was normal or not? Anyway, a couple people noticed me and how pale I was, and they walked me back over to the donation chair, tipped me backwards, and put wet cloths on the back of my neck and on my forehead. Apparently they wanted to keep me from feeling hot, because that would increase nausea. Well, it worked: between the wet cloths, and a fan blowing on me full-blast, and my shirt getting soaked from the Powerade they gave me to drink, I was cold enough to set my teeth chattering. It took me about an hour and a half, I think, to feel well enough to walk back to my car and drive home where I could eat.
I'll be getting the results of my blood test from a website by the end of the week. And next time, I will eat a bloody 5-course meal beforehand (and not go alone). Still, it feels good to have finally done it.
