War Wounds

Last week I flaked out a little bit. I wrote my big, LONG, post about needles and giving blood and then never followed through with how it went! Bad Megan!

Honestly, I was so worn out that I took a few days off blogging. Luckily I had a couple scheduled posts (LOVE those) to get me through the weekend and I'm back to feeling like my old self again! However it is that she normally feels :)

All in all the blood donating was not a bad experience! I made sure to drink 3-4 bottles of water and eat breakfast AND lunch before I went down. The only problem here was that I was scheduled to go down at 1:30 and thought I'd have more time for my lunch to digest. Turns out I was needed to cover the front desk during that time! Would've been nice if someone had told me that but such is life.

I gave the phlebotomist full warning that I had bad veins. He kinda laughed it off and said he'd make sure I didn't get stuck with one of the trainees. Reeeeeal funny Dude (we'll call him Dude) but I'm serious here! If you've ever given blood you know about the chairs they make you sit in. They are really tall versions of those cheapo lawn chairs. The ones that can clickety clack up or down at either end depending on how you want to sit? Well I climb up into one and I swear I thought it was about to collapse! Luckily I didn't have a needle in my arm! I felt such vindication as Dude starts trying to find a vein and sees the error of his ways in mocking me. I was squeezing away on that stress ball they make you use to get your blood pumping, (I guess that's what it's for) and he couldn't find a vein in EITHER arm. Dude was pretty convinced I was dead. Mwhahahaha! At this point he called in the big guns. Dude #2 was able to find a vein in my arm fairly quickly. I guess my veins go in different directions then most veins? Finding a vein created a new problem since it was in my RIGHT arm and I was set up in a chair for my LEFT arm. Now I had to wait for the only right arm chair! Blergh!

There's not too much else to say about the process. Dude didn't want to stick me because he was nervous he'd miss and he had one of the other techs do it. She got the needle in in one try but did have to fiddle with it a little. I won't lie and say it was all sunshine and roses because it was extremely uncomfortable. I learned a trick when I got my tattoos...just pretend it's not happening and it makes me less awful. I kept talking to Dude and not looking as the tech fiddled with the needle. I grabbed handfuls of the blanket they gave me to keep warm. It worked. For the most part. Once the needle was in the pressure lessened and I just tried to lay back and relax. Smooth sailing commenced! Dude had to tighten the tourniquet a few times to up the flow but that was it. Overall it was a long but not entirely painful experience.

My pink arm wrap after I was all done.

Lest you think I gave blood like a champ I will tell you of my wimpyness after! A few important facts:

-I had a migraine the day before and woke up with a headache

-I'd been having varying degrees of headaches for a week

-I thought maybe it was allergies so the morning of the the donation I took 2 ibuprofen and 1 generic brand Benedryl (I knew aspirin was a no no since it thins your blood)

-I'd had a hard time sleeping all week and was already tired

By the time I got to work my head still hurt a bit and I was tired.

By the time I gave blood my head was fine but I was still very tired.

Two hours after I gave blood I almost fell asleep on the toilet and thought I might throw up at my desk!

I left work an hour early, went home and fell asleep for two hours. I woke up and ate, went back to sleep at my usual time and proceeded to sleep another 10 hours. Did I mention I took the next day off work? I figured when I woke up after my initial two hour nap and Mom commented on how bad I looked and I still felt exhausted that maybe calling in would be a good idea.

I'm happy to report that 12 hours of sleep was all I needed!

What did I get out of donating you ask?

My 'vampire bite'. This is only the beginning of the bruise!

-I found out I'm AB+! (This is exciting, trust me! I've wanted to know my blood type forever!) Turns out that with type AB blood I can receive ANY blood type! Type O is a universal donor but Type AB is a universal recipient! Also my blood can only be used for other Type AB people unlike A or B which can used on a wider variety of blood types.

-I got a sweet bruise that just kept getting bigger and bigger! I think it turned about 6 different colors and still hasn't gone away entirely. A co-worker referred to it as my war wound! People often make disgusted faces when they see it but Pants and I like it :)

-I know that I helped someone, somewhere.

I would love to give blood on a regular basis. I just feel like I might not get so lucky next time when it comes to a tech that can find a vein easily and fairly painlessly. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time and I'm proud that I sucked it up and did it. Everyone should do it at least once in your life.