Was at Tropicana mall today (saw in the papers that Carrefour was selling a 12" desk fan for RM49.90 which I needed as mine finally busted early this morning, which woke me up. Think I might've bought the last one there short of the display unit) after a long absence and I stumbled into a blood donation drive organised by the PJ Lions Club.
Never having done it before for various reasons/excuses, I decided to just suck it up and do it at least once as I'm finally not ill, menstruating, nor on medication. After filling out the paperwork (making sure I wasn't a male homosexual, had any form of Hepatitis, etc etc), blood typing, and registering with the national blood bank, I sat down and the nurses present got to work with the bags, tubing and needles. I wanted to give them use of the left arm, but the nurse saw a nice vein on my right arm, so I was out of luck there.
I should mention that one of the things I can't stand is the sensation of pricking needles, which was one of the reasons why I had never done it before. The young nurse that was setting it up keep asking whether I can feel the needle going in (YES! A MILLION TIMES YES! - I told her to just do it and not tell me). According to another nurse, they could get up to 3 pints from some people (eep).
Laid there in the reclined seat for what seems to be forever (kept forgetting to squeeze the PVC pipe to get the blood flow going), and you still have to lie there afterwards, applying pressure to the spot so that you don't bleed out when you stand up. I'm guessing hemophiliacs need not apply. The nurses were (understandably) concerned about dizziness (which I didn't have, I'm not exactly the prone to them) as I probably looked like I was going to pass out. So I got a plaster on after the rest period and after a paper cup of Milo (to replenish) and what not - off I went.
At this time: my arm is a little sore (as in I can't move it or lift it too much), and I don't dare to take the plaster off in case I haven't stopped bleeding. I'm just trying to get over the needle pricks. Otherwise, I thought it all went alright.
Never having done it before for various reasons/excuses, I decided to just suck it up and do it at least once as I'm finally not ill, menstruating, nor on medication. After filling out the paperwork (making sure I wasn't a male homosexual, had any form of Hepatitis, etc etc), blood typing, and registering with the national blood bank, I sat down and the nurses present got to work with the bags, tubing and needles. I wanted to give them use of the left arm, but the nurse saw a nice vein on my right arm, so I was out of luck there.
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| The best picture I could take from where I was :P |
Laid there in the reclined seat for what seems to be forever (kept forgetting to squeeze the PVC pipe to get the blood flow going), and you still have to lie there afterwards, applying pressure to the spot so that you don't bleed out when you stand up. I'm guessing hemophiliacs need not apply. The nurses were (understandably) concerned about dizziness (which I didn't have, I'm not exactly the prone to them) as I probably looked like I was going to pass out. So I got a plaster on after the rest period and after a paper cup of Milo (to replenish) and what not - off I went.
At this time: my arm is a little sore (as in I can't move it or lift it too much), and I don't dare to take the plaster off in case I haven't stopped bleeding. I'm just trying to get over the needle pricks. Otherwise, I thought it all went alright.
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