I Gave Blood Yesterday!

Yesterday I gave blood and made it through the whole process without feeling faint or dizzy. This was my fourth trip to the blood donor place, and it was my first complete, successful donation. I was seriously considering giving up on trying, but I gave it one more shot, and it worked!

The first time I went in, I didn't even let them get the little sample they take first; I guess this is the part they send away to test for blood type and composition. It's a couple of mLs at most, but I didn't even let them get that, before I started seeing spots, getting dizzy, and I guess when a patient reports that, they abort the procedure immediately, which they did. I never actually went completely out, but I was pretty darn close. After that, they told me that some people take three or four attempts before they can get through it, so I could come back and try again.

The second time, I made it through the sample phase, so they got to the point where they were actually drawing blood, which they could use, but about halfway through that process, once again I saw spots, my vision shrunk into tiny little circles of awareness in front of me, and all the sounds got really far away, though I did manage to stay conscious, as the nurses were telling me to keep my eyes open, though it sounded like they were telling me this from miles away. One thing I should note about my second donation was that I read about how fighter pilots keep from blacking out (if they don't have a G-suit) under high G-forces, wherein they apparently have a similar problem of blood leaving the head and leading to unconsciousness. When they don't have the luxury of a G-suit, which squeezes your legs under high G-forces, forcing the blood to stay in your head and upper body, they learn exercises involving clenching of the abdominal muscles and leg muscles, in order to physically force blood up to their heads. I thought I'd give this a try during my second donation attempt, but it didn't work. I also worked out my arm a bit during the process, and flexed my arm so hard I got a bruise, which is a definite no-no.

The third time was pretty much the same as the second time. No ill feelings up until about halfway through the donation process, and then it hit me again. By the third time, it starts to feel like a pattern, and I was pretty sure this was how I was going to react to every subsequent attempt, but I thought I'd try again. Oh, and the third time I didn't even bother with the muscle-clenching.

The fourth time, I totally relaxed my arm, except for very gently opening and closing my hand. But I flexed my legs about every 10 or 20 seconds. I never once felt an onset of dizziness or faintness coming on this time. I tried to read a book, but I couldn't concentrate on the book; I was probably just too nervous to read, plus it was hard to hold the book open with just one hand.

Anyways, I'm just proud of giving blood and having finally given an entire unit without having to stop halfway through.