Donating blood

[mikizee]

So, last week I donated blood for the first time. I had wanted to do it for a while and the whole bushfire disaster here was the last thing that sorta kicked me into gear.

By the way I hate needles. They never used to bother me really but have grown to hate and fear them a bit over the last few years. Don't know why.

So I filled out the application form which is about 4 pages long and asks all sorts of questions like have you travelled overseas, had male to male sex, used a needle, gotten a tattoo in the last year blah blah blah. One thing I noticed is that it never asked whether I took any other drugs ie pot or pills or anything. I thought it would have.

I went in for a short interview where they pricked my finger and tested for iron deficiencies etc then it was rock and roll time. They led me into the main blood draining room where about 7 other people were all giving blood as well.

It was then that I noticed THE SIZE OF THE GOD DAMN FUCKING NEEDLE. It was massive! Biggest one I've ever seen. I started to shit myself right then and there and was contemplating saying 'errrrr actually I think I'll keep my blood thanks very much BYE!' *sprint* but I sat there and waited for the nurse.

She comes up and asks which arm I want stabbed and I'm like whatever whatever just get it over with. So she swabs down my right arm and I brace myself when just then another nurse happens to walk by and starts up a conversation with my nurse. So they start chatting and chatting and all I can think is hurry up and put this god damn needle in before I walk out. hurry up. HURRY THE FUCK UP. So FINALLY she puts the needle in and starts fucking around with the hoses and shit. Then she starts muttering and swearing to herself and I'm wondering what the fuck is going on.

She calls over another nurse and says 'its not working!' and the other nurse is saying 'you gotta squeeze the clicker! The clicker! The clicker on the hose! The hose!' and my nurse doesnt know what the fuck shes doing and all the while shes holding the needle in subconsciously wriggling and moving it around and its hurting like fuck. Then this other nurse goes 'nup, its clotted, gotta start again.' I said 'Another needle??' and she says yep and I'm yelling 'noooooo fix it fix it fiiixxx ittttt' and she says 'Nup. You're a very special boy, you get to have 2 needles today!!'

I say, 'I'm thrilled.'

So the second nurse takes over and starts to swab my left arm down and is juuust about to put in a needle when another nurse rolls in with a newborn. All the nurses start going 'awwwwwwww' and go over and start playing with the baby while I'm sitting there for a second time thinking JUST PUT IN THE FUCKING NEEDLE FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!

Eventually she stabs me again and it all works fine this time. It was a weird sensation, it literally felt like the life was draining out of me and I was deflating. I felt a bit light headed and woozy for a bit but got over it.

So long story short I have puncture marks in both arms and my right arm is bruised up to fuck and I look like a junkie. But I'll go do it again in a few months.

Anyone else ever donated blood?

[na§tee]

hahaha. awwh. i hope it hasn't traumatised you.

yeah i used to give blood quite regularly. it was a good excuse to skive off school/uni (uhhh.. and do something worthy, of course) plus you got biscuits and orange juice. SCORE! also, they have some sort of POINTS SYSTEM, well, they did, the national blood service, where after x time you got little acknowledgements in the form of badges or MEDALS (i josh). i haven't been for a while though as the last couple of times i've been a bit anaemic.

the needles are not too big. it's the anaesthetic needle thing beforehand that is the fucker.

my nan has been giving blood for decades - she has some sort of super rare blood - A rhesus negative - that helps, like, babies and shit. baby-saving blood! (y) not too shabby. so she gets invited to dinners and awards and stuff. she has an enormous china plate collection courtesy of the blood service. haha.

[mikizee]

anaesthetic needle before?

Didn't get one. Just one big fat ol needle. Or two, in my case.

[Helvete]

My veins are too big.

[Adam]

Ahh, that is bad luck for ya first time.

I give bloods loads - never had anaesthetic though. Never even been offered it. Never had any pain though and the worst part is the pin prick for ya Iron test.

Anyway, good on ya for giving blood.

Never heard about not being able to cus ya veins are too big. Sometimes your veins can be quite deep below ya skin which makes it hard to get the needle in.

[b-grrrlie]

Last week I donated blood for the 29th time, so next time I'm getting a new pin! :D
I still ain't used to the needle. The first times I donated my veins got so scared they "ran away" and they had to try several times,
usually on different arms and it always has to be a different nurse to do it as well.
Pity your first time got so traumatized, but hopefully you'll continue donating.

I feel rather faint every time afterwards, I've actually almost fainted twice, so nowadays I ask them to put my feet up already before they start,
and afterwards I lay there for a helluva long time. I also eat a lot when I'm there.
That's also one of the main reasons I go there: free food... :o

When I started donating you could get money for your blood, or a gift, or collect points for some bigger stuff
(my sister's got a great jacket), but these days you can only get a gift.
And usually if you donate during Christmas week you get a box of chocolate as well.
Now I got a free T-shirt as well, cause they had loads of small sizes left.

[Helvete]

Never heard about not being able to cus ya veins are too big. Sometimes your veins can be quite deep below ya skin which makes it hard to get the needle in.
Oh, it doesn't. Just thought I'd mention my large veins.

[b i o n i c]

hahahahah(y)

i've had the same kind of thing happen where i want to yell at someone, but the teef suckin nurses at the place would probably take it as an opportunity to make it hurt more so i just shut up

just readong the title of this thread made my hands sweat. when it comes to needles im possibly the biggest pussy there is

[Lyman Zerga]

im already giving out my rotting organs once im dead, leave me my juice atleast

[monkey]

i try to give blood once or twice a year. i did it last week. the woman left a big mess in my arm. some of these people are excellent at what they do, they barely leave a mark. and some jiggle the needle and make a huge mess of my arm. unfortunately the last time was a bad time.

but i'm not very afraid of needles, nor do i feel faint after giving blood. it's actually all quite easy for me. sucks that your first time was hard. dont give up. you'll find the right nurse still. hehe

[Dorothy Wood]

I hate needles. and I have the kind of blood that nobody needs.

[Adam]

I've never had a botch blood donating session but there is one place I do prefer to go against the other places because they do seem more pro.

People should try and give blood at least once - its not that hard, you get to feel smug for a bit and hardly any1 feels faint after it. I mean, I ride my motorbike home after. Obviously I have a coffee and a biscuit before I ride.

Plus you meet some real nice people there sometimes.

I have pretty common blood but all blood is welcome, there is always a shortage - I know at least two people who are often anemic - its pretty common; you would be saving a life.

[Planetary]

my moms and sister have gold award badges or whatever for donating blood. idotn do it cause i cant be arsed with all the syringes. fair play to them though. LOLOLOLOLOL

[Planetary]

I've never had a botch blood donating session but there is one place I do prefer to go against the other places because they do seem more pro.

People should try and give blood at least once - its not that hard, you get to feel smug for a bit and hardly any1 feels faint after it. I mean, I ride my motorbike home after. Obviously I have a coffee and a biscuit before I ride.

Plus you meet some real nice people there sometimes.

I have pretty common blood but all blood is welcome, there is always a shortage - I know at least two people who are often anemic - its pretty common; you would be saving a life.

WHAT A STINKY COMMONER

[Adam]

the word common twice in one sentence! I rule.

I'm gonna start reading posts back after I type, every time I read them the next day cus some1 generally misunderstands I realise I'm an idiot.

[Yorkshire~Rose]

Yup, i'm a blood donor. I mainly used to do it at work because it was 45 mins out of the office and a nice biccie afterwards. And helping other peeps of course :p

My veins are deeeeep though, so it can be a bugger to donate sometimes.

On several occasions when i've had a blood test (not donating, just a test) they've had to take the blood from the back of my hand which hurts like billy-o.

[Nuzzolese]

Those nurses always screw up they are such AMATEURS! I've donated blood. The first time I did it nothing happened, no problems. But the time after that the nurse harpooned right through my vein and I got a hematoma - that's blood pooling under the tissue. I got to see a rainbow of colors shift across an apple sized blotch on my arm for the following week. The worst part about it was the nurse blamed me. She tried to say I was dehydrated or something. She didn't even apologize!

The time after that, I avoided her but then I was too anxious to get to the post-donation cookie table that I filled my blood bag in five minutes flat and just as I was sitting up thinking "that wasn't so bad!" I passed out cold. They were just going to begin emergency reviving techniques when I opened my eyes to a strange face and I was so confused, I thought everyone was playing a trick on me and I was in some alternate universe where these were my friends but I didn't recognize them. Anyway, I didn't even enjoy my cookie.

My condolences.

[Helvete]

Fuck the cookies and coffee. All the nurses would be like 'Yo, omg that's just not the done thing, how will you manage?' and I'd be like 'Yo, I've done my bit, save all this hippy shit for the weak civvies, I'm outta here, same time tomorrow?'

[jabumbo]

i am very thankful that the nurses at my doctors office are good at what they do. i have to get blood drawn about 3-4 times a year for bloodwork and my arms would be a total wreck if they didnt do things right. i think my body has adjusted to make the veins easy to reach, because the first time i ever donated blood it was a helluva time!

[Lyman Zerga]

i dont mind or im in fact are thankful for people who donate blood but it's annoying when they brag about it all the time
OMG look! im such a wonderful person!!!11

[mikizee]

I'm a heaps wonderful person. My arm is even more bruised up now than it was when I made this thread. When will it end?

[mikizee]

Here's a photo of my botched arm today...

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o218/mikizee/DSC00388.jpg

[Adam]

dude - clean ya keyboard.

And ya desk - empty beer cans/bottles - how long have they been there?

It is bad luck though

[mikizee]

DONT JUDGE MEEEEEEEEEEEE

[Lyman Zerga]

my arm always looks like that after having a needle raping and sometimes even worse than that

[Nuzzolese]

Here's a photo of my botched arm today...

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o218/mikizee/DSC00388.jpg

That looks familiar. Mine got worse before it got better. It took about 7 days to go away.