Blood

No, this is not some king of weird Angelina Joile thing. I just got back from giving blood.:heart: I tried to do it in the past, but I had restrictions that prevented me from donating. Once it was a little cut on my hand that the nurse thought might be infected (it wasn’t). Another time, it was that I had gotten a tattoo within the last 12 months. You can see a picture of the lovely donation center HERE. I don’t know why I didn’t think to bring in my phone so I could document my experience with some pictures. Maybe next time (if there is one:think:)

“So,” you wonder, “how did it go?” I’d love to say flawlessly but that would be a lie. The needle part doesn’t bother me…much. I just have to look away when they put it in. I was going a long fine until I realized I see to be a very fast blood giver. The girl next to me had already been at it for a while when they put my needle in. I was finished well before she was. Maybe that has something to do with the after effects! First, I was extremely nauseous. Waited a few minutes to see if it abated. I must’ve also looked pretty bad because the smelling salts came out. Then, they put a cold compress on my head and around my neck. Sat for about 10 more minutes. When I finally thought I was ok, I began to walk over to the snack area. Luckily the volunteer (I’ll call her snack lady…she was in charge of making the popcorn. Popcorn machine. Pretty cool for a blood donation center) was right there and I said, “oh is it ok if I sit in this (her chair) chair just for a minute?” I had barely gotten that out when she was calling for a nurse and a cot. Then two of them ended up carrying me over to the donation bed. More smelling salts ensued. How embarrassing! They were all super nice though and after about 20 more minutes I felt well enough to leave. So much for golf tonight. I definitely have to put that off until tomorrow.