![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
without an umbrella, standing still
I think I must be a glutton for punishment. Donated blood today, it was a challenge.
So I donated last year when the van came to campus, and I figured, "Sure, why not, I haven't done this before." I'm not a fan of needles, but I got over being squeamish and crying when I was in junior highbecause I've had so many goddamn shots it stopped hurting. So I went in, did the pre-screening (with their hundred questions), and soon they had me on one of their little cots.
And then moved me to another one because it was closer to all the things. I went ahead and did the whole-blood donation because... honestly, I still don't know what it is but whatever! They can has.
After wrapping my arm and giving me the little roll of gauze to hold onto, the lady introduced herself as "Jennifer, but if I mess up then my name is Whitney," and went to work. Apparently she had just gotten back from vacation (a very bubbly, happy sort of girl, kind of reminded me of Myki a little bit) and was having fun teasing about with her coworkers. And then she slipped the needle in--I watched, because I am one sick, disturbing person--and... no blood. She just went "I think I missed," and apologized, then proceeded to try and angle the needle differently to get the vein. And it seriously wasn't working. So she called over "Jennifer" (aka Whitney), and another nurse, and all three of them tried to angle the needle. AND IT DIDN'T WORK. They kept asking if I was okay, worried that it was hurting me, and the only thing that really bugged me was that my skin seemed to want to cling to the needle, so it was pulling every time the needle shifted. Then finally, Jennifer (the actual one) slid the needle back, tweaked it, and BAM, blood in the tube almost ASAP.
My blood, however, is a tricky bitch. So it always tends to look like it's going, and the flow starts off really smoothly, and then OUT OF NOWHERE it just goes "okay, done bleeding". It happened the first time I donated, but not really badly. It was just a "We're gonna tap your arm until it starts flowing faster again" sort of thing, and that worked.
But it didn't do it this time. It just kind of... slowed halfway through, and the girls, who were swapping about and checking on me and the bag, were like "oh god what the hell" and decided to try and wiggle the needle again. After all, it was working really well, maybe it just moved? So they propped it up a little; not much of a change, sadly. They tried putting the blood pressure monitor on and squeezing that a bit. N o p e. Then one of the older nurses who had been watching came over and actually decided to just hold the needle up more so there was a deeper angle. And THAT worked, but they were really annoyed at it. It was okay, just slooooooow.
They even rotated the needle like four times because it was going 2 units at a time. (I don't know what the units are, but they needed 450 and I was going 2 at a time by the 340s. So they were just fighting it.) By the time I reached 430, apparently my blood started trying to clot in the tube, or something weird and ridiculous like that, so Whitney used the clamp to urge the blood down the tube. All the while the nurses were surprised I didn't look the least bit hurt or in pain.
Really, it didn't hurt like I thought it would. I always go into these things and get wound up thinking, "OH GOD, IT'S GONNA HURT AND I'M GONNA PASS OUT", and this time I got antsy from just waiting (like a nervous excitement; I wasn't scared, but it was hard to sit still), which did show up when she checked my pulse. But then everything was okay and they did all of this junk with the needle and I was like "this feels uncomfortable but... yeah this just feels uncomfortable." The only time it really hurt was when the last woman pushed on the needle while trying to re-angle it, or when I squeezed too tightly and actually felt the needle move a bit, but other than that it wasn't anything too bad.
The nurses were amazed, it was kind of cute. One gave me an ice pack, and then I got a bag of things to take home just in case there was bruising or anything. And then I got grape juice and oreos! That was nice.
So overall, everything worked out in the end. It was funny, though.
The down side is I have to take a break before going back to packing. It's the 26th, I move on the 30th. ._. And no heavy lifting until tomorrow evening, so I have to be lazy and wait a while. Oh well! All is good, so I won't complain.
So I donated last year when the van came to campus, and I figured, "Sure, why not, I haven't done this before." I'm not a fan of needles, but I got over being squeamish and crying when I was in junior high
And then moved me to another one because it was closer to all the things. I went ahead and did the whole-blood donation because... honestly, I still don't know what it is but whatever! They can has.
After wrapping my arm and giving me the little roll of gauze to hold onto, the lady introduced herself as "Jennifer, but if I mess up then my name is Whitney," and went to work. Apparently she had just gotten back from vacation (a very bubbly, happy sort of girl, kind of reminded me of Myki a little bit) and was having fun teasing about with her coworkers. And then she slipped the needle in--I watched, because I am one sick, disturbing person--and... no blood. She just went "I think I missed," and apologized, then proceeded to try and angle the needle differently to get the vein. And it seriously wasn't working. So she called over "Jennifer" (aka Whitney), and another nurse, and all three of them tried to angle the needle. AND IT DIDN'T WORK. They kept asking if I was okay, worried that it was hurting me, and the only thing that really bugged me was that my skin seemed to want to cling to the needle, so it was pulling every time the needle shifted. Then finally, Jennifer (the actual one) slid the needle back, tweaked it, and BAM, blood in the tube almost ASAP.
My blood, however, is a tricky bitch. So it always tends to look like it's going, and the flow starts off really smoothly, and then OUT OF NOWHERE it just goes "okay, done bleeding". It happened the first time I donated, but not really badly. It was just a "We're gonna tap your arm until it starts flowing faster again" sort of thing, and that worked.
But it didn't do it this time. It just kind of... slowed halfway through, and the girls, who were swapping about and checking on me and the bag, were like "oh god what the hell" and decided to try and wiggle the needle again. After all, it was working really well, maybe it just moved? So they propped it up a little; not much of a change, sadly. They tried putting the blood pressure monitor on and squeezing that a bit. N o p e. Then one of the older nurses who had been watching came over and actually decided to just hold the needle up more so there was a deeper angle. And THAT worked, but they were really annoyed at it. It was okay, just slooooooow.
They even rotated the needle like four times because it was going 2 units at a time. (I don't know what the units are, but they needed 450 and I was going 2 at a time by the 340s. So they were just fighting it.) By the time I reached 430, apparently my blood started trying to clot in the tube, or something weird and ridiculous like that, so Whitney used the clamp to urge the blood down the tube. All the while the nurses were surprised I didn't look the least bit hurt or in pain.
Really, it didn't hurt like I thought it would. I always go into these things and get wound up thinking, "OH GOD, IT'S GONNA HURT AND I'M GONNA PASS OUT", and this time I got antsy from just waiting (like a nervous excitement; I wasn't scared, but it was hard to sit still), which did show up when she checked my pulse. But then everything was okay and they did all of this junk with the needle and I was like "this feels uncomfortable but... yeah this just feels uncomfortable." The only time it really hurt was when the last woman pushed on the needle while trying to re-angle it, or when I squeezed too tightly and actually felt the needle move a bit, but other than that it wasn't anything too bad.
The nurses were amazed, it was kind of cute. One gave me an ice pack, and then I got a bag of things to take home just in case there was bruising or anything. And then I got grape juice and oreos! That was nice.
So overall, everything worked out in the end. It was funny, though.
The down side is I have to take a break before going back to packing. It's the 26th, I move on the 30th. ._. And no heavy lifting until tomorrow evening, so I have to be lazy and wait a while. Oh well! All is good, so I won't complain.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
I need to go donate. I want juice and cookies... oh, and to help the local hospital and all that you know...