I know, I know. It's an easy way to give service and save lives. But I've never done it because I get lightheaded super easily. And I mean super easily. I get lightheaded when they take blood samples from me, when I hear medical stories, or when I'm dehydrated. (If you want some funny stories, ask me about all the times I've fainted. Good times.)
But I put donating blood on my 101 list because I do think the fact that I've never donated is kind of ridiculous.
So there was a stake blood drive today and I signed up and headed over. I was already feeling a little lightheaded and nauseous as I went in (yay nerves), and as they started getting ready to actually poke me, it got worse. I warned the technician and he lowered me a bit further and told me to not think about it, since it was all in my head. (That piece of advice didn't exactly help... I know it's all in my head. But I've never been able to stop myself from getting lightheaded by telling myself that.) Then I continued to get even more lightheaded as he cut off the circulation to poke me and find the vein (my veins tend to be hard to find) and as I squeezed the ball. As the blood actually started coming out, I felt super lightheaded and nauseous. Luckily, the staff was all super nice and helpful. One grabbed a compress to put on my head, another grabbed me some cold water to sip on, someone put a barf bag on top of me (just in case), and one lady came over and made small talk with me to distract me. Just under 7 minutes later, I was done!
But... Of course I would have that much drama as I donate. I made quite the scene. But I survived.
We'll have to see if I can get up the courage to do it again sometime.
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