Baby's First...Blood Drive

Today I gave of my sweet, tender blood for the first time in my life!

It just felt like a good day for service, you know?

Two finger pricks and one bandaged arm later, someone's life will now be saved.

I feel pretty good about that.

I don't feel pretty good about the fact that my two pricked fingers are still sore. The nurse wasn't kidding when he said that was the worst part.

Apparently my middle left finger is iron-deficient. It failed to clear the 12.5 minimum limit by .4 points. I was concerned about getting the 2nd finger prick because I thought, "Why have two fingers pained just to be told I was iron deficient and couldn't give blood? That would be an ultimate fail."

Luckily, my ring finger on my left hand more than made up for it with an astounding 14 (I don't know what the measurement is, but at any rate, it was 2 points better! What the what?!), so I was cleared to get another painful stab, this time in my right arm, for a longer time. AKA, the Red Cross nurse said I could give blood.

Let me interrupt to say I was a big fan of my nurse, I appreciated him. I found out that the last person he took blood from had my same birthday (different year only), and that we're both Tauruses and lefties. We decided we must be bffs, and we planned to see each other at 'the club' tomorrow. I don't know what club he meant, and I think he intended it to stay that way...at any rate, we had a nice time chatting and laughing, and he was very willing to give me pity for my two achy pricked fingers, which I appreciated.

Nurse Friend was also clearly impressed by my veins, which seem like they just cry for blood to be drawn from them. Being the thoughtful person he is, he chose my right arm so I could keep my left arm a little more intact, since he could sympathize with his fellow lefty here.

I was told it was usually about an average of 10 minutes to give your fill of blood. I clocked in at 7.5 minutes, which made me happy. Call me competitive, but it always feels good when you're better/faster/cooler than 50% of people nationally. Plus I had to catch up to co-worker Tyler, who was all done before I even got the needle stuck in me (P.S. I didn't watch Nurse Friend stick me - I don't have a problem per se with needles in general, but it's such a weird sight that I get a little unnerved by it just sitting there in my arm. Apparently that's another thing Nurse Friend and I have in common. It really is a weird thing, though, yeah? Am I right or am I right?).

Luckily, T gave me a little extra time to catch up to him when he blacked out in his chair after he was done. By the time the nurses let him get up and walk across the room, I was getting all cleaned up. Poor kid - he's given blood a lot in his life, so we're not really sure why he chose this time to go out. The nurse wanted to blame the necktie, because apparently a few other guys had come in and passed out, and they too had been wearing neckties. I don't buy the correlation exactly, but it's nice to have something to blame, so I'll take it.

T left work a little bit later and went home.

I gave him a mini-snicker bar before he left, for coming with me in the first place (though it was not all my idea to go give blood) and for that whole ordeal that ensued.

Thankfully, I did not pass out. I made it through - I give credit again to Nurse Friend, who let me blabber on and on about stuff to keep my mind off the whole needle/blood/loss of energy thing - and then I enjoyed a miniature box of apple juice after while I talked to T and hoped that some color would come back to his face quickly. The Red Cross Intern who sat with us was quite entertaining and enjoyable to talk to as well (plus he helped me open my apple juice - because, you know, my poor bandaged fingers couldn't figure it out, and that's why they pay interns anyway, as he said), so it was a nice little pick-me-up for a couple of minutes.

And now, I'm sitting at home, minus one finger prick bandage, but still dealing with two achy fingertips and one red-bandaged elbow that doesn't like when I straighten my arm...or when I bend it too much.

But the very minor physical discomfort (that I may even just be talking up, because who doesn't like pity?) aside, I feel excellent. It feels nice to think that at some point, my very minimal pain might help someone else who is suffering through pains that are a hundred-times worse.

I could really get into this whole Service thing. Giving feels good on Thursdays. I'll have to test it out and see if it feels just as good every other day of the week :).