Giving my life source away...

Today I did something I've been scared to do my entire life: donate blood. It was sort of scary. I'm not going to lie. But I had Trent and Erin there to help me not be as nervous (although sometimes I wondered about Trent...one always does :) It actually didn't turn out to be that bad. After filling out all of the paperwork, a nice lady took back into a little cubicle thing and pricked my finger. I wasn't too scared of that. I've actually pricked my own finger before, which I was really proud of. She also took my blood pressure. I was pretty sure that it would be okay too, because one of my roommates is in the nursing program, and she had to take my blood pressure. She told me mine was perfect!

So basically I'm a physically fit person, all ready to donate blood. And scared. I walked over to the place where they actually did the deed. Trent was already there, giving his blood away. And, it turns out I knew his phlebotomist. We worked together last year in doing custodial. She's definitely moved up in the world.

So they asked me the typical questions ("You allergic to latex, iodine, or shellfish?" "Nope.") and they got started. They put iodine all over my arm, and we waited for a few minutes. In the meantime, Erin came over and they started getting her all ready to go. I watched Trent as he bled into the bag. "Is that your blood?" I asked him. He responded that, yes, it was. "Wow. That used to keep you alive, but it's not anymore..." I told him. Yes, I know. I'm very observant.

Then came my turn to be poked with a freaking huge needle. Rather than watch her put it in, I looked over at Trent who was making odd faces (which, incidentally, is not odd for Trent, which is why we love him). That helped to keep my mind off of the prick which then bothered my arm. The needle was in, and there I was. I was giving blood for the first time in my life. I guess my blood wasn't flowing too fast though. I was there for a while. In fact, Erin had almost caught up with me by the time I was done, and she started a while after me. I also guess that the tape was being ridiculous or something. It wasn't holding the needle in like it was suppose to, or whatever that is that it was there for.

Finally, I was done. They took the needle out of my arm. I saw that there was a lot of blood coming out of my arm. This time it rather intrigued me, rather than making me sick. I got to pick what I wanted to have my arm wrapped in. I chose a pink wrap with smiley faces on it. Yes. I thought it was a good idea. And then I was done!

Then came the best part! Cookies! and juice! and chips! Yes. All a good part of putting fluids and sugar back into my body. They had the good kind of cookies there too. Once Erin was done, I headed off to choir, proud of myself for giving blood. It wasn't as bad as I had imagined it. It still is not my first choice of activities to do in my spare time though.

Tonight I took of my bandage. I was actually at Erin's apartment when I did it. She had taken hers off and had a little bit of bruising where the needle entered her arm, which is natural. She said that it hurt though, so I was kind of scared to take mine off. But finally I did anyways, and I discovered that I had three nice bruises on my arm. They look really purple. And kind of cool. But it kind of made me queasy. Oh well. I always liked battle wounds... : )