sangre

Today was blood day. It actually went a lot better than I thought! I was nervous last night. I woke up early this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. What would it be like? Would it hurt? Would I faint? Would I get dizzy? What if I worked myself up and finally went there and they said I couldn't donate? (too little iron in my blood, traveled outside the U.S. within a year, etc.)

But everything went smoothly. I read the educational material, had my temperature and blood pressure taken, the prick of blood from my middle finger showed I had enough iron in my blood (yeah!), I answered all the questions the nurse asked me (Do you have gonorrhea? Chlamydia? Hepatitis?)

And finally it was time. A man in a white lab coat came up to me (laying on one of their tables and trying not to freak out).

"Hello, I'm Robert and I'll be receiving your donation today."

"Awesome, Robert. Take it quickly." - me

Well, that's what I was thinking. I was also thinking, "Don't look at it, Sarah. Don't look at the needle or blood bag. Focus on something else." Robert found a good vein, sanitized the inside of my elbow, gave me a red rubber ball to squeeze, and POP! in went the needle. The good news is, once it was in, I couldn't feel it any more.

I brought a magazine and my iPod but I ended up just chatting with Robert and the nurse next to him he was flirting with. I was so shocked when after only a few minutes, Robert told me my bag was already 2/3 full. Dang, blood! Speedy sangre.

When it was done, the needle was taken out and I was done. I sat up ve-r-r-r-y slowly, got to my feet and shuffled over to the snack area where two high school girls gave me water, juice, and cookies. After 15 minutes, I was free to go. No fainting. No dizzyness. No problems. Yeah!